I would like to start
this review with a disclaimer: I am not a chav. I do not like Burberry baseball caps, or
Kappa trousers. I also find chav-mobiles, in their real life urban wasteland setting, to be
ridiculous. But provide me with flashing lights and shiny graphics, and I plunge headlong
into Self Loathing City, otherwise known as Bayview, EAs fictitious chav-ville
extraordinaire and the setting for its latest game - Need For Speed Underground
2.
The first thing that strikes you about NFSU 2 is that EA have shamelessly ripped
off Grand Theft Auto. No, actually the first thing is that the story is pointless and
empty, and that cartoon style cut-scenes seem out of context next to the visuals in the rest
of the game. That is of only peripheral importance however. Basically it appears that EA
have taken GTAs free roaming city setting, pumped up the shininess, and removed the
violence - in other words, NFSU 2 is what GTA would be if it was a racing game.
You
cruise around the city, looking for races or shops to tune your ride. These appear on a
world map, which is supplemented by a smaller map of your direct surroundings - another
feature familiar to anyone who has played GTA. Races come in a number of flavours: Sprint,
Circuit, Drag and Drift all featured in the original NFSU, with new modes Street-X - a
tight, drift-style race where accurate cornering is everything, Underground Race League -
6-way racing on proper circuits, and my personal favourite, Outrun. Outrun races are entered
into if you meet a fellow racer while cruising the streets between races, and challenge
them. The aim is then to get 1000 yards ahead of your opponent. This gives you a chance to
race freely - to pick whatever route you wish - and is immensely enjoyable.
As well
as racing you can change the features of your car, both enhancing performance through a
number of upgrades and improving its look through new bodywork, paint, vinyl stickers, neon
lights and so forth. Its enough to make any chav wet him or herself with glee, and yet the
cars look neither out of place, nor ludicrously silly. This is obviously due to the lack of
realism - if NFSU 2 was set in a disused multi-story car park, normality would be restored.
That is to EAs credit - they have created a world which is shiny and colourful enough to
force either suspension of disbelief, or brain damage.
Overall, NFSU 2 is an empty
but strangely compelling racing game. I just pray for a Project Gotham PC conversion, so I
dont have to feel this dirty every time I play a racing game.
