Need for Speed Underground 2

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What is Need for Speed Underground 2

Need for Speed: Underground 2 is the eighth entry in the pulse-pounding Need for Speed series, now 23 games long. Taking place after the events of the first Underground, NFSU2 focuses on aggressive street racing competitions, tuning your ride and taking down a set of street racing crews to get to the top.

Though there are several conventional race types in NFSU2, the races you'll find yourself competing in most often are outrun challenges: one-on-one free-roaming races with no rules, where the first driver to put 1,000 feet between himself and the other driver wins. Outrun challenges can be started while roaming around the city by pulling up near another tuner racing through the streets and hitting a single button to start the challenge. Once the race is on, either driver can go anywhere in the streets they would like, with no set course for the challenge and with nothing off limits. Complete enough of these races in a single stage of Career Mode, and you'll unlock a special unique vehicle upgrade for free.

The more-conventional racing events available in the game are the Circuit, Sprint, Drift, Drag, Street X and Underground Racing League (URL) events. The last two are new to the series, comprising more challenging and unusual races than the rest. Street X races are run on cramped, tight-curved tracks with no NOS boosts allowed and are designed to force drivers to muscle up against other cars and fight bumper-to-bumper for position. URL events are gauntlets made up of one or more Circuit-style races on official racing tracks. Completing these will move you to the next stage of Career Mode, closing down the events of the previous level. As you make it farther and farther into the game, you'll advance the plot line and unlock more events to compete in, as well as larger portions of the world map to roam.

As you amass wealth and notoriety from your victories, you'll have the opportunity to buy better vehicles and unlock access to better and better parts for your car - both in performance and style. From engine upgrades and turbo systems to ramp up your the power of your cars, to new body kits and rims to spice up their looks, every vehicle can be upgraded to your heart's content. And you'll need to upgrade at least some of your cars - the farther into the game you get, the harder the challenges, and the better the cars your opponents will be driving. Every bit of power under the hood and every bit of flash on it makes a difference.

Pros

• High-octane, intense racing gameplay
• Wide variety of vehicles and modifications
• Pulse-pounding soundtrack keeps you hyped up

Cons

• Outrun challenges can be very frustrating with the AI knowing the map perfectly
• Overall a little dated