NFS Underground2: Stay away from this game!

[ThaMaskedGamer]

I gave this game a shot, just believing after the great effort of Burnout3(which really wasn't an EA game), maybe this sequel would be a pretty decent game. Damn it I got burned!

This game is a damn travesty. I'm not even posting this in system wars, I hope they buy the damn game. But you guys, don't even waste your money. The graphics are horrid, I see why the whole game is done in the dark. I just don't see how these games can get 85-90% ratings, if these games are even 80%, TOCA2 is a 120% game. Anyway, how can you have a driving game, where you can't even drive the freaking cars. The physics are just way off, the cars turn like a grocery cart. When you pick up speed, just moving the thumbstick can sometimes cause your car to just jerk, like a shopping cart going to fast. The cars chugg along almost in slow motion, the crash scenes are a joke. The AI is worse than PGR1 and GT3 on their worst days. From the very beginning of a race some of the AI cars will just careen into your car and basically just stick to your side trying to force you into a wall.

The whole Brook Burke thing, which I didn't care about anyway, but if they were gonna put her in the game, at least do video or animate her, anyway, her involvement in the project is useless. The basic idea of the game is great, if someone could come along and execute it, even in a halfway decent fashion, it would be a good game.

Anyway, I am sorely disappointed. I said I would never buy an EA game again, but then I said, okay, let me give them a shot. Got Semi-Burned with Burnout3 and completely burned with this game. Sorry EA, I hope you enjoy that $50, cause it is the last, the very last bit of money I will evaaaa spend on their games this generation. They shouldn't even make XBOX games, because these games are just PS2 ports. There is no leveraging of the XBOX hardware. Oh well, what a fool I was. Don't be intrigued by this game, if you have any shred of curiosity within in, isolate, extract it, and drop a bomb on it. This game is digital garbage.

[Darwin]

I wasn't planning on buying this because I am wary of rice-boy, arcade racers. I myself got burned on Auto Modellista for the PS2. But wow, to give such a strong opinion ... but ironically, now you have me intrigued. Remember, I sometimes rent horrible games as a guilty pleasure.

To me, getting to enjoy a bad game for a rental is worth the price. You're talking to a guy who has endured such "classics" as Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure, Charlies Angles, Smashing Drive, Bruce Lee, The Bouncer, and that really bad Batman game.

[tekbit]

Hey TMG, did you play the first one? And if so, did you like it? I'm just curious because I have the first one and I loved it. So I'm wondering if it really is a bad game or just not your cup of tea. But aside from video games I'm into tuning too so thats why it had me so hooked. I will agree with you about the streering though, thats why I only played the races in first person view. As for the graphics, how are they bad? I know sometimes things look blurry and shakey but that was done on purpose to give the effect of tremendous speed on a car not meant to have that much power. (A turbo charged B16A motor, with nitrous)

[Glockstar]

To me, getting to enjoy a bad game for a rental is worth the price. You're talking to a guy who has endured such "classics" as Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure, Charlies Angles, Smashing Drive, Bruce Lee, The Bouncer, and that really bad Batman game.

Whoa. You forgot to mention DOA-X.
I can't believe you let an opportunity to slam that game (once more) slip by you. ;)

Or... maybe it's just becuase you didn't rent that game. ???
:eek: Did you actually buy DOA-X, Darwin?!? :p

-

Anyways, sorry TMG, I'm going to be giving NFSU2 a rent as well.
I was planning on buying it sometime down the road - when I spot it on sale - but you know I'm choosing CnB over this one.

Still, I'm with Tekbit, I liked the first one. I thought my car handled good, and I thought the game was gorgeous. Your comments to the contrary surprise me.

I rarely go by reviews anymore, but it was the GameInformer review that really gave me pause over this game. The reviewer - who scored U2 an 8.0 - complained about the "overworld", saying, in effect, that it slowed the pace of the game down, was cumbersome, and worst of all, got to be tedius and boring. This from the same guy who scored U1 a 9.5.

