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Need for Speed: Underground 2

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Need for Speed: Underground 2
Cover art for Windows version
Developer(s)EA Games
Publisher(s)EA Games
SeriesNeed for Speed
Platform(s)Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA, NDS, Mobile
ReleaseUnited States November 15, 2004
European Union November 18, 2004
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Need for Speed: Underground 2 (NFSU2) is a multiplatform racing video game published and developed by Electronic Arts. Released in 2004, it is the sequel to Need for Speed: Underground, and is part of the Need for Speed series, available on GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and Windows. It was developed by EA Black Box.

The game is based around tuning cars for street races, resuming the Need for Speed: Underground storyline. Need for Speed: Underground 2 provides several new features, such as a broader customization, new methods of selecting races, the "explore" mode (just driving around freely, similar to Grand Theft Auto, in a large city known as "Bayview", which heavily resembles Los Angeles) with a hint of San Francisco and Las Vegas locations like the Casinos and Red and White radio tower on the mountain. Underground 2 also introduces several SUVs, which could be customized as extensively as other Underground 2 vehicles and used to race against other SUV racers. Brooke Burke is the voice of Rachel Teller, the person who guides you through the story.

On the Nintendo DS installment, users are able to design custom decals to adorn any vehicle in the game.

The PSP equivalent is Need for Speed: Underground Rivals.

Plot

Need For Speed Underground 2 takes place in Bayview after the events of Need for Speed: Underground. The prologue begins with the player driving in a Nissan Skyline GT-R in Olympic City (though the racing scenes are actually in Bayview), the setting of NFSUG. He then receives a race challenge from a rather ominous personality who offers him a spot on his crew, but "won't take 'no' for an answer." The player races off — despite Samantha's warnings — to find the guy only to be ambushed by a mysterious driver in a rage that totals his Skyline. The driver, who has a unique scythe tattoo, makes a call confirming the accident, and the flashback fades out.

Fast forward to the present day, where we see the player arriving in Bayview via airplane, with a note from Samantha referring him to her friend Rachel (Voiced over by Brooke Burke), who will set the player up there. He also has the keys to Rachel's Nissan 350Z, which is waiting for him outside the airport. The player then has the option to complete a few races in the car before inevitably returning it to the car lot, where Rachel will allow him to choose his first vehicle. This one is free, as it was paid for by the player's insurance from his totaled Skyline.

It is then that the player embarks on a quest to become the top racer in Bayview and eventually take down the man who sabotaged his ride in the flashback, who turns out to be Caleb. After winning many races, the player runs into Caleb's street racing gang, the Street Reapers. The gang has the same vinyl, paint, and rim set. The player challenges them to a series of URL races and eventually gets Caleb's second in command, Nikki, to join his side. Rachel tells the player that Caleb has been manipulating the sponsorship deals throughout Bayview towards him. After the player beats the Street Reapers, an infuriated Caleb challenges the player to one final race in his custom Pontiac GTO. The reward for beating the game is all cars and parts. If the player beats the game 100%, he gets Caleb's car. But, in order to beat the game at 100%, you must go back and race the events on the World Map in your Garage.

Characters

Name Description
Rachel Samantha's best friend and the player's helper or mentor. Rachel will call the player, via SMS, throughout the game letting the player know about unlocks, upgrades, and racing tips.
Caleb A dangerous street racer who totaled the player's car and leader of the Street Reapers. Caleb controls most of the underground racing in Bayview.
Nikki A female Reaper who will join you after you beat her in a URL race.

Racing modes

In-game Need for Speed: Underground 2 screenshot, which races are roughly similar to that of Underground and still revolve around import culture.

In addition to the racing modes included in the previous Underground game (Circuit, Sprint, Drag and Drift races), 4 new variations of races have been provided in Underground 2. One racing mode was dropped, this being the Knockout competitions.

Circuit

A circuit race is a standard race that involves up to three AI cars driving around a track that loops back to the start line of itself. A circuit race is typically a maximum of four laps and minimum of 2 laps.

Sprint

A sprint race is just like a circuit race except that the track does not loop back to the start line. It's a race from A to B. It involves a maximum of three AI cars.

Drift

Drifting is one of the easier types of racing (depending on difficulty level) in Need for Speed Underground 2. One difference to the drifting mode compared to the original Need for Speed Underground is that you are drifting with the other competitors at the same time. Players race against a maximum of three competitors. You are also required to finish within 30 seconds of the first person to cross the finish line, However, even if you don't finish in the time limit, you can still win, providing you have the most points (people often think that you MUST finish to win, but this is not the case). Points are awarded when the player successfully slide the car and finishes the drift without hitting any walls. Players can earn extra points by; drifting in the areas near the edge of the track, chain-drifting (continuously sliding the car one way then another. Don't go heavy on the brakes, because the faster you go and the more angle on the car you have, the more points you should score. Like the Street X mode in Underground 2, no nitrous oxide is allowed.

Drag

Drag racing is like sprint racing (racing from point A to point B) but the player is not required to steer the car, except for changing lanes and the player 'must' shift gears themselves. Players race against a maximum of three competitors. In order to master Drag mode, players must employ good timing and reflexes for gear shifting, overtaking, and the use of nitrous oxide boosts, the mode places particular emphasis in monitoring the tachometer during races, which is enlarged and situated on the leftmost portion of the screen. Steering in this mode is simplified to simply allow for lane changes, while the game handles the steering along the lanes, and the player focuses more on maintaining an optimum speed for the car. The Nitrous Oxide meter is enlarged and displayed on the bottom right of the screen. The race gets exceptionally harder the more drag races you miss and the more you complete the game. As the race gets harder, players must develop a strategy to win the race, add more performance parts to make the race dangerous and fast. Experience is a must.

