Vroom, vroom. Need for Speed: Undercover is here! Does it have what it takes to be the next big racing game? Read our Review
Game: Need for Speed: Undercover
Platforms: 360, PS3, PS2, DS, PSP, Wii, iPhone, PC
Multiplayer: 8 players online
Genre: Racing
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: Black Box
ESRB Rating: T for Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Blood, Violence
Pros: Fun driving and gameplay, Amazing sounds,
Cons:Not the best of graphics, Needs more car damage, Cops get annoying after awhile, Nothing to do in free roam
About:
The game’s story mode sets the player in the story as a police officer going undercover into the criminal underground of Tri-City, a fictional city where the game is set. Players take on dangerous jobs and compete in races in order to infiltrate and take down a ruthless international crime smuggling syndicate of street racers and car thieves. The player’s only contact to the police is federal handler Chase Linh, played by Maggie Q.
Rambling:
It’s nice that the game has a free roam, but why not hide something for me to find? I have this big open area and really nothing to do other then a big test area for my car.
Gameplay:
4/5 – Singleplayer
I guess the main quest here is, “Is the driving good?” If you’re playing a racing game, it has to work. You don’t want to play a racing game and the cars don’t react correctly or you don’t get that sense of speed that you should. Well, you don’t have to worry about any of that here, the driving in NFSU is tons of fun and works very well.
With this Need for Speed, they brought back cops. The cops were a lot of fun to take out at first, but after a while they just get really annoying and in the way. “And why do they only come after me? There are seven other racers here, can’t you go after one of them?”
Some frame rate drop when playing but nothing to bad.
The menus in NFSU, when buying car parts or going to the options, are very slow and annoying. It’s not annoying like, I can’t find what I want; it’s annoying at how long it takes to load.
3/5 – Multiplayer
It has the normal races circuit and sprint, but it also has a new mode called “Cops and Robbers” where four people are cops and four are the robbers. It’s a neat idea, but really it isn’t all that good, and could have been left out.
There was no lag online, so that’s good.
3/5 – Graphics:
The graphics aren’t really that good. The time is set at sunset all the time and it gives the game kind of a orange look all the time, which isn’t that pretty.
Car models are nice looking, but other games have done it better.
Unlike Burnout Paradise that came out last year, this game doesn’t really have damage. Your hood might fly off and your paint kinda looks like it gets scratched but nothing to the point of Burnout.
Also there’s horrible pop-ins. You will come over a mountain and out of know were a building would pop-in.
5/5 – Sound:
I love me some good sounds in video games and this Need for Speed has some really nice engine effects.
In the end:
If you’re getting a little tired of Burnout and want a new driving game to play, NFSU is a good choice. But, after a while it’s not one of those racing games that I will keep coming back to like Burnout or Forza. Very good rent for a week but not worth a buy.
4/5 – Rent it
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