2004 video plot
Need for Speed: Underground 2 is a cross-platform racing video game and the eighth episode in the Need for Speed series, the lead sequel to Need for Speed: Underground. It was developed and published by Electronic Arts in 2004, for Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and mobile phones. Like its harbinger, it was besides commercially successful, selling around 11 million copies global and breaking sales records in the United Kingdom. [ 2 ] The game entails tuning cars for street races, resuming the Need for Speed: Underground storyline. Need for Speed: Underground 2 provides several newly features, such as a broader customization, new methods of selecting races, set in a city known as Bayview. Brooke Burke is the voice of Rachel Teller, the person who guides the player throughout the game. The bet on ‘s storyline is presented in a amusing script strip.
The game has been ported to PlayStation Portable, under the title of Need for Speed: Underground Rivals. The Nintendo DS port introduces a new feature in which the musician can design custom decals to adorn any vehicle in the game. The game was followed by Need for Speed: Most Wanted in 2005, featuring a plat unrelated to the Underground games .
Contents
plat
The report begins after the actor has beaten Eddie and his street gang – “ The Eastsiders ” along with Melissa in Olympic City and is now revered as the best street racer in Olympic City. After a race, the actor is called by an unidentified valet with an “ invitation ” to join his team and that he “ is not taking no for an answer. ” The player ends the call without answering and starts driving to a party but is ambushed by a Hummer H2 that rams his Nissan Skyline GT-R, wrecking it. A man with a scythe tattoo on his hand calls to confirm that he “ took concern of a trouble. ” Six months former, the player boards a plane to Bayview with a good luck note from Samantha that besides refers to her friend, Rachel Teller. The player arrives in Bayview, buys his first car using the money provided by the indemnity on his totalled Nissan Skyline, and starts racing again. The player soon gains fame and sponsorship deals from winning races and attracts the attention of “ The Wraiths ” and their leader, Caleb Reece. Caleb is revealed to be the driver of the Hummer that wrecked the actor ‘s cable car in Olympic City. rachel reveals to the player that Caleb is attempting to take control of the racing view in Bayview by manipulating the sponsorship deals in his favor, threatening the player ‘s support, and Rachel ‘s affair with the sponsors. Caleb attempts to have the player lose an Underground Racing League tournament by placing Nikki Morris, a Wraith member, in the lapp tournament as the player. This ultimately fails, and Nikki leaves the Wraiths after Caleb berates her for fall back ; she then joins Rachel and the player ‘s side. Nikki warns them of the consequences of Caleb ‘s plan if he takes over the city ‘s street racing scene. Desperate to stop the player, Caleb finally puts all of the remaining ghost members in an Underground Racing League tournament against the player, which fails and after losing another presenter, Caleb challenges the player to a confrontation. The actor wins the race and celebrates with Rachel and Nikki while Caleb is left insolvent and defeated. That consequence solidifies the player ‘s status as the best underground racer in Bayview .
Gameplay
Need for Speed: Underground 2 screenshot using a modified Underground and still revolve around import culture. In-gamescreenshot using a modified Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII in a circumference rush, in which races are approximately like to that ofand hush revolve around significance culture. Racing modes are roughly alike to Underground ; one rush modality was dropped, this being the Knockout competitions. so far, a Lap Knockout choice is available when racing Circuit in non-career races .
- Circuit race is a standard race that involves up to four cars driving around a track that loops back to the start line of itself. A circuit race has typically a minimum of 2 laps to a maximum of 5 laps.
- Sprint race is a point-to-point race involving a maximum of four vehicles.
- Drifting is one of the technical aspects of Underground 2. On the “parkade” tracks, the player drifts with up to 3 other competitors at the same time on the parkade tracks. Points are awarded when the player successfully slides the car and finishes each drift without hitting any walls or traffic. No nitrous oxide is allowed. There are also downhill drift events where the player drifts the car while progressing down the course from top to bottom. In the downhill drifts, there are no other racers, but there is normal city traffic. Players increase their points by sliding past city cars.
Unlike Underground, meter plays a crucial function here, specially in parkade tracks ; if the opponents end up crossing the finish pipeline way before the player, a 30-second timer will start within which the players will have to accumulate drift points until the timekeeper runs out or they cross the finish pipeline .
- Drag racing is another technical aspect of the game; a straight-line race that forces players to use the manual transmission. Like Underground, steering in this mode is simplified to simply allow for lane changes, while the game handles the steering along the lanes. The HUD in this mode is enlarged and displayed on either side of the screen; emphasizing on monitoring them, especially the tachometer and the engine’s temperature. The players’ positions will get forfeited if they collide into traffic or barriers, or overheat their engine due to prolonged redlining.
apart from these, four new race variations have besides been provided in Underground 2 :
- Street X mode is similar to circuit races, except that they take place in closed and tight tracks. A maximum of 4 racers participates in this event. Like drift mode, this mode disables the use of nitrous oxide.