One of the cool things that GI does is in it's reviews is "The Edge" - where they comment on which version of a multi-plat is best (if one even is). In the review of U2 they said, and I quote: "The XBox version is by far and away the most impressive looking of the three, but for some strange reason doesn't quite deliver the same sense of speed as the PS2 or GameCube."

Yep, this definitely sounds like a try-before-you-buy game to me.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

No guys, I didn't even play the first one. Maybe you guys will like it better than I did, but remember you are forewarned.

[shogun]

Kinda nice to scratch a game off my buy list...I tried NFS:U2 and found the controls horrid. I wanted to like the game because I like the idea of customization and the graphical style, although the visuals themselves weren't all that great. Maybe I'll pick up the first for $20...I seem to remember it controlling a lot better.

I can't knock Burnout3 though...that game=love.

[Darwin]

Normally Tha_Masked_Gamer and I agree on our Xbox games. But every once in a while, we have to break our Xbot loyalty code and tell it like it is. Maybe MG's version of Need for Speed Underground 2 came with a "Suck" mode that mine didn't. I just rented the game and played it for about 2 hours and cannot figure out why anyone would say the game is "horrible". Perhaps this is just a difference of taste, but I cannot find what is horrible about this game. (You did turn the stability control off in options menu, right? because that does change the car's handling a bit.) I rather liked what I played so far, although I doubt the long-term depth of this game.

The game's physics are kinda like Metropolis Street Racer or Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero. They are a little more sim than Project Gotham 2. It's like a 50/50 mix of simulation and arcade. The cars have a moderate amount of looseness to them to allow, but still stick relatively well to the road. This allows for you to be able to pull off slides. I found the cars to control relatively well, but harder to control at higher speeds (which is kinda realistic). I found the civic "feels" like a front wheel drive car should and the lancer evolution "feels" like an all-wheel drive car, so I felt differences in the cars based on their drivetrains. I found no problems with the physics of the game, on an objective basis. However, liking the physics is very subjective. I did not like the physics of Rallisport Challenge 2, but there was nothing wrong with them and the game was overall good. It's just my preference.

The true test of the game's single player will be this: will the game have a wide variety of cars that handle and perform differently, will the upgrade parts have significant varied effects on your car, and will tuning your car actually make a difference. The single player game is based on unlocking lots of cars and parts, and managing your money to buy better parts/cars so you can take on tougher competitors. If the gamemakers are serious about implementing realistic (or at least significant) effects of these parts and make them behave in a believable manner, then I'll give respect to EA. If the game just puts these aftermarket parts in there for no real reason, then the game will end up being just another shallow Rice Boy advertisement like Auto Modellista was.

There a several different race modes. So far, there seems to be a decent amount of variety out there. I haven't seen this overly aggressive AI that MS speaks of. I assume that he is playing the game in hard mode, while I am playing it in Normal mode. Perhaps that is why. I need to do more racing to get a better opinion, though.

The online is blah. Make no mistake about it, NFSU2's strength has to come from it's single player because the Live play is weak. Max of 4 players per room. That alone kills a lot of this game's replay value. And, once again we have to log onto EA's servers, which seem to have some of the same quirkiness that the Burnout 3 servers did. It's rather hard to stay in the same room after the end of the race. I experienced horrible lag in one game, but the others ran smooth. There is no traffic when online. And you have to play the single player to unlock stuff for play online. Interestingly, once in a room, you CANNOT switch cars. Instead you must first switch to your preferred car before you join the room. [Darwin smacks his forehead, and shakes his head in utter disbelief.] What genious thought to leave this aspect out of the lobby? How the hell can we coordinate evenly-matches races with the same car (if we choose to)? Are we to guess what cars the other guys might be using before we enter their room? There is an option for the host to force evenly matched cars, but I don't see how that is done, nor was anyone using that feature. If you are looking for a good arcade racer on Live, Burnout 3 (even with it's server problems) is still better than this. Project Gotham 2 is much better than this online. Hell, even Midnight Club 2 was better online than this.

