Game Review: Need for Speed: Undercover

Game: Need For Speed: Undercover
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: EA Black Box
Release Date: 21st November 2008

Need For Speed: Undercover was released during an interesting time in the franchise; Most Wanted '05 and Carbon were two of the best loved and critically well received games in the series, but ProStreet didn't quite hit the same levels of success, thanks in part to taking the focus off illegal street racing. In attempting to return to the series roots with Undercover, several game mechanics return from Most Wanted and Carbon; notably the police chase system and some race types, though the AI seem to have been lifted straight out of ProStreet, offering little to no challenge for much of the game.

One new aspect of Undercover is live action story cutscenes, as the plot of the game is told via pre-recorded video with real actors. In a photo-realistic game this might work quite well, but given Undercover's frankly poor visuals, the live action scenes create a disconnect with the gameplay which pairs with the already fairly predictable plot to do very little. The game's major plot twist is all but spoiled in the game's introductory cutscene, not that it would have been particularly interesting if saved.

The race types in Need for Speed Undercover appear varied on first glance, but Highway Battle and Outrun modes are essentially re-purposed canyon chases (minus the canyon), Circuit and Sprint races are a staple of the Need for Speed series, and Checkpoint races make players realise how barren the city map really is. The final three event types which raise your heat level include Cop Takedown and Cost To State events, which usually involve coercing the AI into following you to a crash breaker, and Escape which is literally just a police chase you need to escape from.

Some races are Master Events which progress the plot, and there are also jobs that need to be done for characters in the game. These usually take the form of delivering stolen cars and are much the same as a police pursuit, but in a different car. Some races gift players with the pink slip to a new car; these can't be sold but offer an alternative to purchasing cars from a fairly expensive shop, or paying real money to unlock said cars in the PS Store.

Police chases are much the same as those featured in Need For Speed: Most Wanted, except that simple acts such as turning a corner or driving in a straight line are often enough to lose police attention entirely. Add to this the useless AI during races, and the lack of cars on the streets anywhere on the map, and Undercover feels like it's set in a ghost town, populated solely by incompetent police and racers.


Despite my points so far being mostly negative, the street racing in the game does feel good. There's an extra sense of speed from the motion blur, and the handling seems to be somewhere inbetween Most Wanted and ProStreet for a return to the street racing roots of the series. For some reason though, the game runs atrociously; constant pop-in, framerate issues, stuttering, literally freezing for seconds at a time, spawning cars in mid-air as players race by, and other various audiovisual glitches make Undercover a truly difficult game to enjoy.

Although Most Wanted and Carbon both made their way to 7th generation systems, meaning that Undercover is technically the 3rd game in this console generation, it's graphically very poor, looking like a PS2 game most of the time. The car customisation options are ripped straight from ProStreet as are some of the car models, and even police radio clips sound like they're from Most Wanted. The soundtrack is pretty decent, but only plays whilst in races for some reason, leaving freeroaming eerily silent. The music also cuts in and out at will whilst racing, presumably because the rest of the game runs just as badly.

Overall Need For Speed: Undercover is a mess. Wanting to return to the series street racing roots is understandable after the failed experiment that was ProStreet, but in 16 months of development, all Black Box managed to do was make Most Wanted again, but far worse. The plot is arguably more detailed but feels like more a grind, the graphics and gameplay don't match up to a game released 3 years earlier, and there's just no reason to play Undercover when games like Carbon and Most Wanted already existed.

Rating: 44/100
Grade: E

Game Review: Need For Speed Most Wanted (2012)

Game: Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: Criterion Games
Release Date: 2nd November 2012

It's always a bold move to reboot a much loved title, and even more of a bold move to do so when the new version is actively worse. In 2005 Need for Speed: Most Wanted built upon the police chase mechanic in the Need for Speed franchise, providing a game where players could carefully climb the Most Wanted rap sheet; tracking their infractions, the wanted status of their cars and having genuinely fun and challenging police chases as part of a street racing video game. 2012's game of the same name sees players climb the Most Wanted list for almost doing nothing, has no penalty for being arrested and little sense of progression or car ownership throughout the game.

Let's start with the basics; around Fairview, the game's city are hidden 123 "jack points" where players can get into a car and drive away, with 6 races available per car to gain upgrades and SP. The more SP a player has, the higher they climb on the Most Wanted list. Getting into pursuits also gains SP, as does doing just about anything in game, so climbing the list is almost a given as long as you're playing the game. Doing well in races is the only way to upgrade cars and once you've got enough SP, you're allowed to challenge the racer in the next position up on the list. Beat them in a race, and you've only to take down their car in order to own it and take their spot on the list.