Outrun

While cruising around the city, players can challenge other cruising opponents in a one-on-one race. The leader is given the freedom to pick his/her racing route, and must attempt to outrun the opponent and distance itself from him/her to as much as 300 meters (1000 feet) to win. This racing formula is similar to that of Tokyo Xtreme Racer and Wangan Midnight video games, which uses health bars instead of distance to determine the winner. Once a certain amount of victories have been won by player in certain levels, the player is awarded a unique part free of charge by another racer.

Sometimes, when following an Outrun opponent, he or she might join up with three other Outrun opponents and start a race. If you keep on following them, this race continues forever. But you must be close or they will disappear. Starting an Outrun race with one of the racing Outrun cars will make the other cars flash and will soon disappear.

SUV

A special mode where all racers use an SUV. These vehicles are very slow at first, but gradually begin to get faster as you add on the performance parts. EA discontinued the use of SUV’s in later editions due to the unpopularity of them.

Street X

Street X involves bumper to bumper racing against three other opponents on a short and small circuit based on the Drift tracks from Need for Speed: Underground, except these tracks no longer induce excessive drifts. Instead, this mode emphasizes precise braking and gear-shifting in order to obtain shorter lap times and win races. To make this event easier to do, tune your car up with handling performance parts. Like the Drift mode, no nitrous oxide is allowed.

Underground Racing League (URL)

The URL is a set of tournaments which takes place in a specific set of closed tracks outside city streets - either actual racing circuits or airport runways. URL tournaments typically consist of one to three races, with the player racing against five opponents. In tournaments with two or more races, a points system is used. At the end of each race, drivers receive a specific amount of points according to their standing in a race. The total score at the end of these races determines the winner of the tournament.

Online Multiplayer

Need For Speed Underground 2 had online multiplayer capability on PlayStation 2's with broadband connections, and Xbox using Xbox Live. The online servers for PlayStation 2 are not up, and EA has shut down servers for Xbox, making this feature disabled.[citation needed]

Cars

As in Need for Speed: Underground, Underground 2 continues to offer similar vehicles for purchase and modification, most of which consist of Asian models, with a sizable number of European and American models. In addition, Underground 2 is the only game in the Need for Speed series to date to offer three SUVs as racing vehicles, which may be modified more extensively than their compact counterparts. A total of 29 vehicle models are available for both versions of the game plus 2 unique for each of them, the PAL version of the game offers an additional two cars that the NTSC version doesn't have and vice versa.

Missing Features

Although the game tips suggest that these features are useable, EA employees have decided to drop them. One feature is the ability to swap cars, which has been removed in the final edition. The second feature is Megalow Performance Shops. If you find specific performance shops, they are named Megalow Performance Shops, but their prices do not differ from regular performance shops.

Soundtrack

  1. Snoop Dogg featuring The Doors - "Riders On The Storm" (Fredwreck Remix)
  2. Capone - "I Need Speed"
  3. Chingy - "I Do"
  4. Sly Boogy - "That'z My Name"
  5. Xzibit - "LAX"
  6. Terror Squad - "Lean Back"
  7. Fluke - "Switch/Twitch"
  8. Christopher Lawrence - "Rush Hour"
  9. Felix da Housecat - "Rocket Ride" (Soulwax Remix)
  10. Sin - "Hard EBM"
  11. FREELAND - "Mind Killer" (Jagz Kooner Remix)
  12. Paul Van Dyk - "Nothing But You (Cirrus Remix)"
  13. Sonic Animation - "E-Ville"
  14. Killing Joke - "The Death & Resurrection Show"
  15. Rise Against - "Give it All"
  16. Killradio - "Scavenger"
  17. The Bronx - "Notice of Eviction"
  18. Ministry - "No W"
  19. Queens of the Stone Age - "In My Head"
  20. Mudvayne - "Determined"
  21. Septembre - "I am Weightless"
  22. Helmet - "Crashing Foreign Cars"
  23. Cirrus - "Back on a Mission"
  24. Spiderbait - "Black Betty"
  25. Skindred - "Nobody"
  26. Snapcase - "Skeptic"
  27. Unwritten Law - "The Celebration Song"
  28. Rob Zombie - "Demon Speeding"

Reception and criticism

The game sold 9 million copies,[1] and entering the "best-sellers" of each console (PS2's Greatest Hits, Xbox's Platinum Hits and GameCube's Player's Choice).

Reviews were positive,[2] but many elements were criticized, such as having to drive excessive amounts to get to specific races,[3] bland voice acting[4] and strong product placement for companies with no connection to auto racing, such as integrating the logo for Cingular, an American wireless communications company, into the game's messaging system and displaying it on-screen for much of the gameplay.[5] The GameCube version was also bashed for its unstable frame rate.[6] The hip-hop slang used by the characters (such as calling the money "bank") and the comic book cut scenes were also criticized.

The sound systems, for example, could be put in the trunk of cars, but made the car slower.[7]

carbon-fiber parts are slowrcs of the vehicles, bodykits that serve no aerodynamic value, roof scoops, spinners, custom mirrors, head and taillight changes, and rear wing choices, which make the car slower.[8]

Online

As of March 2008, online is now down for this title.[9]

References

  1. ^ EA Community Day: The Godfather Game Editorial, Video Game Media
  2. ^ Need for Speed: Underground 2 at Game Rankings
  3. ^ Review at GameSpot
  4. ^ Review at IGN
  5. ^ GameSpot Best and Worst of 2004: Most Despicable Product Placement
  6. ^ Review at GameSpy
  7. ^ http://underground2.multiply.com/
  8. ^ http://underground2.multiply.com/journal/item/1/Need_for_Speed_Underground_2_Glitches
  9. ^ http://www.ea.com/information.jsp
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