Paul Frew
Dr Game's Second Opinion - Need for Speed Undercover
November 20th 2008 22:08
Need for Speed ProStreet sucked... big time. I don't know what EA were smoking when they thought steering the series away from the streets to legal race events was a good idea, because it wasn't. It was dull. There was no thrill to racing against competitors like it was Gran Turismo. Fortunately the guys have put the series into reverse and gone back to what made the series great.
Undercover is back on the streets in the Tri-City area, which is bigger than most Need for Speed locales. The story goes that you're a cop who has gone undercover to infiltrate a drug smuggling ring. Cough, Driver, cough.
Excuse me. Anyway, the races are textbook Need for Speed - you've got your Sprint and Circuit races as well as the events that require you to outrun the cops and cause millions of property damage. One of the newer events is the highway battle and this is intense but sometimes a little frustrating. The race is in first-person view and your goal is to outrun your opponent for a set amount of time. Much like your everyday highway, there is a lot of traffic and you're going to need quick reflexes to weave between traffic because it only takes one civilian to get in your way and total your ride.
Customisation is also back in a big way with more options to deck out your ride. Once again, parts are unlocked as you progress through the game but there is a wide selection of vinyls and decals to choose from.
The only issue is that sometime the game will struggle when you run into objects or cars. The action on screen slows down as if the game is lagging. It's not a pretty sight - but it's nothing a patch can't fix.
DIAGNOSIS
Undercover is a return to form for the Need for Speed series. If you enjoyed the previous games in the series then you'll get a kick out of Undercover. While it doesn't bring anything new to the series it's still a fun romp for any hoon.
8 out of 10
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