Need for Speed: Underground 2
Need for Speed: Underground 2 is a 2004 racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the eighth installment in the Need for Speed series and the direct sequel to Need for Speed: Underground. It was developed for Windows, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions were developed by Pocketeers. Another version for mobile phones was also developed by Ideaworks Game Studio. Like its predecessor, it was also commercially successful, selling around 11 million copies worldwide and breaking sales records in the United Kingdom.
The game entails tuning cars for street races, resuming the Need for Speed: Underground storyline. Need for Speed: Underground 2 provides several new features, such as broader customization, new methods of selecting races, set in a city known as Bayview. The game stars Brooke Burke as the voice of Rachel Teller - who guides the player throughout the game - and David Palffy as Caleb Reece, the game's main antagonist. The game's storyline is presented in a comic book strip. The Nintendo DS port introduces a new feature in which the player can design custom decals to adorn any vehicle in the game.
Plot
The story takes place after the initial events of Underground, shortly after the player beats Eddie and his street racing gang The Eastsiders in Olympic City, along with Melissa. Revered as the best street racer in Olympic City, the player wins a race while driving a blue Nissan Skyline GT-R and promptly receives a call from an unidentified individual with an "invitation" to join his team, followed by a threat explicitly disclaiming that he is not "taking no for an answer". Angered, the player immediately hangs up the call and drives to a celebratory party; while talking to Samantha on the phone, they are blinded and ambushed by a Hummer H2 from a dark alley, which rams and wrecks their Skyline. A man with a scythe tattoo on his hand calls to confirm that he "took care of a problem".Six months later, the player boards a plane to the fictional city of Bayview with a good luck note from Samantha, referring to her friend Rachel Teller, as well as being given a car key bearing the name 'Rachel'. The player arrives in Bayview and is contacted by Rachel, who has left them her Nissan 350Z at the airport car lot, asking to meet at a car dealership; the player can ignore these instructions and race in three events and outruns before Rachel calls demanding her car back, after which no more races will spawn. At the dealership, he buys his first car using the money provided by their insurance company over the totaled Nissan Skyline, and begins to race again.
Rachel becomes the key contact within Bayview. She explains the layout of Bayview street racing scene, introducing the sponsorship mechanics, the Underground Racing League and actively aids the player afterwards by giving them tips on driving, secret shops, important events and sometimes hidden events. The player soon gains fame and obtains sponsorship deals from winning races - this draws the attention of Caleb Reece and his racing crew The Wraiths.
Rachel reveals to the player that Caleb is attempting to take control of the racing scene in Bayview by manipulating sponsorship deals in his favor, threatening the player's livelihood and Rachel's liaison with the sponsors. Caleb attempts to have the player lose an Underground Racing League tournament by placing Nikki Morris, a Wraith member, in the same tournament as the player. This backfires, and Nikki leaves the Wraiths after Caleb berates her for losing; 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. Caleb is revealed to be the driver of the Hummer that wrecked the player's car in Olympic City.
Desperate to stop the player, who has accrued too much reputation and hype, Caleb eventually pits all remaining Wraiths members in a URL tournament against them, which fails. Having lost another sponsor, Caleb challenges the player to a showdown. The player defeats Caleb, now left penniless, and celebrates with Rachel and Nikki, solidifying their status as the best Underground racer in Bayview.
Gameplay
Underground 2 is the first game in the series to feature an open world called Bayview, which itself is based on the U.S. cities of San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The players can drive freely around and explore the city, unlocking areas by winning races. Racing modes are roughly similar to Underground; one racing mode was dropped, this being the Knockout competitions. A Lap Knockout option 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.
- 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.
- 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 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. 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 in an "outrun", where the goal is to start an outrun and then distance their car from the opponent's car by. 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. 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.
Underground 2 is unique in the Need for Speed series in the sense that it requires a player to drive to a certain place in the city to begin a race. 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 following features aid the players in this regard:
- 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.