by Kyle - March 11, 2005

Have you ever wondered what it�s like in the street racing world? Need For Speed Underground 2 has the best experience to offer. As you begin, you are flown into the city of Bayview due to a rival racing gang in your old town. A friend of yours leaves her car there for you to get started with purchasing your new car. From that point, it�s up to you to get back into the street racing leagues.

Racing, girls, and everything else

When I first started playing this game, the only thing that came to mind was, �Wow!� Of all the racing games I�ve played so far, this one definitely has it all. Even though there�s no race tracks, there is 125 miles of various roads city streets and highways.

In game advertisements one thing that�s starting to drive a lot of recent games down. Driving throughout the city you talk to your friend using a Cingular Wireless phone inside your car while driving by stores like Best Buy. If you pay attention, you see stuff like this all the time but never notice it. With Need For Speed Underground 2 you see many stores and buildings but none of them have titles until you come across a big blue building with a yellow price tag called Best Buy. It�s the little things like this that stand out in a game. It may be what the producer wants, but when you�re playing an interesting game do you really want to see advertisements for various companies?

As for as controls go I found this much easier than games without steering wheel and gas pedal. Using the R trigger is so much easier to maintain a steady speed on corners and turns. The reverse and brake is on the L trigger which allows for easier braking and drifting. Drifting is something you don�t see much of on other racing games. There are some races where you just have to gain a certain number of points by drifting and how you place with time doesn�t matter.

Like other racing games you select your races and shops from a menu. With this game, you actually drive to your events as if you would in real life. This is much better for after buying parts for a car and being able to test them out on the streets before you race again. Everything is scattered throughout the city and after a little while, you can find your way around very easily.

Was this a game or movie?

The graphics on this game were just amazing. At various times, I felt as if I was playing first-person in a street racing movie such as The Fast And The Furious. At night driving your headlights match exactly as they would in real life. If you haven�t seen any of the screen shots yet, what are you waiting for?

There is nothing better than a game with close to perfect graphics and still seems as realistic as it should. When you�re driving into the garage or any other shop it changes views so you�re seeing your car drive in from above. While you�re buying upgraded parts for your vehicle you can turn the view angle to see exactly how it looks before you add it on.

Needs more selection

It has become obvious that a lot of people think that others that are interested in street racing and games affiliated with it are hard set on rap and other hardcore music. You don�t have to be a rapper or like it to play a racing game. It would have been much better if there had been a bit more variety with the selection on music.

At least the engine noise aligned with how you were driving along with the type of car you had. I can give credit for that. There still could have been a little more emphasis on the acceleration.

Not your average racer

There is definitely plenty to do in a game like this. As you start off you go off to get a car of your own. From that point there are plenty of races to be won and companies to sponsor you. The companies that sponsor you hold their own racing events which have better prize money for winning.

After you�ve completed the game you can upgrade the difficulty to give yourself a better challenge. Each car is also fully customizable to suit your specific preferences on looks and feel.

Fun for everyone

What makes a game from good to better is whether or not it has a decent multiplayer. Need For Speed Underground 2 includes many different modes and types of game play. For example, you can do drag races with cars which is based all on your correct timing in shifting gears. The closer to perfect shifting you do, the faster your car will accelerate. Along with the timing, your car will stay in one lane on drag racing and will only switch lanes when you push either the left or right arrow buttons. You use this is for avoiding other cars as you zoom down the street.

All depends on your style

If you�re the type who likes something different from your average racing game, then this is definitely for you. You�ll enjoy all that Need For Speed Underground 2 has to offer including its long story line and its incredible multiplayer.