Follow the white line says John Gillooly, it's a nice ride.
In a concept not dissimilar to that of the competing Midnight Club games, Need For Speed Underground 2 (NFSU 2) now takes place across one big city. You cruise the streets looking for races and dropping into shops to customise your car. These customisations feature the standard range of performance boosts like Nitro, Transmission and Tires, but far more extensive is the range of quality bling bling for your automotive pleasure.
For the cars in NFSU 2 are all about looks. You can customise more extensively than the original and soon your once boring and showroom-standard old Hummer (yes, the game now has SUVs) will be bedazzling with neon, contorting on its hydraulic suspension and pumping out fully sick beats from the custom stereo you installed in the boot.
By no means is the bling pointless though, for photo shoots are part of the core game. In these set ups you get to position your gleaming pride and joy, maybe pop the hood and reveal your engine neon and paintjob and then snap a shot for a DVD cover. To achieve these photo shoots you need a certain level of visual impressiveness, which only comes from customising the looks of your car.
The game is nicely paced, with rounds of sponsor challenges used to provide objectives. This works well as it ensures you will experience several different cars on your quest to own the underground and by the end of it all you will have a garage not dissimilar in looks to a case modding competition. Which is kinda cool.
NFSU 2 is a nice evolution from the original and provides that nearly unique need for speed driving feel with the ability to tap into that hidden accessorisation fetish that most of us have. An enjoyable spin in the city.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012