Need For Speed Underground
 

Is this out yet? The release date was supposed to be 11/17/03.

I'm not a big fan of the NFS series (although Hot Pursuit 2 is pretty good), but this one definitely looks like the best one of them all. Especially with all the customizations you can do to the car. Has anyone played it?

Yeah, this game is out. I picked it up on the PC. The graphics are pretty sweet, but the controls are a little too 'arcade-ish'. There are A LOT of customization to do in the 'Underground' mode. I hear there's only 20 cars though. You might want to rent it before you decide to buy it.

NFS Underground...
 

I'm not much of a gamer in terms of racing (actually I pretty much suck on it) but I could probably rate NFS Underground equal to NFS Porsche Unleashed. The physics are very good (except for no damage model).

Graphics are quite remarkable considering the two tracks I've played in circuit mode (I am certainly a bad one at that since I couldn't even unlock the other tracks).

IGN rated this a 9.0.

I saw someone playing it yesterday at EB and was amazed at the graphics...the streets look amazing in it, so wet and pavement like..i already have midnight club 2, but i might have to buy this..dangit!

If you like drag racing this is the only game that has EVER got it right.

Awesome game. Been playing it since last night. The racing is fun... i love arcade style racers far better then simulations. Customizing your car is easy and straightforward... although there doesnt seem to be a whole lot of variations as far as performance enhancements so far (although i'm only on level 1). I think this is the most fun i've had with a racing game ever.

The camera is annoying because it has "2Fast 2 Furious" style, meaning that when you use the nitro the enviornment blurs and any time you are over 100 MPH the camera shakes.

I like the Fast Furious movies because they're fun, but when you're trying to race it's just really annoying.

Also, the graphics aren't very impressive on XBOX running through component cables into my 51" 16x9.

I like the game though maybe not as much as the previous NFS series. I don't like the fact I have the money to buy upgrades and can't buy anything because everything is locked. I may pcik up later if there is a price drop but for now it is just a renter.

Any cops in this one?

Nope.

Is there some trick to opening the upgrades? I have about 9000 in the bank and nothing that I have veen able to buy all I keep winning are vinyl and those do nothing even for reputation.

Just race more maps and get more style points. That's pretty much it... the game is actually fairly linear, letting you upgrade certain things at certain times, which is kind of a shame.

It is just strange to have a game where I can afford to upgrade but can't. And now I am partly into level two upgrades and I still have 15,000 in the bank.

Ya, the upgrading kind of sucks. Despite having enough money, you have to work your way up through more races and reputation. The reputation meter is the worst aspect of the game. I hate the ricer culture with a passion, but I love some japanese super cars (supra, 3kgt, skyline, fairlady, etc) so I like the performance aspect, but hate the flashy shit. I got as far as I could without ricing out my car, but it comes to a certain point where you are forced to to gain reputation stars to be able to go onto the next race. I believe once you complete the game you can take all that shit off and still have your fast car though.

Overall I think it's a great game. I'm having a lot of fun with it, and am going to buy a wheel for that and Colin Mcrae 3.

I agree the other thing I hate is why does every car have the same body kit. I guess the game is ok overall but I was really let down.

couldve used cops, damage modeling and CUSTOM SOUNDTRACKS! BUT DAMN DOES THIS GAME F&*&(ING ROCK! Ive played about 10 hours in 2 days...im loving this game, its so addicting, and guaranteed that the above mentioned will definately be added in the sequel!

Well, I was having tons of fun with this game until I got to stage 59/111.

At this point I've pretty much stopped playing b/c the game went past the fun point and into the annoying zone. It's just WAY too difficult for me.

The lack of variety is very noticeable now too.

I beat this game awhile back on the Xbox (and so did my roommate)... we loved it. I thought the upgrades were handled perfectly and the customization was alot of fun. The thing about the performance upgrades, if you don't install them, the other cars you race against don't have them installed either (a little tip if you're having problems with a certain race - I only had to do this on one race), so there's really no hurry to get the next upgrade. Thing is - I felt like the upgrades came just in time to keep me from losing interest. Well balanced game. It was a little buggy (some custom vinyls didn't fit right with certain cars and some parts caused crazy graphical phenomenons during races)... it probably could've used another month or two to work out the minor bugs. Otherwise, it was great.

