Need for Speed Undercover
editor@playthismag.com
www.playthismag.com
NFS Undercover gets 4/5 burritos on the Play This burrito rating systems
Need for Speed has long since been forgotten with a new title each year, but like the last few NFS Undercover was rushed out and has little to offer. There are very minor differences from the previous NFS pursuit games, but does not disappoint the fans of previous NFS games. The game play is fast paced and has a high replayability level when cops are thrown into the mix, but as far as purchasing this game goes for it’s new features, not worth the moolah.
The only negative thing on this game, aside from it being relatively boring after a few hours of straight game-play (which is bound to happen) is the terrible sound effects (SFX) throughout the game. One of the most annoying things that can be stuck in a game much like a film are unnecessary SFX. When starting your car from a stopped position it makes one of the most fowl tire screeching noises, but this would be perfectly ok if you floored it. This happens when even tapping on the gas peddle, which obviously is a bit ridiculous and relatively annoying.
Graphics & Cinematics: The graphics are great for a racing type game, but as most NFS games are not meant to be entirely realistic there is still a cartoony/Gone in 60 seconds feel to it. The cut scenes/cinematics of the game are another story, as they have live action cut scenes. For whatever reason they decided to get singer Christina Milian (pictured below) as their leading actress and did a terrible job, but she shouldn’t feel bad as all of the acting was trash. 3/5
Christina Milian - It's sad that this picture alone brings in 1,000 visitors a week.
SFX & Music: While the SFX were especially poor, the music was great. Any racing game that features intense speeds and running from the cops is loosely associated with some sort of techno/trance music with a fast paced beat. While there were only a few well known artists on the sound track, the mixes were still a great fuel to the fire. 4/5
Online/Multiplayer: The multiplayer feature has some new editions for the NFS series as they finally have some original content that you can not get during the actual game play. Cops and Robbers is a new feature that allows you to take place of the in game officers and take down the offenders. The game is just a glorified version of tag and is pretty unbalanced in the game play. Playing regular races is also very unbalanced as it doesn’t have a matching system. A new feature for NFS is that photo mode, which allows you to pause the game and take a photo of your current situation. [Example of ours shown below] 4/5
The 5-0 don't like when you run people off the road
Achievements: For those of you looking for easy achievements, NFS Undercover is the game for you. After just a few hours of game play you can get nearly 75 percent of the entire lot. Simply put rent this game, rack up on achievements and once you’ve had your fill ditch it. 5/5
Random annoyances:
- There is no main menu and the user interface is a pain.
- The AI can push you around and kill your cars engine but you can’t do it back.
- The terrible SFX.
- Photo mode’s photo is relatively hard to find.
Achievements
Accomplish the indicated achievement to get the corresponding number of Gamerscore points:
- Community Member (15 points): Create or use an existing account to sign into EA Nation.
- Active Community Member (20 points): Participated in any Community Day. Visit NeedforSpeed.com for more info.
- Freeze! Hold it right there! (25 points): Take a Photo and upload it to NeedforSpeed.com.
- Learner’s Permit (5 points): Acquire your first car in Career Mode.
- Apprentice Mechanic (5 points): Customize a car in Career mode.
- Meet Zack (10 points): Face off against Zack in ‘Rush Hour’.
- Meet Carmen (10 points): Face off against Carmen in ‘The Game’.
- Meet Hector (10 points): Face off against Hector in ‘Versus’.
- Meet Nickel (10 points): Face off against Nickel in ‘Road Rage’.
- Meet Rose (10 points): Face off against Rose in ‘Rollercoaster’.
- Zack Trap (25 points): Complete the Zack sequence in ‘The Trap’ mission.
- Bowling with Hector (25 points): Complete the Hector sequence in the mission ‘Kingpin’.
- To Protect and Serve (25 points): Complete the Carmen sequence in the mission ‘Rematch’.
- Nickel and Dimes (25 points): Complete the Nickel sequence in mission ‘Payback’.
- 2 Birds, 1 Stone (25 points): Complete the mission ‘Double Trouble’.
- Gold Coast to Ocean (15 points): Dominate the Gold Coast to Ocean event.
- East Fasulo Bridge (15 points): Dominate the East Fasulo Bridge event.
- Pine Creek & Douglas (15 points): Dominate the Pine Creek & Douglas event.
- South Canyon Hwy (15 points): Dominate the South Canyon Hwy event.
- East I-5 (15 points): Dominate the East I-5 event.
- Bay Drive & Harbor (15 points): Dominate the Bay Drive & Harbor event.
- Tri-City Run (15 points): Dominate the Tri-City Run event.
- North River Expressway (15 points): Dominate the North River Expressway event.
- Lose the Eye in the Sky (25 points): Escape from a helicopter in a successfully completed pursuit. (Must be Career level 8 or greater).
- Path of Destruction (10 points): Disable 10 Police Cars in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
- Get out of the way! (5 points): Avoid 5 Road Blocks in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
- Aficionado (10 points): Purchase or win any 5 cars for your garage.
- Keys to the City (5 points): Unlock Port Crescent in Career.
- Branching out (10 points): Unlock Sunset Hills in Career.
- Window Shopper (20 points): Discovered all 3 Pro Shops in Career.
- Nothing Stock (20 points): Discovered all 3 Tuning Shops in Career.
- Retired (40 points): Finish the Career Story.
- Hired Goons (20 points): Takeout all the ‘Goons’ in Career.
- 5 Finger Discount (20 points): Complete all Hot Car Missions.
- Chase or be Chased (20 points): Win all the Highway Battles in Career.
- Own the Road (25 points): Dominate 25 events in Career.
- Completionist (100 points): Complete all events in Career.
- Unstoppable Force (10 points): Avoid 50 Road Blocks in Career.
- Wasting Tax Dollars (20 points): Get $100,000 Cost to State in a single pursuit and evade.
- Spiked Punch (10 points): Avoid a spike strip in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
- Love thy Tires (15 points): Avoid 12 Spike Strips total in Career pursuits.
- Lose the Fuzz (10 points): Successfully complete 5 Pursuits.
- Most Wanted (100 points): Successfully complete 50 Pursuits.
- Scrapheap (25 points): Disable 100 Police vehicles.
- Crossing the Line (10 points): Win a Ranked Multiplayer Cops and Robbers event.
- First! (10 points): Won a Multiplayer Ranked Game.
- First of Many (15 points): Win a Ranked Multiplayer event against 7 human players.
- Among the Best (25 points): Won 25 Ranked Multiplayer events.
- Notorious (50 points): Finish 119 Multiplayer Races in any position.
- Cat and Mouse Virus (5 points): Infected with the Cops and Robbers virus by another player in a Cops and Robbers event.
