Need For Speed Underground 2

","thumbnailUrl":" -99b1-41cc-b834-2ab07c5d2077/imgingest-5709031622772391153.png?auto=webp&fit=crop&height=675&width=1200"},"name":"Need for Speed Underground 2","applicationCategory":"Games","applicationSubCategory":"Driving Games","image":null,"description":"Uncover the tuner underground in a massive, free-roaming metropolis. Get behind the wheel in one of 30 of the hottest cars and own the streets from dusk 'til dawn. Explore the city, encountering underground races, hidden hideouts, secret shops, and unexpected challengers With comprehensive performance tuning options, all-new game modes, and the most sought-after cars on the circuit, Need for Speed Underground 2 delivers the most authentic tuner experience ever.

Customization in Underground 2 was significantly expanded compared to previous iterations from the series. Visual customization has expanded with the ability to customize the car's front and rear bumpers, side skirts, spoiler, hood, exhaust tips, doors, roof scoop, wheels (including the ability to put on spinners), headlights and taillights, side mirrors and paint. Vinyls and decals can also be added, as well as car stereos (speakers, amplifiers & subwoofers), hydraulics, nitrous bottles, and under glow neon. Most visual modifications to the car have no actual effect on vehicle performance. The sound systems, for example, could be put in the trunk of cars but served no purpose other than visual cues. Hydraulics can be used in combination with nitrous at a start of a race which can cause a car to do a wheelie and for some cars get a better launch. The performance and handling of the car are affected by cosmetic modifications, like spoilers and hoods, which affect the downforce of the car - better spoilers allow better tuning of the downforce management both in front and in the back of the vehicle. Visual upgrades increase a car's visual rating, up to a rating of 10.0. At least one car in a career garage needs to be visually upgraded to a 10.0 rating to unlock all 10 DVD events (completing these rewards the player with a DVD cover), and each stage has a required number of DVD events.

Need For Speed Underground 2

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GameSpot gave the mobile phone version a score of 9.2 out of 10 and said that it "isn't just the best racing game ever made for a mobile phone; it's also a much-needed showcase for V Cast technology. This game boasts game length and replay value so many orders beyond the mobile norm that it calls for a total paradigm shift. Simply put, mobile gaming just got a much-needed kick up the evolutionary ladder."[65] IGN gave the same version a score of eight out of ten and called it "a big step for mobile gaming, in my opinion. While there are things I did not like about the game -- loading and some control issues -- I cannot deny that this is one hell of a package. If you want a game that maxes out your 3D handset, Need for Speed Underground 2 is the game to get."[66]

According to Electronic Arts, Need for Speed: Underground 2 sold above 8.4 million units worldwide by the end of 2004.[69] The PlayStation 2 version of Underground 2 received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[70] indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[71] The game ultimately sold around 11 million copies[72] and entered the "best-sellers" of each console, PS2's Greatest Hits,[citation needed] Xbox's Platinum Hits,[citation needed] and GameCube's Player's Choice.[citation needed]

Electronic Arts' upcoming follow-up to last year's Need for Speed Underground, appropriately titled Need for Speed Underground 2, has been making steady strides with its November release since we last saw the game. The title builds on the winning detour in the straightforward Need for Speed series that took the venerable franchise into the underground racing scene. But, much like how its predecessor tweaked the established NFS formula, Need for Speed Underground 2 is mixing old and new elements to offer a comprehensive step up from the original game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. We got our hands on near-final versions of the upcoming game for all three consoles to see how it's looking now that EA is quickly approaching the homestretch.

Of course, as nice as it is to explore the city, NFSU2 is really all about winning races, earning money, and looking really cool while doing it all. The open-ended structure of the game lets you focus on the kinds of races you're most comfortable with and lets you bypass any trouble spots. To progress, you only need to complete a certain amount of objectives, which gives you the freedom to structure your rise to fame to your tastes. As you become well known you'll be able to visit "showcase" locales, which let you pose your car for glamour shots that will be in magazines. As your fame grows, you'll be invited to elite Underground Racing League competitions, which serve as milestones in your journey to become the ultimate racer.