The reason I'm drudging up this thread actually is cuz I was looking for a Midnight Club 2 thread and didn't see one. I recently picked it up cheap and played it tonight. I don't like this game. Does anyone like the Midnight Club series? If so... Why? I mean, compared to NFSU - it's no contest... but even comparing it to older games like Project Gotham 1 or Gran Tourismo 3 it's not that good. How does it compare to Auto Modelista? Anyone looking forward to the Fast and the Furious game? I saw some raw footage on IGN and it looks like it might be decent.

I had MCII for the Xbox when it came out and I can also say I was thoroughly disappointed. Everyone was talking like it was the greatest arcade racer ever back then. I thought the controls were good, but the races were totally poorly designed. Too many hidden shortcuts that the CPU would take advantage of, and as a result I got sick of playing the same race 100 times over just to nail that one shortcut perfectly so I could finish first. And don't even mention online play - boring modes, disrespectful players.

PG2 is the king of all arcade racers, IMO. Next is TXR for the DC - Genki makes some great racers so I can't wait to check out Drift Racer this month. And if you can, check out Burnout 2 and Pro Race Driver for the Xbox - both are receiving sequels this year.

Auto Modelista is really really bad. It has arcade controls but sim consequences, so any minor mistake and you are out of the race. Graphics are sweet though.

I haven't seen much of the Fast and the Furious game, but one to check out is Acclaim's new title Juiced which is coming out later this year:

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/driving/juiced/

Jeremy

If any nfs game needed cops to be in it, it wouldve been this one, only thing missing really, that and the replays.......those were always sweet................I used to save them, when you had a really good train wreck of a race.

what! im running this game thru s-video to my 53 inch projection tv and it looks AWESOME! sumthings wrong with your setup or your eyes.

Cops definately! im sure theyre saving that for underground 2 ;)

i finished this game about a month ago..took me a few weeks, probably spent 20 hours...there was just one or two courses that just drove me crazy, had to keep restarting the track, or just playing it on easy.

it was fun at first but near the end it just gets repetitive and i kinda just lost interest but i still kept on playing it to finish. once a while some friends and i will fire it up to do our favorite thing, drifting. (with the RX7 or Miata)

I can see how someone wouldn't like this series, but for me I think they really nailed street racing down. It has flashy tricks which are actually functional which I think is great. The sense of speed in the game is also incredible. I do think its really hard, almost too hard, and certain laps have to be played over and over and over and over again until you find a line that works for you and after you find that line no make any major mistakes. I also liked the fact that the races were pretty open ended as oppossed to the NFS series with the few short cuts but still being pretty linear. So thats why I like MC and MCII.

I also love the NFS series, with Hot Pursuit 2 being a high point (how badass were those cops?). I've only played the demo of Underground and from what I've seen it looks like its going to be a blast to play. They really did a great job on the sound (shifting gears, nitrous). Both series deliver fun which is a must in my racing games, something that Gran Turismo (outside of part 1) just couldn't do for me. I never really was a gear head or sim fan. I would say to stick with MC2 for a while (until you get used to the controls and all), there really is some fun to be had.

Yeah - I'll keep trying MC2... maybe I would've liked it more if I hadn't already played through NFSU. I doubt they'll put cops in NFSU2 unless it's Hot Pursuit. I'm sure they will come out with a few more NFS titles though... I've been with the series since the first game on the PC. I think I logged the most hours on NFS2SE.

I have Burnout 2 and I've played Burnout - to be honest, I really can't get into them. It's fun for about 10 - 20 minutes at a time and then I gotta ditch it for months at a time... kinda like Serious Sam. I have Pro Race Driver on preorder at half.com and I'm interested to check it out. I have Apex, Rallisport and Total Immersion Racing... Rallisport is good, but Apex and Total Immersion are both pretty average. I have other racing games, but so far only a few have kept my attention. There's a few I'm looking forward to...

I think I've hit a wall in PGR2 - I'm at the Ferrari section and can't beat any of the races (for silver medals)... I guess I could try for a bronze or steel, but I'd like to beat it with at least silvers. Guess I'm not very good. :)

Yeah, Apex and TIR got mostly mediocre ratings, with Apex getting the nod because it was the most beautiful racing game (at that time, now unseated by PGR2). You will like Pro Race Driver. If you are familiar with any of the old Codemaster TOCA games, this is the same series and is the logical progression of those titles. Although I wish they would have kept the European slant, they kind of aimed toward the NASCAR crowd with all the southern references. But it's more of a racing RPG, and it makes things refreshing that there's a point to it all. I'm really looking forward to the sequel, because it went back to its UK roots and also supports online play.