This cycle continues until you beat the game; race and upgrade a bit, get in a few police chases and climb the most wanted list; there's no real story and the multiplayer focus is evident. Fairview is an open world much like Paradise City in Burnout (another Criterion game), though there's very little of note to explore, and many races are made harder by sudden 90 degree turns or ill thought out routes. There's a nice time progression system and the actual driving element of the game feels pretty good.

Garages are dotted around the map at which cars can be fixed and resprayed instantly, mainly helping out in police chases. There aren't any hiding spots like the ones featured in Most Wanted '05, so players are left to run down their wanted level in more of a GTA V fashion, unless they can find a garage to respray their car. Pursuits in general are pretty easy to escape from, with huge gaps being left in roadblocks for the most part. I missed the crashbreaker feature from Most Wanted '05 when there weren't gaps though since trying to find one at full speed isn't ideal.

Getting busted has little to no consequence in a pursuit, aside from losing the SP you'd have gained for escaping. In Most Wanted '05 you'd get a marker on your car, and 3 meant it'd be taken from you for good. Cars in the earlier game also retained a heat level unless repainted for a more realistic police force that wouldn't instantly forget your transgressions provided the pursuit was over. Takedowns seem to play a far larger part in the game also, likely thanks to Criterion; in pursuits and racing in general the slow-mo takedowns from Burnout give the game somewhat of a different feel to a classic Need for Speed game.

Before each race there's a cinematic which is usually completely unrelated to anything currently taking place. Perhaps they were intended as tests for the graphics engine or some sort of cinematic statement but I found myself skipping most of them. It's also worth noting that some races and car jack points are locked unless some of the 5 DLC packs for the game have been purchased. This appears to be the start of Need for Speed Payback style monetization, with a "Time Saver" pack released alongside the game to helpfully mark all of the jack points and unlock all multiplayer cars.

Graphically the game looks great; on par with, if not better than 2011's Need for Speed: The Run. It's just a shame that the progression is much less enjoyable. At many points in races the AI would rubberband in my favour at the finish line, essentially handing me undeserved victories. I'm aware that this game had a multiplayer focus and capabilities but putting little to no effort into single player mode isn't the way to improve multiplayer modes.

Overall while I did find myself driving a bigger range of cars overall in the game, being handed them for free with no sense of investment in them meant that I generally didn't care about upgrades or races outside of gaining SP, which was criminally easy to do anyway. Managing to make my way for #11 on the most wanted list to #7 in just under 3 hours of gameplay says to me that single player mode was an afterthought for the beginning of online focused, DLC heavy multiplayer Need For Speed experiences, and those just aren't my thing.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D

Game Review: Need For Speed: The Run

Game: Need for Speed: The Run
Console: Sony Playstation 3
Developer: EA Black Box
Release Date: 18th November 2011

Featuring a race from San Francisco to New York as its main story mode, Need For Speed: The Run evokes memories of Cruis'n USA and other games which have attempted this sort of idea. Players take control of Jack, who is in debt to the mob after having been lent the starting capital for his business. After being kidnapped, Jack escapes via a QTE sequence and begins his journey with the intention of winning the 25 million dollar jackpot, helped along by his business partner and former girlfriend, Sam, via satellite link.

Every stage of The Run mode is a point-to-point style race, with players starting in whichever position they were last in overall, tasked to overtake a set number of opponents, battle rivals or complete time trials in order to make up time. There are three major checkpoints along the way; Las Vegas (where players aim to be 150th), Chicago (where the aim is to be 50th) and New York (where the aim is to win). Players can't fail in reaching these stages in the required positions as each individual race must have its victory conditions met to continue.

The locations featured throughout the journey look beautiful and there's a nice variety of settings as players make their way across America. The main mode is by no means long, and can be completed in 2 or 3 sittings, depending on the player's dedication. There's a huge selection of cars in the game, though not all can be selected in The Run mode, and some are even locked until players have completed several online achievements.

The handling of cars feels almost perfectly matched for the style of the game; it's possible to reach massive speed and not have to worry too much about losing control of the car. Overtaking is relatively simple and braking is always effective enough to make cornering easy. Nitrous is featured in the game and recharges as players drive aggressively, with upgrades when players hit XP milestones.