Overall, I did not see this game as horrible. It was moderately impressed with what I played. I have my doubts about the long-term depth of the game. Live play is out of the question for me. Can the unlockable upgrades and quality of the races in single player keep the game interesting for the long-run? That I don't know. I'll try some more later, but there is so much going on in the gaming world right now that I don't think this game will keep my attention for more than a rental.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

I don;'t see why people didn't like Burnout 3. Personally, I think it's the best racing game ever made, but I like the arcadey, no bs, just race attitude. NFSUG does the upgrade thing, therefore, I dont' care for it...ntm it seems sluggish compared to BO3 as well

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

I enjoyed the first NFSU (for a while), and so far I haven't had a problem enjoying NFSU2.

It's still a shame that EA are dumbasses when it comes to having custom soundtracks in the game. The had it for Burnout 3 and Madden, but for some reason they can't get it in their heads to put custom soundtracks in the NFSU series, especially since the single player (in the new one) is supposed to be around 40 hours long.

I agree with TMG about one thing: Brook Burke is a complete waste in the game. I don't know why EA paid for her to be in the game when they only use her voice and still drawings of her. They could have made up a car babe and asked one of their female employees to do a voice for her, and it would have had the same effect on the game.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

I've played some more and i'm a lot further into the game. After you begin to upgrade your car, the handling and performance gets better, I still wouldn't agree with Methadone that the handling is anywhere near as good ProjectGotham, I don't think its close to that. And one of the great things I enjoyed about PGR2 was the cone challenges, and you had to really master the handling of the cars, so I got a decent feel for that game, and as arcade racers go, NFSU2 can't get near that level, it is just too squirrely and the feel seems off.

The graphics are abysmal though, after a while you get use to them and use to the whole theme. But if you really look at anything more closely than a glance, you can see how bad the graphics are. Just look at the normal traffic cars, it looks worse than a Dreamcast game. And the main cars look like they have about half the polys of Burnout3. I just don't see how they couldn't do a better job, when there are at max what 4 cars you race against. I mean MidtownMadness had more traffic than this, so that is no excuse.

Anyway, you get use to the graphics, and things improve when you upgrade your car. I mean it is actually cool to upgrade. My Honda Civic is looking hot, I don't even want to get rid of it.

The drag races are just silly though, I don't know why they went with just using the d-pad to change lanes. I was like wtf is this, this is supposed to be a racing game and they dumb it down.

Unfortunately the best part of the game its just riding around town and challenging other cars, I have it on the highest difficutly setting its still not much of a challenge.

Yeah you can't do custom soundtracks, which just screams they didn't care much about using the XBOX's basic capabilities. The game is light fun, but I still wish I hadn't bought it. I still gotta take it online.

Tappy far as Burnout3, I liked the game, it certainly is more fun than this. Its just that game dies online faster than any other game I can think of. Ahh well, Forza will be here soon.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

I don;'t see why people didn't like Burnout 3. Personally, I think it's the best racing game ever made, but I like the arcadey, no bs, just race attitude. NFSUG does the upgrade thing, therefore, I dont' care for it...ntm it seems sluggish compared to BO3 as well

These guys are pissing me off not appreciating the greatness of BO3! I actually think it may be the GOTY. So many good games this year but BO3 treatment is criminal!

[Darwin]

Well, I'm glad I rented the game. Overall, it's a good but not excellent game, from what I've played. Unfortunately, I have now run into the cheating AI that MG mentioned in his first post. It does not occur every race, but it's occuring enough to be annoying. It's not accidental bumping, it is full-on PIT maneuvering from the AI, even when I race clean. What the Hell? Sorry, but I'm not putting up with this. I'm only 10% complete, and we're already starting this crap?! If the agressiveness is present at this level, it's only gonna get worse. Either race me or don't, but don't turn this into a shoving contest. That's not racing, because it would ruin their car if they did stuff like that in real life. Also, they are being so agressive with me that it is actually costing them placement in the race, which makes no sense (one AI car spends the whole straight-away pushing me into the wall, all the while the other guys are passing us BOTH up). Ironically, the AI cars do demonstrate some intelligence and randomness ... they're just too agressive.

