Need for Speed: Underground 2
With the resounding popularity of Underground, Underground 2 came out in 2004 and built on the success of its predecessor. The biggest change for this game was an "explore" mode that allowed players to drive around the city, Bayview, in an effort to find races.
This game saw the elimination of police chases, which had been in every Need for Speed game since the first Hot Pursuit title. Customization was also tuned considerably, opening up even more options for players to create the car they’d always dreamed of. Three SUVs were also added to the game, and could be customized more heavily than the regular vehicles available.
CARS
More than 30 cars were playable in Underground 2, including the resurrected Pontiac GTO, Mazda RX-8, and Lexus IS300.
Acura RSX Type S
Audi A3
Audi TT
Cadillac Escalade
Ford Focus ZX3
Ford Mustang GT
Honda Civic Coupe Si (only in North American version)
Hummer H2
Hyundai Tiburon GT
Infiniti G35
Lexus iS300
Lincoln Navigator
Mazda Miata MX5
Mazda RX-7
Mazda RX-8
Mitsubishi 3000 GT
Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII
Nissan 240sx
Nissan 350Z
Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V
Nissan Skyline R34 GTR
Opel/Vauxhall Corsa (only in European version)
Peugeot 206 GTI
Pontiac GTO
Subaru WRX STI
Toyota Celica GT-S
Toyota Corolla GTS AE86
Toyota Supra
Volkswagen Golf GTI
TRACKS / WORLD
The city of Bayview is absolutely massive, containing five different neighborhoods, each with different features and challenges to conquer. Real-time weather effects make different parts of this city challenging to drive.
Characters
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Rachel Teller | Samantha's best friend and the player's helper, mentor and part time agent. Rachel will call the player, via SMS, throughout the game letting the player know about unlocks, upgrades, sponsorships, and racing tips. She drives a Nissan 350Z. She is mentioned in Undercover. |
| Caleb Reece | A dangerous street racer who totaled the player's car and leader of The Wraiths. Caleb controls most of the underground racing in Bayview. He drives a Pontiac GTO. He is mentioned in Undercover and is potrayed by David Palffy |
| Niki Morris | A female Wraith who will join the player after he beats her in a URL race. She drives a Modified Ford Mustang GT and is voiced by model Kelly Brook |
[edit]Gameplay
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. Still, a Lap Knockout option is available when racing Circuit in non-career races.
A circuit race is a standard race that involves up to four 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. 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 involving a maximum of four vehicles, and because of the track design there is only one lap. 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 the player drifts with the other competitors at the same time. Players race against a maximum of three competitors. Points are awarded when the player successfully slide the car and finishes the drift without hitting any walls.Like the Street X mode in Underground 2, no nitrous oxide is allowed. There are also some special downhill drift races where the player starts at the top of a hill and has to slide down from top to bottom, a drifting equivalent of a sprint race (from point A to point B). In these races, there are no other racers, however there is normal city traffic. Players increase their points by sliding past city cars. Drag racing is a point-to-point race that forces players to use a manual transmission. Steering in this mode is simplified to simply allow for line changes, while the game handles the steering along the lines, 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.
While cruising around the city, players can challenge other cruising opponents in a one-on-one race(these are called "Outrun Races"). 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.
SUVs, also known as Sport utility vehicles, was a new element added to Need For Speed: Underground 2. In this mode, players could modify, tune, and drive SUVs in the same manner as they could with normal cars. Players could choose to race in an event with SUVs only or in a mix of Cars and SUVs. Like cars, users are able to add on parts to SUVs to increase their performance and handling, however, the added weight of SUVs makes them much harder to maneuver, especially at higher speeds. SUVs were not featured in any later editions of the Need For Speed series (except as non-playable police vehicles), thus making them exclusive to Need For Speed: Underground 2.
[edit]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.
[edit]Online multiplayer
Need For Speed Underground 2 has online multiplayer capability on PlayStation 2's with broadband connections, and Xbox using Xbox Live. The online servers for PlayStation 2 are disconnected and will shut down in a few months, while EA has shut down servers for Xbox and PC, making this feature disabled, as well as causing disappointment to many loyal fans of the game.
[edit]Cars
As in Need for Speed: Underground, Underground 2 continues to offer similar vehicles for purchase and modification, most of which consist of Japanese 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 (Peugeot 106 and Vauxhall Corsa) while the NTSC version offers two different alternatives (Acura RSX and Honda Civic).
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 (amps and speakers), 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. The performance and handling of the car is affected by cosmetic modifications like spoilers and hoods, which affect the downforce of the car.
The car’s performance can also be enhanced by upgrading the car’s engine, engine control unit (ECU), transmission, suspension, adding nitrous oxide, tires, brakes, reducing the car’s weight, and adding turbos. The player has the ability to either upgrade the performance through upgrade packages or by purchasing individual parts of each performance category.
NFS: Underground 2 also introduces a dyno-tuning system which allows players to specifically tune certain aspect of the car such as suspension springs, front / rear shocks gear ratios, aerodynamics, brake bias, individual tire grip, etc. The player could then test the setting via a dyno test at which point they would be given specific information such as 0 – 60 time, max torque, etc.
[edit]Reception
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 criticized for its unstable frame rate and inferior graphics.[6] The hip-hop slang used by the characters (such as calling the money "bank"), the comic book cut scenes, and a lack of police also garnered criticism.
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