Every now and then, the action will be interrupted by a cutscene or QTE, expanding the story. It's hard to say whether these detract from the game at all; they certainly don't feel at home in a Need For Speed game, but I probably wouldn't have questioned them if this was a standalone game from another series. The story isn't too heavily pushed onto players, and it only seems to affect a few races in total.

A bigger problem for the game is just how much AI rubberbanding features in races. Much of the time when leading a race, and travelling at a car's top speed, opponents will cruise by and overtake, despite the unfairness of such a move. Conversely, completing much of the final race of the game with R2 only half depressed can still result in a victory with a final burst of speed. Challenge Series also suffers from these problems and is far more boring than The Run mode, despite being somewhat like an arcade mode from games of the past.

Graphically the game is lovely and features the very best of America's landmarks and sights; I loved flying through 'Hurricane Alley' and the plains. It's true that there's not a lot of stages with major excitement and players looking for a true arcade racing experience may be disappointed, but the sense of speed and lighting effects featured in the game are some of the best I've seen in the seventh generation of consoles.

Overall, Need For Speed: The Run breaks away from the traditional circuit racing formula of the Need For Speed series and presents an interesting and fairly original idea for a main mode, which features a cinematic story that may interest some players. Challenge Series and Online mode present rather more pedestrian levels of interest, and show that the developer focus was leaning somewhat towards the online modes, with the XP system and constant profile badge unlocks. Despite this I'd gladly play through The Run mode again in a few months thanks to some high octane racing action and beautiful landscapes.

Rating: 80/100
Grade: B

Need for Speed Double Header: Hot Pursuit I and II

Game: Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Electronic Arts
Release Date: 25th March 1998

Before the Need for Speed series focused on street racing, the games featured races on varying terrain, with both real and fictitious supercars and fairly long tracks, meaning that races could last anywhere from 6-12 minutes. While the standard Single Race, Tournament and Knockout modes have been carried over from previous instalments, the Hot Pursuit is a new feature and allows players to compete in a one-on-one race with another racer on a police filled track.

The racing action itself is pretty enjoyable; the cars handle well though not particularly differently from one another and there's a few to choose from. Tracks can be a little difficult to master, but there's enough time in the default 4 lap races to get used to the twists and turns and make a comeback after any errors. There's a choice of arcade or simulation handling, and arcade is definitely the better of the two, with the ability to drift around the corners and less of a weighty feeling to the cars.

Graphically the game isn't particularly impressive, with blocky cars, flat looking scenery and an overall lack of definition. Obviously it's for the original Playstation so players shouldn't be expecting too much, but it's not a huge step up from previous games in the series, and it really shows its age in the modern day. Soundwise there's a mix of music to accompany gameplay, but none of it really stands out as being great.

Overall the game definitely could have done with more of a career mode than what tournament mode offers; unlocking cars just isn't enough of an incentive to continue playing the game, no matter how thrilling it can be at times. The Hot Pursuit subtitle is also slightly misleading since it's one of the less enjoyable modes of the game, with police basically getting in the way of a duel race and barely affecting opponents.

Rating: 66/100
Grade: C

Game: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: EA
Release Date: 25th October 2002

Building on the formula of the original Hot Pursuit, the sequel brings bigger and better racing to almost every aspect of the game. Firstly and most importantly there's now 'You're the cop' mode where players can take the role of the police, chasing racers and filling their ticket quota as well as enjoying the use of roadblocks and helicopters in order to stop fugitives. The main mode is far better in terms of progression also with a tree style diagram indicating which races unlock tracks and cars, and the final race unlocking the McLaren F1 car in all game modes.

There's both regular racing and police chase missions included, and the regular racing still outdoes the police version, but it's far closer now. The police are fairly persistent and it's annoying to get 5 minutes or more into a mission, only to fail thanks to an aggressive police cruiser. Unfortunately the unlocks in both modes are the same, so there's no real reason to play through both modes, but it's nice that they have some sort of structure.

The racing action itself is pretty good, cars handle nicely but not in such a way that hairpins and other difficult bends aren't given their fair representation. The courses feature many shortcuts; some of which can win races outright thanks to their efficient corner-cutting. There's a big selection of cars to unlock, and most of them are the type of things players will be keen to race, which is nice to see, considering that after this the starter car in NFS games would be the Fiat Punto.