Another game you should check out is Colin McRae Rally 2004. It comes out in March and is only going to be $19.99. The only XBL support it has is for scoreboards, not head-on racing, but for under 20 bones you can't beat it. The '03 version was great and you can't find it for under $35 used right now, and the '04 version is an improvement in every way.

I HATED Rallisport Challenge. There was no way to correctly tune your car for each track - the tuning options were way too limited. I ended up getting rid of that game after one of the later snow stages. I tried every configuration of every car available and either I was oversteering or understeering, had too much power or not enough, etc., etc. McRae gives you more incremental tuning options, so in my mind that's the one to beat this year. RC2 would be nice for XSN and online racing, but really rally racing is against the clock, so unless it's a huge Baha race or Dakar rally, head-on rally racing is not my thing.

PGR2 gets insanely difficult on those higher medal stages. I tried to replay the first few sections until I got the Platinum medals, but after a while it got really tough. I ended up just playing through the entire game for just the steel and bronze medals, and someday I'm going to go back and see if I can get any higher. Believe me, it takes a while just to get through all those stages anyway, so get your money's worth and get through them all before you get sick of trying. The online modes are where it's at for me right now, especially if you can get a few friends together and play "cat and mouse" - teams of two, with one person being an Ultimate car and the other a Mini Cooper. The goal is to have your Mini finish ahead of all the other Minis, and the Ultimates are there just to help you out by knocking out all the other competitor cars. It's not an official game mode, just something someone came up with, and it's completely addictive.

Jeremy

Midnight Club 2 is not for wussies. It's a HARD game. Too hard for me. I got to Tokyo and after 5 or so races in, I gave up. It was just too hard. I'm not a sucky racer either... I got 98% completion in Gran Turismo 3. In PGR2, I got 1,200,000+ kudos in single player mode and 80 platinums (the rest are all golds) in Kudos World Series.

MC2 is the hardest racing game I've ever played by far. Too many things have to go perfectly for you to win - hit all shortcuts, avoid the kamikaze antics of other racers, avoid traffic, UGH. Very frustrating, but also incredibly satisfying when you win a race. The Xbox version's graphics are TONS better than the PS2 version in MC2. I've seen them both on my HDTV with component video.

I'd like to try out NFS: Underground some day. Maybe when I have lots of time. But I think that maybe checkpoint racing is not my bag.

I really liked MC2 and NFSU. Of course, the big advantage of MC2 (for me) was that it had online play on the Xbox. I liked creating custom rally type races (lots of turns, no shortcuts, etc.) and watching supercars die out on them. I also think in MC2, the vehicles handled more distinctly than NFSU. In NFSU, most cars in a class handled almost exactly the same until you majorly tweaked them.

Of course, NFSU had that sweet customization system, so you could make a car look just the way you want it, and the graphics were far better than MC2's.

I feel your pain Joshic. While I do love MC2, the Tokyo races get insanely hard. I've hit a serious wall and have not been able to get past these certain races. I don't know if I ever will (without cheats). You're right when you win a race you feel like you can take on the world. I remember I was stuck on a certain set of races in Paris and once I beat them I felt like it was a national holiday.

I've had the same problem with the NFS games too though. Maybe I'm just crap at the higher levels in racing games.

How the hell do you get customized songs to play on this game?

you don't

So I just got Underground (2 for $25 through BB.com). I've got to say I am terrible let down. I LOVED NFS:HP. The cops in that game were out of control and the tracks (while similar) varied enough to keep me interested. Underground is just lacking. It's also easy as all get out (I've won nearly every race I've won). Maybe it's because I put in so much time with Hot Pursuit(which I fealt was harder) or I'm used to Midnight Club (look 2 posts up). The soundtrack is also really reeeeeeeeeally bad. To its credit the drifting (when you finally supe your car up a bit) is kinda nifty and the drag racing is a blast. The drag races are by far the best thing about this game and I could race them all day long.