Need for Speed Underground (Xbox)

This is overall a fun game, not for the serious racer, if your into the visual of cars buy it.


*Need for Speed: Underground*   July 1, 2004
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

The arcade-racing genre is turned head over heels as 'Underground' adds the spice and flair needed to stick out from the rest of the crowd.
The idea is to race your way to the top of the city ranks by battling it out on the street with your customised car across four different game modes, each one addictively playable.
Tuning your car is what makes 'Underground' so infectious to the audience; it combines the taste of realistic customisations with an easy-to-access feel to produce a surprisingly unique twist to the game.
Graphically the game shows off the XBox and its capabilities, as the smooth backgrounds and solid designing hands you an astonishing sense of speed, which effectively absorbs you into the game further.
Frustration builds up quickly as the game increases with difficulty but this can hardly be described as a flaw, however there are small limitations to unlockable features and the lack of 'LIVE play' is a disappointment.

Visuals: 80/100
Sound: 65/100

Gameplay: 75/100
Lifespan: 85/100

Overall: 75/100

Verdict: The sequel is on the horizons which promises to bring further success. However the game is an original spin on a tired racing genre and has enough redeeming features to make it worth picking up.


NFSU   June 14, 2004
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

When you first play on this game its a real thrill, you feel like you really are travelling at the rediculous speeds shown. It's a great laugh to play with freinds as the game flows and it is very easy to pick up as the controls are like most other racing games on the XBox. The gameplay is good arcade (super unrealistic) and the crashes and jumps look really good. When you crash or get airboure the game automaticly cuts to a "jump cam" which is a camera by the side of the road. There are four race modes; Circiut - going round and round, Sprint - A-B as quick as possible, Drift - Getting sideways to score points, and my favorite Drag - A 1 mile straight line 210+mph joyride, you have to use manual shifts and time them right, so this requires more skill than it may first seem. NOS it a good addition it boosts your power when you use it and you need to time its use right to get the most out of it.
The car customisation is great fun, you can design the most radical street racers or subtle "tastful" cars. There is a large range of paint jobs, body kits, vinals and decals. But the car tuning is nothing to write home about as it is pointless putting on anything less than the best upgrades you have, so becomes repetitive.
My one big complaint is towards the end of the game the races get so difficult that it becomes boring and frustrating.
All in all a good game one or two things are wrong but it's still a good buy.


Style over Absolutely Everything Else   June 5, 2004
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

I'm quite gobsmacked to see some of the glowing reviews here for this game - am I playing the same game as those guys?! The only thing you really need to know about Xbox NFS:Underground is that it has the worst frame-rate issues I've ever seen - it struggles to stay in double-figures at the best of times and most corners see the game become so choppy I'm amazed it got released. And it's not as if it's doing anything very spectacular either: there's no car damage, rarely more than 2 or 3 other cars on-screen even with traffic set to maximum, and the car models are very bland and lo-fi. Burnout 2, Rallisport 2, PGR 2, and (if you absolutely MUST have that underground streetrace "vibe") Midnight Club 2 - any one of those games is infinitely better than this broken jalopy of a game, because every one of them has a consistent high frame-rate and real feel to the gameplay. This is the gaming equivalent of hamburger - flashy, big-budget advertising may tempt you to buy it, but take off the wrapper and what's inside is bland, nasty and leaves you feeling vaguely ill. Play this, and as you gaze at loading screens imploring you to kit out your ride with umpteen corporate logos, as you chug choppily beneath huge McDonalds billboards, you'll be in no doubt where all the money and effort went with this title ... it certainly wasn't spent on developing a decent game engine to hang all that licensed accessorising on! :)


Need for Speed Underground   May 5, 2004
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

It has to be said this game Bores me now...EA missed the point of playablilty n Physics i think.

Firstly...Go underground compete in 112 races...yes ok 112 is a lot...but what then... Nafin, no reward no nafin.

Secondly... Physics is Pants, no Damage, no reality when u hit summat. EA got it close with games such as high stakes & Hot pursuit 2, Why did they miss it out in this?

n e way, good idea Crap game!!!!!

Good reason to buy it??? erm cant think of one..maybe just to say u've played it!