EA Games has had the Need for Speed series out for quite a long time now, and the format has basically been the same, with tweaks and graphic engine upgrades along the way, and after the last game, Hot Pursuit 2, who thought it can get better? Believe me, it has!

Enter Need for Speed: Underground, a racing game unlike any other. Unlike the previous releases where stock cars won the race, if you run with a stock car here you will be looking at the back of the pack. The whole idea of this game is customization. If you just want to get right into the action, there is a quick race option, but if you just install the game, you’ll see there isn’t much to race. It’s a good way to get accustomed to the controls though. For the real fun, select “Go Underground”. Here you buy a car (don’t think you’ll be getting an RX-7 right away though!), and work your way up the rankings in 4 different categories. There’s sprint, where you basically go from point A to point B. Circuit mode puts you on a street course much like the sprint courses except they are multiple laps. Here is where this game really sets itself part. Drag mode puts you against up to 3 other racers and take it out in a straight shootout. There is no automatic transmission in this mode either, so you make sure you shift at the right moment to get an edge. However, probably the most innovative and fun modes in this game is drift mode. Anyone who follows the import racing scene knows that drifting is one of the most popular and new motorsports, where it’s not how fast you go, but how well you control your car. You basically powerslide your car or “drift” these 8 various tracks racking up as much points as you can.

When you start out in Underground mode, you start off with a rather boring car, no accessories, or performance upgrades. After doing each of the over 111 races, you gain reputation points which in turn let you unlock various appearance upgrades such as body kits, vinyls, neon, and other parts. The more races you win, the more money you get which lets you buy appearance and performance parts. The performance parts are broken down into 3 stages, each getting more and more technical. You can perform engine, brake, ECU, suspension, and even add nitrous oxide to your ride. With each upgrade you can choose up to 3 packages. I haven’t noticed a real difference performance wise within each package, but it’s more of a representation thing, since they have real aftermarket manufacturers such as GReddy, HKS, Apexi, NOS, and a lot more. One drawback though is that you can’t really tune these parts once they are on the car, which would have made this game a truly tuner friendly game. Another thing I would have loved to see is to perform engine swaps. Auto Modellista for XBOX/PS2 is the only game I have seen that has this function. It would be a dream to slap an RB26 into a 350z or a 2JZGTE into a Celica.

That leads me to another main part of the game: the vehicles. The car list is rather short, but it does feature some of the most popular import racers today. The list is as follows: Dodge Neon Ford Focus ZX3 Acura Integra Type R Honda Civic Coupe Si Honda S2000 Acura RSX Type S Hyundai Tiburon GT Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) Mazda Miata MX5 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX Mitsubishi Lancer Nissan Skyline R34-GTR Nissan 350z Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V Peugeot 206 2.0 Gti 16V 3d Hatchback Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS Toyota Supra Toyota Celica GT-S Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0L

After playing with every single car, you’ll notice that certain cars work best in certain modes. Using an S2000 in sprint mode is a great idea because of its quickness and low weight, while using an RX-7 or Skyline R34 is the best on circuit modes because of their handling. Drift mode is an Impreza’s dream, because of the ease of control and relative ease of pulling off insane drifts. Drag mode is basically open game though. Even playing online you’ll notice that these are the choices of a lot of racers as well.

The last thing I want to get into is what most PC gamers pay close attention to, graphics and controls. Controls are pretty decent, and fully configurable. My preferred setup is the arrow keys for left/right/throttle, with space for a brake and left shift for a handbrake (although it’s best to only use the handbrake in drift mode, using it in sprint or circuit could lead to a disaster if not controlled properly). Graphics, on the other hand, are amazing! The courses look spectacular, effects are great, and the details are just superb. You can actually read the badges on the cars and on the motor. For example, you can see the i-VTEC in the RSX and the RB26 badge on the R34 engine. Of course, you won’t see any pistons in an RX-7 though, that would have just been a huge foul up since it’s a rotary powered car.

Overall, this is a great game, and is great for novice to advanced racers, giving a little bit of something to everyone. Once you’ve beat the entire game, check out online mode, to face challengers that will put up a good fight. Too bad you can’t race for slips though! Online drift mode is very popular, and if you happen to find someone in there with the name RedStarAcura behind an Impreza, he will not back down to any challenge!