Need for Speed: Underground 2

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 928 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 797 out of 928
  2. Mixed: 98 out of 928
  3. Negative: 33 out of 928
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  1. SpankMonkey
    Nov 27, 2004
    7
    Very fast action, nice graphics, solid gameplay. Confusing Multiplayer interface (LAN filter is stupid), a greater selection of cars like S2000 and other ricer cars, and it is missing the fine detail like each exhaust type has a unique sound & suspension types have minor differences. Brandnames have no impact unlike real life. otherwise good game.
  2. Shadow1
    May 3, 2016
    7
    This game is one of the best in series . Soap graphics , but cool tuning . Many different really car , awesome soundtracks , many tips of races . NFS Underground 2 wonderful game for 2004 and now can play . 7/10
  3. RiseFall
    Dec 22, 2004
    6
    I can't play to racing games WITHOUT cars damage.
  4. killahondaloosepimpdaddy
    Jan 3, 2005
    6
    Ok not worth a ten not much improvment the only good thing is u can go around da city. Mostly the same thing only 2 new races streetx and url. i dont no how you lot can give this a 9or an 8 or 10 its not worth it som nex people hu love this game so much. Buy midnight club instead.
  5. Govin_Lock
    Nov 28, 2013
    7
    Many game modes, can tuning the car, long time to get complete 100% and moderate AI difficulty. But the graphics is more bad than Hot Pursuit 2, worst driving physics, lacks of exotic cars and lacks of pursuit.
  6. PhilleH.
    Dec 4, 2004
    5
    It´s greit.
  7. Flint
    Nov 11, 2004
    5
    I dont really know how to rate this game. Id rather give it a 5 and believe IM the stupid one who cant find a way to sell the stuff I bought and transfer my uniques. They cant be so stupid, it must be just me. If you ever realize how to keep your stuff of sell them to use it with anoher car, same for the uniques, hit me at msn, xqflint@hotmail.com
    Thanks
  8. papirnehezek
    Feb 6, 2015
    5
    Crashes, constant stuttering starting after a few minutes, controls settings lost frequently, no ingame way to change controls, typical heavily controlled arcade racing, which basically means that the cpu cheating to give you the challenge, of course sometimes for your sake if you are behind. Nicely done aspects but overall lacks of clear direction and playability.
  9. tsakiym
    May 25, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not have to say anything. But i need to write one hundred and fifty characters. i think my score can describe it.................................… Expand
  10. kanefriessner
    Oct 21, 2018
    7
    Better than the first one. The graphics are fair, but I think, it's a little worse than in 2003. The new race types are good and the drift is much better too. The tuning options are quite good. Fortunately the traffic is not irritating too much like in the first one.

    Pros: - Many good racing modes - Career seems good this time - Many good cars - (Nearly all the pluses of U1)    Better than the first one. The graphics are fair, but I think, it's a little worse than in 2003. The new race types are good and the drift is much better too. The tuning options are quite good. Fortunately the traffic is not irritating too much like in the first one.

    Pros:
    - Many good racing modes
    - Career seems good this time
    - Many good cars
    - (Nearly all the pluses of U1)

    Cons:
    - AI is still bad, but much better than previous NFS games
    - Again: no cops in an illegal racing game
    - Graphics feels a little bit worse than in U1 (especially because of the ugly road)    … Expand
  11. hiltong55
    Mar 22, 2017
    6
    The customization portion of the game is by far its most appealing aspect in my opinion. The racing mechanics are slightly above average and while the game can be challenging at times but can all be mastered with repetition. My biggest criticism of this game is the lack of a immersive story and a incomplete ending. 6/10 Decent
  12. Zeratex
    Feb 11, 2019
    5
    EA did pretty well for this game after their bad first game of underground series.
    This time they added a semi open world experience where the player could feel like he owns the road. The upgrades and the campaign mode are also improved, the music is the same quality as the first.
    Overall i would say its an improvement over the first one but it still suffers from being repetitive and    EA did pretty well for this game after their bad first game of underground series.
    This time they added a semi open world experience where the player could feel like he owns the road. The upgrades and the campaign mode are also improved, the music is the same quality as the first.