The AI aggressively rubber-bands if the difficulty level is set to Advanced, but this is only option other than beginner, so it's really the only choice players have. It can be annoying to lose out on races when courses are very long, and events can take upwards to 10 minutes to complete, but it keep competition close, and as long as mistakes aren't too big it can work in the player's favour also.

Graphically the game was definitely the best in the series up until that point, and represents the cars and racing landscapes nicely. There's a good sense of speed overall, and the jumps and bumps on track add to the experience. Musically, this was the first game to feature EA Trax; a selection of licensed music that could be adjusted to player tastes, but unfortunately I didn't like many of the songs at all; they were just okay.

Overall Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 is perhaps the first Need For Speed game in the franchise to show true potential and pull off most of what it tried to achieve. As an indicator of games to come, the high thrills racing experience certainly carried through to the underground series, with bits of the handling and car selection too. It's a real feel good racing game with nice Career Mode progression and some intense, if a little frustrating police action.

Rating: 81/100
Grade: B

Game Review: Need For Speed Nitro

Game: Need for Speed: Nitro
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: EA
Release Date: 6th November 2009

A Nintendo exclusive Need for Speed game was always going to mean a couple of things. Firstly on the Wii, there was the inevitable inclusion of motion control, no HD graphics and probable cartoon style and kiddification of the series. Luckily the Gamecube or classic controller can be used with the game, negating the awful effects of having to use motion controls in a racing game, but the other issues still manage to hold the game back.

The main career mode features sets of races in 5 different locations, where players must perform well to earn stars for finishing 1st, lap times and style points. The more stars earned, the more things unlock, so they're needed past a certain point for progression. There are 3 cups in career mode, Bronze, Silver and Gold, and these refer to the 3 featured classes of car; A, B and C. Players start with class C cars, and as usual in Need For Speed, they're hardly race cars at all, with the Volkswagen Type 2 being one of the starting options.

Players can earn nitrous whilst racing by drifting, catching air or doing anything really; it's not difficult. At the start of races there's a minigame of sorts which allows players to perform a nitrous start by revving correctly. Driving whilst under the effects of a nitro boost is difficult if there are any turns at all, and the courses on the whole are pretty badly designed, some with hidden obstacles that are blocked from sight which players are almost certain to hit on their first time around a course.

The career mode is pretty short, and there's little incentive to progress through the cups or unlock all of the cars, despite there being a few nice ones available. The driving overall isn't great, but is bearable and possibly better than I thought it was going to be. I didn't attempt the game with motion control because it'd have inevitably made it worse. The police featured in the game are fairly aggressive and can at times unfairly hinder players.

Graphically the game is a little better than I had expected although obviously not in HD. The cars are fairly accurate cartoon-style representations of themselves and the motion blur effect can get pretty annoying after a while. The songs featured in the game range from 'down with the kids' style rap music to some whiny rock stuff, but mostly it's unenjoyable. The AI featured rubberband increasingly hard as the game continues, which is also a bit disappointing but perhaps expected from a Need For Speed title.

Overall it's definitely not the worst thing that could have been produced, but I wonder whether it really needed the Need For Speed series to be associated with it, as it lacks much of the street racing vibe given off by other titles. Due to the cynical cash in on the series name, people's expectations of the game were likely raised (or lowered, like mine) and this means that either way people won't get the true experience of the game as a singular entity.

Rating:
Grade: D

PS1 Racing Double Header: The Need for Speed vs Ridge Racer Type 4

Game: Road&Track Presents: The Need For Speed
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: EA Canada
Release Date: 20th March 1996

The first of many Need for Speed titles, this Playstation game lacks a lot of the features which we take for granted in modern instalments. With a choice of 8 main cars (and 1 unlockable bonus car), 7 tracks to race on (4 closed circuits and 3 point-to-point tracks), and 4 game modes (Time Trial, Head to Head, Single Race and Tournament), there's enough choice to keep players amused for a short while, despite the lack of real depth.

The handling of the vehicles in the game doesn't differ much from car to car, it seems quite grippy for the speeds the cars are apparently going, but cornering requires an exact amount of braking to avoid hitting the edge of the course or slowing down too much. Doing either of these things will allow the AI to overtake players as they seem to be able to take each corner without having to slow down at all. My best finish in an 8 car race was 3rd, and even getting that was quite difficult.