- Underground Racing League (URL) is a set of tournaments that takes place in a specific set of closed tracks outside city streets – either actual racing circuits or airport runways. URL tournaments typically consist of one to three races, with up to six cars (both in career mode and online). In tournaments with two or more races, a points system is used. At the end of each race, drivers receive a specific number of points according to their standing in a race. The total score at the end of these races determines the winner of the tournament.
- Special events – these are similar to sprints, intending to reach a target point on the map, which is a “photographer”, and the player needs to reach the target within a specific time limit. Achieving this will reward the player with a magazine cover.
- Outruns – while in free roam, the player can challenge specific opponent cars (an outrun opponent car will have bright tail lights, similar to the player’s cars when they use nitrous oxide) in an “outrun”, where the goal is to start an outrun and then distance their car from the opponent’s car by 300 metres (1,000 feet). The player can choose when to initiate an outrun and can take any path and/or use tactics to achieve this goal, provided they are in the lead. Each stage, including stage 1, has a limited number of outruns a player can win. For example, in the intro stage where the player is driving Rachel’s car, 3 outruns can be won. After winning the number of outruns allowed for a stage, the outrun opponent cars cease to appear. After completing a career, there is no limit to the number of outruns wins allowed. Depending on the stage, after winning some number of outruns, the player is rewarded with a unique part. Some stages allow a player to do a series of outrun sequences, rewarding the player with multiple unique parts (one for each series of outruns won). The outrun mode is similar to that of Tokyo Xtreme Racer and Wangan Midnight video games, which use health bars instead of distance to determine the winner.
The races are divided into 5 “ stages ”. once any stage is completed, the subspecies locations of that stage will be replaced by the counterparts of the future stage. A “ World Map ” feature of speech includes a menu of races for all prior stages, denoting races that have been completed and however to be completed. After completing stage 2 through degree 5 ( these stages require completing some number of “ DVD ” events ), there will always be 8 patronize races that will not be completed, since a player has to choose a individual sponsor per stagecoach and can only run 3 out of 11 unique presenter races, leaving 8 sponsor races incomplete at the end of each stagecoach. These can only be run using World Map. Due to a game bug ( at least on the PC version ), if running a non-completed race from the World Map, no credit ( cash or rep ) will be awarded unless the player restarts at least once after the race starts. Underground 2 is unique in the Need for Speed series in the feel that it requires a player to drive to a certain invest in the city to begin a subspecies ( early games allow the player to select a race from a menu ). Most races are marked on the in-game radar, but some are hidden and the player must search for them, should they decide to play them. The pursuit features aid the players in this involve :
Read more: Candy Crush Saga
- Cell phone / SMS system – During gameplay, the players will occasionally receive phone calls or text messages. The game maintains a list of messages and game info that can be reviewed via a menu system.
- Cash and info icons – Each stage, including the intro stage, includes a set of hovering icons scattered throughout the game world. As the player explores the map in free roam, the player receives a cash reward and/or info as the player discovers and drives through each of the icons.
Vehicles
As in Need for Speed: Underground, Underground 2 continues to offer similar vehicles for purchase and modification, most of which consist of japanese models such as Nissan 240SX, Nissan Skyline R34, or Mitsubishi Eclipse, with some european and american models. besides, Underground 2 is the first base game in the Need for Speed series to offer three SUVs as racing vehicles. besides, it is the second bet on in the Need for Speed series after Underground to offer a korean -made cable car ( Hyundai Tiburon ) as a race vehicle. There are two versions of the bet on, US and EU, where each translation has 29 of 31 potential cars : the US version has an Acura RSX and a Honda Civic, while the EU interpretation rather has a Peugeot 106 and a Vauxhall Corsa, the rest of the 27 cars in both versions are the like. SUVs, besides known as sport utility vehicles, were a raw component added to Underground 2. The SUVs can be upgraded and tuned in the like manner as cars. Some of the events in career manner are SUV-only events and only appear when a actor is driving an SUV. In career or any offline manner, if the player is driving an SUV, the calculator opponents besides drive SUVs. however, after completing a phase, the World Map allows a player to run any event from anterior stages in either a car or an SUV .
Customization
Customization in Underground 2 was importantly expanded compared to previous iterations from the series. ocular customization has expanded with the ability to customize the car ‘s front and rear bumpers, slope skirts, pamperer, hood, exhaust tips, doors, roof scoop, wheels ( including the ability to put on spinners ), headlights and taillights, side mirrors and paint. Vinyls and decals can besides be added, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as car stereo ( speakers, amplifiers & subwoofers ), hydraulics, azotic bottles, and under glow neon. Most ocular modifications to the car have no actual effect on vehicle operation. The sound systems, for example, could be put in the trunk of cars but served no aim other than ocular cues. Hydraulics can be used in combination with azotic at a begin of a subspecies which can cause a car to do a wheelie and for some cars get a better launch. The performance and treatment of the car are affected by cosmetic modifications [ citation needed ] like spoilers and hoods, which affect the downforce of the car – better spoilers allow better tune of the downforce management both in front and in the back of the fomite. Visual upgrade increase a cable car ‘s ocular rat, up to a rat of 10.0. At least one car in a career garage needs to be visually upgraded to a 10.0 rating to unlock all 10 DVD events ( completing these rewards the player with a DVD brood ), and each stage has a compulsory number of DVD events. A car ‘s performance can be enhanced by upgrading the cable car ‘s locomotive, engine operate unit of measurement ( ECU ), transmittance, abeyance, tires, brakes, reducing the car ‘s weight, and adding a turbo and/or azotic. The player has the ability to either upgrade the performance through ascent packages or by purchasing individual parts of each performance class. NFS : underground 2 besides introduces a dyno-tuning system which allows players to specifically tune certain expression of the car such as ECU, turbo, suspension springs, front and rear shock absorbers, gearing ratios, aerodynamics, brake bias, individual tire fascinate, etc. The player can test the settings via a dyno run which will display a torsion and baron versus revolutions per minute graph, and an calculate 0–60 miles per hour ( 0–100 kilometers per hour ) time .
