Need for Speed Underground - PC game review

It's a standard racing game and, like any other racing game, racing features heavily. On top of that is the amount of customisation available to hot up the cars. Or perhaps it's a concession. Especially given the lemons you're saddled with at the start of the Underground mode which makes up the "career" aspect of the game.

Neutered, the cars initially on offer run the gamut from mediocre to plain. Aiming to pull off race wins and tricks will mean more money and the availing of decals, vinyls and car part enhancements such as spoilers and drive-trains. Most of the game is devoted to hotting up the cars and scoring kudos, so it's no wonder the few cars offered to start the game are pretty lame in both performance and appearance.

As racing games go, there can be only so many times that racing around a track isn't boring. This isn't helped in NFSU by the fact that there are few tracks or courses on offer, and most of those are the reverse of another or bring in a new route through detours of the streetscapes. Combating this is the fact that the game has several different modes of play.

Sprint, Circuit and Lap Knockout modes provide the standard runs as expected. Points are awarded for nearly crashing into oncoming traffic, while grabbing air or catching a shortcut also add to the score. Drafting - driving behind another car's slipstream - is another point-scorer. There's no realism in these racing styles: when a crash happens and you find yourself counting the number of flips, the car will just land ready for commencement. The only indication that you were in a crash comes in the form of a spidered windshield.

The concept of underground racing doesn't run through all the modes. There's something called Drift mode. Basically the aim of the races in this is to see how far and how many times you can drive your car sideways. Upsetting this is the fact that while the rest of the races happen on the streets, this practice is pretty much sanctioned; out of form and feel. The longer you can keep your car out of control and clean off the barriers, the more style points you're awarded toward plastering your car body with vinyls. The Underground cachet is lost in this as the very premise of it seems to be set aside, with no real danger of hitting families on their way home.

Then there's the serene Drag mode. Automatic drivers will be saddled with having to manage gear shifts in keeping their cars in contention for the winner's spot. Fail to master the changes and a blown engine is your reward, something that is sorely lacking in the sprint modes. At certain speeds the screen takes on a life of its own, shaking and shimmying, while handling is made slightly harder as well. This is quite fun as play sees oncoming traffic slowly-at-first-then-quickly come right into the line of sight. This takes more nerve than the other modes as a crash sends your car out of the race and totaled, with no chance of catching up.

People clutching for some sort of realism would be happy to note that the Godfrey Gospel Singers are double-booked. During the eternal night of the race, a board outside some church is harping their arrival for the night's entertainment. Only a few blocks away another building has them billed. What will the audience think when they hear the faint sounds of the gospel songs coming from the other venue? Nothing... there aren't any people walking the streets, so it's quite possible the world is filled with nothing more than people driving cars around in an endless night. Given despair at realising the gravity of their situation, they can just console themselves with watching the Need for Speed movie playing at The Marquis.

The options are about as customisable as the car itself. Audio throws up a few varying components such that, if you want, you can race around listening only to the screeching screech of your tires. There are no police, which would have been nice addition given the legality of actually competing in a street race, but then that would probably be like the previous Need for Speed games. There's plenty in the way of save slots and for each profile there's eight. That's quite a lot. There's also an online component, the chance to play against others from around the world, something not tested when writing this. The cut scenes are few and vapid, although the 3D animations and voices are well done. The note of progression of a storyline is pretty minimal, if that.

Considering the type of racing, the soundtrack isn't for easy, pleasant coasting. Rob Zombie, Fuel, Petey Pablo, and lostprophets are some of the artists throwing out their larynxes. Frenetic, brutal and pretty much pissed off, they add nicely to the style of play (read: aggressive) needed to attempt to understand the heads of people who do this in real life.

That's about it. It's a racing game. No chances to pull off multi-layered combinations here.

The Good: Soundtrack makes for complementary listening.

The Bad: Soulless storyline focuses mainly on rankings and magazine covers.

The Vibe: Enjoyable repetition.

Soon Van

Published April 2004 at Vibewire.net - vibewire.net

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