The default controls are set so that the square button controls acceleration and the X button controls braking. Luckily you can change this to "configuration B" which is how every other racing game ever has the buttons. Another strange feature of the game is that upon starting the race, players have to change into first gear, from neutral, before being able to accelerate. While this is realistic, there's no purpose to it, and it only serves as another obstacle to players before getting to the true racing experience.

The 4 game modes featured are pretty similar to one another on closer inspection. Time Trial allows you to race on tracks alone, for the best laptime, Head-to-Head pits you against another car around the tracks, Single Race pits you against 7 other cars around any chosen track, and Tournament pits you against 7 other cars around a selection of tracks. Personally the most fun I had was in Time Trial mode, playing the point to point stages, which have some nice scenery.

Graphically the game isn't too much above the level of late SNES or Mega Drive games, but does look a little better if you don't concentrate on individual features. The cars themselves look rather blocky and not too much like what they're supposed to be, although with just 8 to choose from this isn't too much of a concern. The music which accompanies racing is a choice of either rock, or techno. Rock tends to be a fairly heavy imagining of the genre, and techno is bearable. Neither seem as if they belong in the game, though.

Overall The Need for Speed is a shaky start to the franchise's journey as a best-selling series. There are a few good ideas here and there, such as cops in the head to head mode (though they're poorly executed), and point-to-point tracks, but the flaws outweigh these and give the game a shallow feel, with no real choice of cars, tracks or game modes. A few hours on the game, and you'll have seen all of its sights.

Rating: 53/100
Grade: D

Game: Ridge Racer: Type 4
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Namco
Release Date: 1st May 1999

The fourth Ridge Racer release for Playstation, Type 4 continues in the arcade racing style of previous instalments, adding better graphics with Gouraud shading, story based elements in Grand Prix mode, and more car customisation. For those unfamiliar with the Ridge Racer series, Grand Prix races start players at the back of a grid of cars (8 in this game), and expect them to have made their way through to a certain position by the end of a set number of laps.

At the beginning of Grand Prix mode, you're asked to pick a team to race for (each one has a different story which is told as the races progress), and the make of car you'd like the team to use (this only affects the handling of the car). There are then 2 races in which the player must finish at least 3rd, 2 where the player must finish at least 2nd and a win is necessary in the final 4 races. Faster cars are awarded by the team periodically to help players, although all of the AI cars also get upgraded, so it's not too much of an advantage.

While the player does have a choice as to how their car handles, all of the available options can easily be mastered, and feel responsive. Some cars drift more easily than others which can help players maintain their speed through corners, and others grip the road well and don't easily allow drifting. Depending on finishing positions, different cars are unlocked as an upgrade, giving the game replayability for those interested in unlocking every car. The problem with this is that not only are there 80 car types to unlock, but each car has 4 colour designs to unlock, meaning that the minimum number of times you'd have to complete Grand Prix mode to unlock everything would be 28.

While there aren't a great deal of other modes in Ridge Racer Type 4, the standard 2 Player and Time Trial modes are present, as well as an Extra Trial race, which is difficult to beat, but rewards the player with a prize car. The Design mode is hard to use and doesn't seem to have all that many options. Players can draw their own decals using a drawing tool, but it's hard to input precisely what you want with only a d-pad and analog stick as drawing tools.

Graphically the game is very impressive for an original Playstation title, the first in the series to feature a more complex method of polygon shading, pushing the hardware to output some of the best visuals on the console for a racing game. The music which accompanies racing has a 90s throwback feel to it, and may not be to some people's tastes. Personally I think it embodies the spirit of this type of arcade racer and fits well with the action.

Overall for a game with just 3 modes, 8 tracks and far too many similar cars to even consider unlocking, Ridge Racer Type 4 is a lot of fun. Grand Prix mode is highly recommended, and trying different teams and car combinations can give some replayability to the game also. While it's not as comprehensive as Grand Turismo on the Playstation, it has an arcade fun factor which is pretty much unrivalled on the console.

Rating: 75/100
Grade: B

Series Review: Need For Speed (PS2 versions) Part 2

Game: Need For Speed Carbon
Console: Sony PlayStation 2
Developer: EA
Release Date: 31st October 2006

Need for Speed Carbon sees racers taking to the canyon for some of the races in the game, in addition to the usual street racing, and cop chases. The plot of the game follows on from Need For Speed Most Wanted, with the player driving the last prize car out of Rockport (the setting for Most Wanted) and into Palmont (the setting for Carbon), where an incident happened involving the player. More details of this are uncovered throughout the game leading up to the boss race. Although the plot isn't the strongest part of the game its a marked improvement from previous installments.