Multiplayer
Underground 2 had on-line multiplayer capability on PS2, personal computer, and Xbox, however by 2010, EA Games had shut down their servers, rendering the feature inoperable. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] The personal computer adaptation has a multiplayer LAN mode, and multiplayer races over the internet can still be run using the games LAN mode and a virtual LAN ( a virtual private network ) .
reception
Need for Speed: Underground 2 received plus reviews. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 86 % for the Mobile version ; [ 62 ] 83.50 % and 82 out of 100 for the personal computer version, [ 48 ] [ 56 ] 82.61 % and 83 out of 100 for the Xbox adaptation, [ 49 ] [ 55 ] 80.77 % and 82 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 translation, [ 50 ] [ 57 ] 79.98 % and 77 out of 100 for the GameCube version, [ 51 ] [ 58 ] 76.44 % and 74 out of 100 for the PSP interpretation, [ 52 ] [ 59 ] 69.45 % and 72 out of 100 for the Game Boy Advance interpretation [ 53 ] [ 60 ] and 65.44 % and 65 out of 100 for the DS version. [ 54 ] [ 61 ] The game was widely regarded as one of the best games of the series and is remembered for the quality of the gameplay, the length, the endless customization, the concern side-missions, the graphics, and the addition of “ exempt Roam ”. [ 63 ] however, some of its elements were criticized american samoa good, such as having to drive excessive amounts to get to specific races, bland voice acting and firm product placement for companies with little to no connection to car racing, such as integrating the logo for Cingular, an american english radio receiver communications company that existed at the clock, into the plot ‘s message system and displaying it on-screen for much of the gameplay. [ 64 ] The GameCube interpretation was besides criticized for its precarious skeleton rate and inferior graphics, the hip-hop slang used by the characters during the narrative and in gameplay ( such as calling the money “ bank ” ), the comic record styled cutscenes, and miss of patrol besides garnered criticism. GameSpot gave the mobile call version a score of 9.2 out of 10 and said that it “ is n’t good the best race game ever made for a mobile earphone ; it ‘s besides a much-needed showcase for V Cast technology. This game boasts game duration and replay value so many orders beyond the mobile norm that it calls for a full paradigm fault. Simply put, mobile gambling just got a much-needed kick up the evolutionary ladder. ” [ 65 ] Flickroomgave the same adaptation a score of eight out of ten-spot and called it “ a large footprint for mobile bet on, in my opinion. While there are things I did not like about the plot — loading and some control issues — I can not deny that this is one sin of a package. If you want a game that maxes out your 3D handset, Need for Speed Underground 2 is the game to get. ” [ 66 ] Detroit Free Press gave the Rivals version all four stars, exclaiming, “ The race here is good flat-out fun, with growling engines, jumps, and shortcuts that allow you to smash through fences. But there are thoughtful additions, including Party Play. ” [ 46 ] The Sydney Morning Herald, however, gave the Rivals version three-and-a-half stars out of five and said, “ While not PSP ‘s best drive game, Rivals is an entertain street racer that offers quick thrills. ” [ 67 ] On the other hand, the same newspaper gave the GameCube, PS2, personal computer, and Xbox versions a score of four stars out of five and said, “ While the driving action is n’t quite angstrom meet as the superb Burnout 3, it ‘s still potent enough to keep you playing through the 150 or indeed races. ” [ 68 ] The Times besides gave the bet on four stars out of five and stated, “ The courses in this game are just ampere much the stars as the cars. The dazzling downtown locations are massive, dominated by skyscrapers whose light bathes the streets in a beaming radiance. ” [ 47 ]
Sales
According to Electronic Arts, Need for Speed: Underground 2 sold above 8.4 million units cosmopolitan by the end of 2004. [ 69 ] The PlayStation 2 version of Underground 2 received a “ double platinum ” sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association ( ELSPA ), [ 70 ] indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom. [ 71 ] The game ultimately sold around 11 million copies [ 72 ] and entered the “ best-sellers ” of each console table, PS2 ‘s Greatest Hits, [ citation needed ] Xbox ‘s Platinum Hits, [ citation needed ] and GameCube ‘s Player ‘s Choice. [ citation needed ]