I've put up with this **** in other racing games, but I know where that leads: frustration. Project Gotham 1 was a perfect example. It's just plain cheating and poor judgement on the part of the game makers. A younger Methadone Man would have just bent over and took it, but I am older and wiser (with slightle less hair) and will now pick my battles wisely. And because Xbox is so abundant in its racing selection, I can afford to.

[Darwin]

Ahh well, Forza will be here soon.

You know, if you had a PS2, you could play Gran Turismo 4 in the mean time.

[waits for pimp-slap]

[Darwin]

You know, if you had a PS2, you could play Gran Turismo 4 in the mean time.

[waits for pimp-slap]

Oh wait, GT4 got pushed back till next year. Oh well, guess I now have room for some more games. The real reason I was gonna get GT4 was because I would not have any other game competing for it at it's release day. But if GT4 and Forza are to be released at the same time, why even bother getting GT4?

[ThaMaskedGamer]

These guys are pissing me off not appreciating the greatness of BO3! I actually think it may be the GOTY. So many good games this year but BO3 treatment is criminal!


I guess if I enjoyed arcade racers as much as simulation racers I could see your point of view. But just trying to be neutral, and throwing my sim nature out the window. The main problem with BO3 is the single player is just not a challenge. The AI is so predictable, they really need to get away from rubber-banding AI and the like, but I guess if they did that, it wouldn't be arcade racing. But, the AI races need to be a challenge, especially since they force you to finish it before you get all the good cars. I mean playing single player was a chore instead of fun, after the first few days with the game.


Then the next problem was the online was great, but the server problems really took steam out the game, and they still existed last time I played. Couple that with the fact, you could only have 6 guys online, and I just can't see this game being GOTY.

I think they had a great core product, but they just needed to increase the challenge, and fix the online issues. Ironically, if they had not chosen EA as a publisher, the online hosting would have been just like any other XBOX game.


Toca2 was a challenge on and offline, didn't force you to unlock the cars on single player, and had 12 guys online. So it had great single player, great online player, and more guys online. Barring the arcade vs sim, I think TOCA2 has less fatal flaws than BO3.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

Well, I'm glad I rented the game. Overall, it's a good but not excellent game, from what I've played. Unfortunately, I have now run into the cheating AI that MG mentioned in his first post. It does not occur every race, but it's occuring enough to be annoying. It's not accidental bumping, it is full-on PIT maneuvering from the AI, even when I race clean. What the Hell? Sorry, but I'm not putting up with this. I'm only 10% complete, and we're already starting this crap?! If the agressiveness is present at this level, it's only gonna get worse. Either race me or don't, but don't turn this into a shoving contest. That's not racing, because it would ruin their car if they did stuff like that in real life. Also, they are being so agressive with me that it is actually costing them placement in the race, which makes no sense (one AI car spends the whole straight-away pushing me into the wall, all the while the other guys are passing us BOTH up). Ironically, the AI cars do demonstrate some intelligence and randomness ... they're just too agressive.

I've put up with this **** in other racing games, but I know where that leads: frustration. Project Gotham 1 was a perfect example. It's just plain cheating and poor judgement on the part of the game makers. A younger Methadone Man would have just bent over and took it, but I am older and wiser (with slightle less hair) and will now pick my battles wisely. And because Xbox is so abundant in its racing selection, I can afford to.

I really really wish EUROGAMER, which is UK based, could review games in time before they are launched here in the US. I just read their review, they gave the game a 6/10, and every issue I had they had, plus there are more down the road that I haven't ran into yet. Ahhh well, you live and learn. I was willing to give EA a shot, and they really have proven to me that they STILL are only about Playstation games this generation. I won't be looking at any of their products until the nextgen, and I will still be very caution then. So, they are going to have to have a monster of a game to ever get me back.

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

While the CPU racers do try to cheat every now and then (I do the same if they try it), the worst cheating to me has to be the pop up traffic. It doesn't happen every race, but on a few circuit and sprint races, as soon as I am coming down from a jump or going up a hill, there's a car/truck right in my lane causing me to lose the race. Cheating bastards, it's almost like they purposely put every traffic vehicles in my blind spot.