The majority of gameplay is dedicated to racing inside the city of Palmont, in order to "gain control" of territories, when enough races are won in an area, leading to a challenge from the gang leader who used to control that area. Some of the races and all of the bosses races are conducted on the canyons, which are downhill tracks with lots of handbrake turns and the possibility of falling off the edge at times.

Overall the game is fairly short, compared to other games in the series, I played for a little while before writing the review and had already completed 20% when I quit. There's 4 districts to take over by winning races, each with about 12 races in, which'll need winning before the boss challenges you. Although this makes for a fairly good system of play, its disappointingly easy to gain territory. The races themselves also seem far too easy compared to other installments (although this might just be due to the fact I've played too much Need For Speed recently).

In the races which aren't held on the canyon, there's a new wingman system. Out of the 3 other racers on track, one of them is on your team and able to help you in one of three ways. There's blockers who'll shunt opponents out of the way, drafters who'll allow you to slipstream them and go faster, and finally scouts who find the fastest route around the track. Not only do these seem fairly unnecessary, but the NPC's in the cars will make pointless comments and sometimes even get in your way. A lot of the time when they do help you out, the wingman will end up winning the race, which still counts as a win for you, but feels hollow in the grand scheme of things.

Overall the additions to this game aren't all that enjoyable, the focus having been taken away from police chases (which aren't as fun in game as Most Wanted), and put on Canyon races which could be better. Drift mode has been made a little easier to play, and the entire game difficulty feels too low, especially with teammates in the equation as well. Musically the game is pretty poor, re-using the police chase theme from Most Wanted, and choosing a fairly poor selection of "EA Trax".

Graphically similar to Most Wanted and worse off in gameplay, this is the first game of the second era to have not gone one better than its predecessor. It needn't feel alone however, things are about to get worse...

Rating: 68/100
Grade: C

Game: Need For Speed ProStreet
Console: Sony PlayStation 2
Developer: EA
Release Date: 23rd November 2007

Very different to the previous installments from the outset, Need For Speed Prostreet sees the player whisked off the streets to "race days", held seemingly in the middle of nowhere, around a dirt track with no other traffic or streets to be seen. From somewhere there booms the voice of an announcer who can't stop going on about how well you're doing, and gameplay is based around "Dominating" your rival racers on the track .

The handling is the first thing that's noticeable upon starting the game, completely different from any of its predecessors, it's inbetween arcade and simulation and makes the cars feel horribly heavy and unrealistic. This makes gameplay less enjoyable and rewarding overall as it almost feels as if the player is not in complete control of the car at all. No matter what car is chosen, the handling is basically the same and although there's more choice of cars than in some previous installments it almost doesn't matter.

Swapping the streets for the racetrack was another ill-informed descision. If there's one thing we've come to expect from the Need For Speed series as a whole it's exciting, fast paced night-time street racing. This installment delivers almost none of those, barely even able to be called racing due to the fact that the AI racers are beyond useless. There's a certain degree to which I can tolerate the computer player being bad at racing, but to finish 2 minutes and 10 seconds ahead of another racer, on a short race is not even funny. The whole concept of dominating your opponents seems to have come out of the fact that they can't compete at all.

The races themselves are boring and need more variation, "Grip" racing is just another name for circuit racing, Drag racing features a new tyre warming minigame that not only seems ineffective and pointless but wastes time also, and an abundance of Time Attack races in career mode sucks any fun that might have been lurking out of the game. As if the game wasn't easy enough there's an optional braking meter on the road in case you want to win by even more of a margin.

All cars in the game can be modified and "autosculpted" to the player's wishes, but graphically the game is only really as impressive as Most Wanted or Carbon on PS2, if a little less so due to the fact there's no city to render. The game comes across as a messy, unrewarding bore with terrible handling and no real incentive to complete, its only real value coming from being a sort of Redneck Raceday Simulator, for which I have no need.

Rating: 40/100
Grade: E

Game: Need For Speed Undercover
Console: Sony PlayStation 2
Developer: EA
Release Date: 17th November 2008

Undercover is the last Need For Speed game to appear on the Playstation 2, essentially being developed for Playstation 3 with a stripped down version being released for the older console. The focus shifts back to street racing and police chases, from ProStreet's Race Day setup and the cars handling is much more similar to that of Underground and Most Wanted than that of ProStreet. It seems EA acknowledged the mistake they made with ProStreet and wanted to evoke the success of earlier titles with Undercover.