    Overall i would say its an improvement over the first one but it still suffers from being repetitive and dull racing game, compared to other racing games it has long way to catch up but is playable and can be enjoyable for car lovers.

    5/10    … Expand
  13. NOTORIOUS7302
    Apr 23, 2019
    7
    I think it's a good game. The customizations were excellent! The only problems were that there were no cops and the A.I tends to rubberband a lot of times.
  14. PrdPak
    Apr 19, 2021
    5
    I don't like this one, I am going to be honest.

    I never played it during its era. But this doesn't mean that I hate it because of this reason as I also didn't play NFS: Most Wanted in its era, but I revisited it and liked it very much. I was hoping the same for UG2, but I am disappointed. The main problem is the story, I don't like a complicated plot in my racing game, it takes the    I don't like this one, I am going to be honest.

    I never played it during its era. But this doesn't mean that I hate it because of this reason as I also didn't play NFS: Most Wanted in its era, but I revisited it and liked it very much. I was hoping the same for UG2, but I am disappointed.

    The main problem is the story, I don't like a complicated plot in my racing game, it takes the fun out of racing games, you saw what happened to NFS: Payback and Heat because of this. The other problem are the graphics, they feel like a downgrade when compared to UG1, they lack detail, even on the PC version. The handling of the cars also feel a bit odd, when compared to other titles in the series because NFS has always been an arcade racing series (exception of Shift, Shift 2), the handling of the cars feel a bit stiff and they take way much time to respond to my inputs. The events are uninteresting and not memorable at all, and there was a bit of repetition in the events

    Now lets come at the good side of things. I like the openworld city a lot, the weather feature is really innovative when compared to NFS UG1, the cars sound very good, the tuning aspect is decent. And that was all I could say good about this game.

    I feel like it didn't introduce something new to the series. It felt like a remake of UG1, than a separate game. Most of these events were already in UG1, and they were fine. If people like this game then good for them, but that is not the opinion of everybody.

    I personally don't like this one that much.    … Expand
  15. MaxmilianKohler
    Nov 4, 2019
    7
    Playing this on PC in 2019 without a controller.

    FFB is either full on loud rattle mode, or 0 grip, with my g27. It wouldn't let me bind some of my g27 buttons and pedal, so I had to try and use the keyboard alongside it for the hand brake for example. There are some frustrating buggy parts. Like in the drag race it all of a sudden creates a huge dead zone and drastically increases    Playing this on PC in 2019 without a controller.

    FFB is either full on loud rattle mode, or 0 grip, with my g27. It wouldn't let me bind some of my g27 buttons and pedal, so I had to try and use the keyboard alongside it for the hand brake for example.

    There are some frustrating buggy parts. Like in the drag race it all of a sudden creates a huge dead zone and drastically increases the sensitivity of the wheel. The drag race in general seems super tedious. As I progress in the game the drag races seem even more bugged to where it won't respond at all to my controls and keeps crashing me into walls. I'm trying with a keyboard and a g27 wheel. Strangely, I couldn't find anyone else complaining about the drag races.

    In other situations you need to race 1v1 dozens of times and have to fake out the car to lose them. But often the game detects what you're doing wrong and gives them the lead erroneously.

    There doesn't seem to be a way to skip/ignore the unpleasant races. They all seem mandatory for progression. You also have to spend time ricing out your car whether you want to or not.

    The drifting can be very frustrating because I'm doing the same thing as people who are getting vastly higher scores, but for some reason my car doesn't work like theirs and my scores are much lower. There's no telling what's wrong or what I need to change. Switching to the keyboard to drift rather than the g27 wheel, seemed to remedy this.