Right now I have a Nissan 240 something, and a Hummer that will need serious work before it is ready to race.

[nfsfreek]

I gave this game a shot, just believing after the great effort of Burnout3(which really wasn't an EA game), maybe this sequel would be a pretty decent game. Damn it I got burned!

This game is a damn travesty. I'm not even posting this in system wars, I hope they buy the damn game. But you guys, don't even waste your money. The graphics are horrid, I see why the whole game is done in the dark. I just don't see how these games can get 85-90% ratings, if these games are even 80%, TOCA2 is a 120% game. Anyway, how can you have a driving game, where you can't even drive the freaking cars. The physics are just way off, the cars turn like a grocery cart. When you pick up speed, just moving the thumbstick can sometimes cause your car to just jerk, like a shopping cart going to fast. The cars chugg along almost in slow motion, the crash scenes are a joke. The AI is worse than PGR1 and GT3 on their worst days. From the very beginning of a race some of the AI cars will just careen into your car and basically just stick to your side trying to force you into a wall.

The whole Brook Burke thing, which I didn't care about anyway, but if they were gonna put her in the game, at least do video or animate her, anyway, her involvement in the project is useless. The basic idea of the game is great, if someone could come along and execute it, even in a halfway decent fashion, it would be a good game.

Anyway, I am sorely disappointed. I said I would never buy an EA game again, but then I said, okay, let me give them a shot. Got Semi-Burned with Burnout3 and completely burned with this game. Sorry EA, I hope you enjoy that $50, cause it is the last, the very last bit of money I will evaaaa spend on their games this generation. They shouldn't even make XBOX games, because these games are just PS2 ports. There is no leveraging of the XBOX hardware. Oh well, what a fool I was. Don't be intrigued by this game, if you have any shred of curiosity within in, isolate, extract it, and drop a bomb on it. This game is digital garbage.
The game rocks on PC.....you have no idea go buy a computer(ps2 sucks)

[dude]

u gotta be kidding this game is awsome. u have no idea wut you talkin about. The costamization is sweet and so are the cars. man u suck.

[dude]

u suck this game is sweet and u don't no what your talkin about. man!!!!!

[BaneNWN]

I dont see why the bashing of this game.I had and am having alot of fun with this game.Although it could do without so much driving around the city to get from one race to the next

[databug]

Heh... hi guys. I never come in console territory, im a pc gamer. But I got bored today. NFS:U part 1 on the pc handled... mmmm... well the cars slide too much, but I use a dual analog stick for pc racing games and just racing games. I tweaked my control a bit and was racing ok, though the AI just rails along around curves at set speeds and hardly, if ever, spins out or flips their cars. The motion blur when use nitrous, was a bit overdone. Cant see crap hardly but blurry night nights. Havent played part 2, looks just like part one but maybe with slightly more polygons in the car models, and just new tracks and music. I dont like the whole illegal underground race theme, where punk kids under age 23 usually spend their entire taco bell paychecks to buy rims for a car lol. Pointless to me, but I like racing through big cities at night is why i tried part 1. Dont remember any cops in it...hmm.

Of course you guys COULD always try to pc versions of the game ;) Usually better and way more detailed and more easy to tweak and setup controls better. part 1 on pc had crystal method music, did the console port have this same music or different?

haha i like what nfsfreek said.... and i quote: "The game rocks on PC.....you have no idea go buy a computer(ps2 sucks)" - LOL i agree! but i also think all consoles 'suck', using 4 year old hardware and playing games at 640x480 resolution and in many cases, only 16bit color. but the next-gen consoles will be worth looking at and will stand up against pc gaming finally, for once. but for now, every console out there can have 1000 games, but still cannot stand up to pc-quality - after all, all games are made ON computers, but just scaled down for the consoles ;) Next-gen consoles will be the thing to watch for though! I may eat my words in 2005-2006.