The gameplay in Undercover certainly feels more like the kind we're used to with a city environment through which the player can roam freely, accepting races and challenges. The plot seems to want to be a bigger feature of this game than past installments however, unskippable live action cutscenes are played after every couple of major race wins. Unfortunately the story is somewhat vague, I spend most of the cutscenes trying to work out whether I'm an undercover cop or not. Personally I'm not too keen on being forced to keep up with the story, or the added "Driving Missions" that come along with it.

The main race types are still in the game, Circuit, Sprint etc. although in the early stages at least they take a back seat to police chase milestone events, somewhat like Most Wanted, except the police work somewhat differently. For example; speeding past a police car at 3 times the posted speed limit in this game will earn you no attention whatsoever, but clipping a police car on the way past, no matter how fast will set more police than you knew existed on your car. This dents the realism somewhat, and with already downgraded graphics, all the police chases really serve to do is make me want to pop in the disc for Most Wanted.

Musically the game has a decent selection of music, covering many genres, my only complaint being instrumental versions of tracks already on the soundtrack having been included also, so you can never quite tell whether its safe to sing along. The selection of in game cars is fairly wide although many have appeared in previous installments, a lot of them muscle cars are very similar types of car to one another, it would have been nice to see more variety there. The aerosculpt feature stays in the game, for car customisation, although it's hidden in submenus at the safehouse instead of being the large part of the game it once was.

Overall, the game seems to want to be more of an action film with gameplay elements than anything else, but its races  are standard Need For Speed races, if a little easy. Its police chases pale in comparison to Most Wanted, and the new parts are either tedious and unskippable, like the cutscenes or unnecessary for the most part, like the huge arrow in the sky which directs the player during missions and other parts of the game. For 2008 the game is hardly impressive graphically or in terms of gameplay. I don't think a lot of effort was put into this version compared to the PS3 version, and it shows.

Rating: 60/100
Grade: D

Series Review: Need For Speed (PS2 versions) Part 1

The Need For Speed racing series focuses predominantly on street racing and car customisation, with different event types and goals throughout the game series. I'm going to be taking a look at the "second era" of these games, with every title released for the Sony Playstation 2, from 2003's Underground to 2008's Undercover.

Game: Need For Speed: Underground
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: EA
Release Date: 17th November 2003

The first game in the "second era" of the Need For Speed series, Underground took to the PS2 with an emphasis on street racing with a selection of import cars which could be tuned up aesthetically and performance-wise. All races take place in a generic city at night, which is not to say that the city is boring, landmark-wise, however its name is never mentioned and the player is not able to explore it outside of the races.

The goal of career mode in the game is to gain the #1 spot in every racing discipline in the city, these include Circuit, Drag, Sprint and Drift racing. To challenge the respective place holders (you start unranked, attempting to move into the #10 spot for each type of racing) the player must impress in a series of seemingly unimportant races, before receiving a message from the racer they wish to challenge. This formula can get a little stale as you progress especially with 10 places to each of the 4 racing types to obtain.

The gameplay is faced paced, with the tracks and city nicely rendered. Although the maximum of 4 cars in a race seems small by today's standards, the races remain close most of the time, although the game can be a little to easy to beat if you're experienced with the series. Drag races are interestingly different from the circuit and sprint events, with manual gears and an automatic lane switch system, leaving you to solely focus on your gearing. Drift mode is also markedly different from the others, requiring the player to master more than just one racing skill.

Musically the game has a tracklist of varied songs which fit the night racing mood decently, but allows you to choose which songs play if there are any which are too far outside your tastes. Car customisation options are unlocked by winning races, and style points, earned by drifting and doing other dangerous maneuvers. Compared to games later in the series there's not a whole lot of choice in terms of bodykits and paint options, but its in line with games of its time.

Overall Need For Speed Underground was an impressive game for it's time and its race experience still compares favourably with later installments. The style point system and customisation options are strong points of the game, although the repetitive nature of the career mode brings the replay value and overall completion incentive down somewhat.

