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The Need For Speed franchise has gone through
many changes in its now substantial list of updates and re-births,
but none have been so radical as those found in Need For Speed
Underground. The series has taken a turn to the arcade more
forcefully than before and the results are... promising.
Electronic Arts have obviously had a thing for the
Burnout franchise for some time. Need For Speed Underground
seems to borrow very heavily from the second instalment of
Criterion Studios' series, and EA have recently snapped up the
rights to publish the series' third title. The game features
several modes of play, all of which are the pretty usual racing
game features. The Story Mode (Into The Underground) offers
the unlockables as you progress through a
series of set challenges, earning style points and money as you
progress. The style points will earn your car more street cred,
while
the money you earn can be spent on the parts and features you unlock.
This is an interesting and entertaining feature that was has been
sorely missing from the arcade variations of racing titles, and
what with even futuristic titles such as F-Zero GX picking
up the pace, it was about time somebody gave the arcade racers a
nudge. From the outset, the selection of tracks available
is depressingly uninspiring, taking the Burnout route of
offering more tracks by creating variations of an original
track... but most of the tracks are only variations of the
first stable track! The controls for the
title are incredibly responsive. They seem to fit perfectly with
the game and with a little practice offer powersliding with ease.
The opposition makes for some interesting races. The
rival cars' AI often leads them to make sharp turns into the side
of your car, or to run along side you when they're intending on
going straight. It's never quite clear whether the opposition has
been programmed to try and run you off the road, or whether
they're just following their predetermined route which you happen
to be on. The graphics engine for the game seems to have been,
unfortunately, created for either the GameCube or Xbox. You can
easily tell what EA where trying to do, the lighting effects seem
to work well, the reflections on the cars and the distance drawn.
But it appears as though the graphics haven't been "toned down"
enough for the PlayStation2's inferior graphics processing
capabilities and polygon pop-up, slow-down and hazy foregrounds
all add up to a disappointing, often infuriating visual display.
EA just seem to have been trying to push the boat out a bit far
this time.
The sound quality of the title is brilliant. No
arguments here. Supplied compatible with both Pro Logic II
and THX it seems as though everyone is catered for. The
game features 26 tracks from hip-hop and rock artists and, for
once, EA have chosen quite an admirable set of artists, including:
Crystal Method, Static-X and Rob Zombie. The music is
crystal-clear with minimal loading times between changing tracks,
and the sound-effects are pin-sharp.
The title on the whole, as you pick it up, has all
the hallmarks of being a great game. The graphics are polished and
acceptable, the handling feels as it should, there's a wealth of
options and features to unlock, a variety of cars, brilliant
sound... but there's just too many averages and flaws to
categorise this as anything above par for it's genre. If you've
never been blessed with the honour of playing Burnout 2
this could well be seen as the most intense racing game you've
ever purchased... but then, you could probably find Burnout 2
for half the price.
Kev J.
Reviews Score Table Interpretation. 31/03/04 Each of these articles has been
written either independently of Electronic Theatre or by an
external viewer. The opinions discussed in these articles in no way
reflects the opinions of Electronic Theatre. If you wish to enquire about pricing of any
titles for these formats not listed on this site, drop me a line at kjoyce@electronictheatre.co.uk |