Control in the game is solid and it works well with the tweaked handling. You'll find that flashy moves such as powersliding and the like are a little easier to pull off. Performing this move and others like it is essential to success in the game. The new nitrous system in NFSU2 fills your nitro gauge, whereas last year's game was a little stingy with the nitro. This time around you'll find that good players will rarely be without their precious speed boost once they perfect their powerslides. The nitrous system will be much more dynamic, allowing you to fill it up by performing all manner of racing feats. The style points system has been beefed up and it now awards you with points for near misses, powerslides, and other feats of driving prowess. The points go toward filling up your car's nitrous meter (if you have a nitrous-equipped set of wheels). This new system includes the mighty "nos breaker," which you'll earn by charging your meter twice. If you manage to pull it off, you'll be able to access the überspeed burst, which lets you roll faster and longer than your standard nitrous burst. All told, the control scheme translates pretty well to the console's individual controllers, although it's a bit awkward on the GameCube pad.

However, the in-game graphics are on par with last year's game, with a mostly successful collection of additions and enhancements. The large city environment and its neighborhood subsections offer the freedom and visual variety players were left thirsting for after the original game. The slick speed effects and visual sheen seen in the original are back with some tweaks, ensuring that you are pulled into its speedy experience. The implementation of weather effects, such as rain, is cool; however, we have to admit that we're a bit underwhelmed by the "rain." In our versions of the game, it seemed more like a light drizzle. Still, the visuals in the game are looking impressive overall. It shouldn't be much of a surprise to hear that the Xbox is the best looking of the console versions, with the PlayStation 2 and GameCube following its lead. All three games look fine, but resolution, texture quality, and frame rate separate the platforms quite distinctly. It's hard to tell if the differences will be very dramatic, as our versions of the game still had some lingering frame rate issues that popped up on occasion, most notably in the GameCube version.

Audio in Need for Speed Underground 2 is sharp, with immersive sound effects, a broad soundtrack of music, and solid voice. The whole package helps paint a strong audio picture of your world. The car audio is accurate and it is given some heightened style thanks to the powerful engine sounds. Crashes and assorted collision sounds are perfect companions to the often painful visuals. There's nothing more jarring than the unsettling "crash" you hear when you slam into an obstacle and go spinning out of control after you were just humming along at high speed. The voice acting runs the gamut from fair to solid, which is good, since you'll hear a fair amount of it as you speed around the game.

Need for Speed Underground 2 will offer a variety of racing modes outside of its meaty and time-intensive career option. If you don't feel like clocking in a chunk of time building up your career, you can try your hand at seven other one-shot races to either hone your skills or have a bit of fun. You'll be able to choose from circuit, sprint, drag, drift, street x, underground racing league races, and outrun. Although many of those modes were in the last game, they have undergone some tweaks for NFSU2 and now with the additions of street x, underground racing league, and outrun competitions the game offers an engaging and varied experience outside of the career mode's roughly 150 different events.

Circuit and sprint races are dashes to the finish against a selection of opponents that are pretty much par for the course for a racer. The twist to them in NFSU 2 is the presence of traffic and the layout of the courses, which add a new level of challenge. Traffic is also a factor in the drag races in which you can participate. The mode's already challenging multitasking (keeping tabs on when to shift while making sure the car stays ahead of the competition and avoids oncoming traffic) is taken up a notch by a much more demanding traffic system. Plan on some unintentionally spectacular homages to Burnout 3 during some of your races, as traffic crops up when you least want to see it during some of your runs. Drift races, loved and loathed by players of last year's game, depending on their rate of success in the mode, are back with some fresh elements. The races will now take place in stadium-style tracks as in the original NFSU, as well as on normal tracks throughout the city, which include the dreaded traffic. The stadium races will also feature opponents on the track, and you'll be required to wrap up your business before an onscreen timer counts down, which can be challenging. The street x races are tight runs against aggressive opponents on fairly short tracks that require quite a bit of skill to navigate. The underground racing league runs are more advanced competitions that are pretty demanding in terms of skill--just something to note, if you want to avoid embarrassing yourself. This isn't too surprising, as in the proper game the races are invitation-only competitions that require you to have a certain level of reputation in order to warrant an invite. Finally, the outrun races are a game of cat and mouse that you trigger by finding specific drivers to compete against in the city in free-roaming driving sequences. Once initiated, you'll be required to not only catch up to your competitor, but also get ahead of him and maintain a certain distance in order to win--quite a tall order when you're weaving through traffic. 2ff7e9595c