Rating: 75/100
Grade: B

Game: Need For Speed Underground 2
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: EA
Release Date: 15th November 2004

Adding SUV's, refillable nitrous and perhaps most importantly open world exploration between races, Need For Speed Underground 2 is a sequel that surpasses its predecessor in a lot of ways. There's a wider selection of cars, including SUV's for added variety, more customisation options and some new race modes in the form of Street X and the Underground Racing League.

The game begins with some backstory (although as with most plots in NFS games its contrived and can be easily ignored without too much loss), using a comic book style to illustrate the cutscenes. Its nice to actually have some sort of perceived motive for winning street races, but winning races is all you really need to do to complete the game.

With an open world map in the game, choosing your races works the same as in the previous installment, except you have to drive to them to begin competing. You can still choose in which races you want to compete although sponsorship deals are a new feature which will offer perks for winning certain types of races. New race types are Street X which features short tracks with tight corners, leading a lot of jostling between competitors, and Underground Racing League races which feature 6 opponents on track at one time, and no traffic, more like a sports racing game than a street racer. Drift Races also feature all 4 opponents on track at one time, instead of just your own car in the previous installment.

The player can also choose to challenge any other racers they meet around the street, with the simple press of a button. This will initiate a mini challenge for extra money, or "bank" which the game chooses to constantly refer to it as. This, alongside the comic cutscenes seem to be the worst features of this installment. Other than that the music leaves something to be desired, with a forgettable collection of "EA Trax", which are possibly best turned down on the mixer in favour of your own favourite music.

Overall then, Need For Speed 2 delivers an updated racing experience with more cars, an open world map and a plot of some kind. Although the 2 racing modes it added were shortlived (we've not seen Street X since, and URL races only seemed to rear their head again in ProStreet as the main part of gameplay), they don't detract from the experience. The graphics are nice, not massively better than the first game but an improvement, and the changes in weather are a classy touch. Musically and attitude wise the game feels a little off, with the best course of action being to ignore all NPC's and cutscenes, but on the whole its a better game.

Rating: 79/100
Grade: B

Game: Need For Speed Most Wanted
Console: Sony PlayStation 2
Developer: EA
Release Date: 25th November 2005

With two fairly successful 'Underground' titles in preceding years, you'd have forgiven EA for making a third game under that title. Luckily what they did was much, much better; adding action packed police chases, tollbooth time trials and a challenge mode, Need For Speed Most Wanted impresses right off the bat in terms of gameplay and features. For a start there's structured goals; achieve certain feats in police chases, and win these races to challenge the next player on the blacklist, the car selection is bigger and better than ever (with no SUV's), and there's miles of open road to roam around.

Graphically at least, it seems more realistic than the previous installments, perhaps only due to the fact that it isn't constantly night-time, the bright colours of trees and other decorative roadside objects finally visible. There's a good sense of speed, thanks to motion blur and good use of processing power. The cars themselves are nicely rendered with more choice than the last 2 installments and more cars in the high performance category.

The career mode progression is split into 2 parts, completing races (circuit, sprint, drag, lap knockout, tollbooth and speedtrap) and accruing enough police bounty through pursuit milestones, to challenge the next player on the blacklist. The tollbooth time trials and speedtrap races are new additions to the series, the first being a simple single player time trial race, and the second a race where finishing first doesn't guarantee a win, places are decided on who went fastest through set points on the course. Both of these modes have good gameplay and stand out from the other racing modes.

The police pursuits are possibly the best feature of the game, challenging the player to rethink their approach to racing through the streets. Dotted around the map are hiding places and pursuit breakers which can throw off trailing cops, another new feature is the speedbreaker which puts the game into slow motion for a short time, allowing the player to dodge a roadblock or pull off difficult maneuvers which may not otherwise be possible.

Outside of career mode there's also the challenge mode which uses pursuit combos and tollbooth times as trials with which to test the player. This can be helpful to build up skills for career mode, or just as a break from it. Musically the soundtrack has a lot of enjoyable songs, which fit well with the action on screen. Police chases have their own theme to evoke the tension onscreen, and this adds to the overall feel of the game.

This installment of Need For Speed delivers on a lot of levels, the career mode is engaging with plenty of challenge both from races and pursuits, the car customisation options as well as the choice of cars is wide and the map is larger than both of the previous installments. The AI racers can sometimes obviously use "rubberbanding" to give a closer result to races, and police pursuits can be difficult to evade after enough time being chased, but on the whole what could have been another night-time street racing series game became something much more enjoyable with its own character.

Rating: 86/100
Grade: B