Need for Speed Underground (PS2) ref map 195

• 20 fully customizable, licensed cars
• Unique racing events
• Hundreds of ways to customize your ride
• Diverse urban nighttime environments
• High-octane music
• Online-compatible (requires broadband connection and Network Adapter)

The hype around this game was unreal, so much so that I just had to give it a try. The bare bones of this game is street racing at night in highly-modified cars. As you win you get cash to upgrade your car. Simple.

At the start of the game, pick your car from a choice of about 6. You don't have enough money to modify so it starts out as standard. Enter the Underground where you must race through approx. 111 different challanges to complete the game. These challanges range from: racing around a circuit over so many laps, race from A to B, drag racing (straight-line, short-shifting race a' la' Fast & Furious), drifting (basically points for sliding around a track sideways), knockouts (last one around each lap is out) and tournaments (points for positions).

The variety of race is definately there: circuits one minute, then drifting the next. As you get cash you purchase mods for your car. Ranging from performance: turbos, ECU, drivetrain, tyres, suspension, brakes, engine, nitrous and so on, to visual: spoilers, valances, alloys, paint jobs, vinyls, neons, exhausts, side skirts, etc. Or even trade in for a new car when you're fed up of this one.

There's plenty to keep you interested out-of-race, but what about when you're foot's on the pedal? The graphics are very good, colourful, and smooth (except right at the start of the race it tends to slow down a tad). The speeds you travel at are insane - so much so that sometimes you find yourself rounding a corner at about 100mph (usually necessary to avoid losing) and going straight into the front of a lorry that you had no chance of avoiding. This is why I rated the game 4/5 not 5/5. The frustration factor sometimes gets quite high - you find yourself doing the same race over and over again because one small crash puts you from first place to last place. Thankfully you have the option to choose the difficulty level (easy, medium, hard) at the start of each race, with your cash reward being adjusted accordingly.

All in all this game is fast-paced, looks good, sounds great, and has plenty to keep you hooked, even when you are losing your temper (like me!)