    The game certainly seems to be designed for a controller. I figured out that due to this fact, the best wheel setting seems to be a very low degree of rotation. ~70 degrees or less seems good.

    Pretty annoying and tedious to be in long races and have to do them over and over because some random car appears in front of you, causing a head-on crash. Or randomly some car behind you shoots ahead of you out of nowhere right at the end after you've been leading the entire race, or bumps/crashes into you/spins your car out right at the end.

    There's a very low practical limit on the amount of cars you can drive/own, which sucks.

    Definitely need a trainer to even make it through the game (due to the bugged drag races), and certainly to make the game frustration-free and enjoyable.

    Not a big fan of the way the unique upgrades work. Each one can only be permanently applied to one car. Thus ones you've applied early on to lesser cars are somewhat wasted. There doesn't really seem to be a good/ideal choice for which car to assign the upgrades to.

    The "cool air camera shots" end up just screwing you over and making you crash.

    I would give it a higher rating if you could skip/ignore the buggy/unpleasant races.

    -----------

    CARS:

    Due to the unique upgrades coming early in the game before you get the other cars, it was only applied to the Nissan 240sx (which seems like the best starting car), thus that car still had the best stats at the end of the game. Though, the RSX seems to have better handling regardless of the stats. The stats overall don't seem that important.

    I didn't like the RX-7. It seemed to be more difficult to get it into a slide around corners, and it seemed prone to spinning out when you do. RSX didn't have that issue. Maybe the RX-7 has slightly better control when used in hood-camera mode.

    GTO only maxes top speed. Handling is very low, and accel isn't great. Said to be good for drifting.

    Skyline seems good/best at everything. But only maxes accel. Drifts better than the GTO.

    Evo doesn't max out anything. Doesn't seem to do anything better than the Skyline, but seems pretty similar.

    For visual rating, carbon fiber body kit is the highest, even after putting multiple layers of artwork.    … Expand
  16. r03vg
    May 15, 2023
    6
    Не понимаю всеобщую любовь к этой игре. Есть ощущение будто большинство гонок проходят по одним и тем же маршрутам. Кольцевые гонки - самая скучная часть игры. Некоторые из таких проходятся за 9-12 минут. Это много для одного заезда.Не понимаю всеобщую любовь к этой игре. Есть ощущение будто большинство гонок проходят по одним и тем же маршрутам. Кольцевые гонки - самая скучная часть игры. Некоторые из таких проходятся за 9-12 минут. Это много для одного заезда.
  17. Lerkozavrik
    Jul 28, 2020
    6
    NFSU2 - классика 2000х. Все её боготворят, говорят какая она классная. Я не хочу писать субъективное мнение, НО... Игра затянута. Я так её и не прошел. Сеттинг немного отличается от NFSU, которая мне очень понравилась. И 2 часть для всех еще круче, кроме меня. Что то я отвлекся, так вот. Игра в целом на твердую 8, но то, что игра затянута до ужаса, это факт. Так же, меня немного задолбалNFSU2 - классика 2000х. Все её боготворят, говорят какая она классная. Я не хочу писать субъективное мнение, НО... Игра затянута. Я так её и не прошел. Сеттинг немного отличается от NFSU, которая мне очень понравилась. И 2 часть для всех еще круче, кроме меня. Что то я отвлекся, так вот. Игра в целом на твердую 8, но то, что игра затянута до ужаса, это факт. Так же, меня немного задолбал небольшой гринд, ведь я такой рукожоп, что не мог нормально играть на нормале и меня все обыгрывали, я постоянно менял тачки, и деньги пропадали. Если объективно рассуждать, игра классная, мое мнение разниться. Ну, тут вам уже решать.… Expand
  18. cezar88augusto
    Feb 26, 2022
    7
    I believe I'm one of the few people who didn't like this game that much. Maybe it's because of the fame he has and the expectation I had when playing. NFS Underground was a good game, but for me, it was more of the same.
  19. jettaga
    Oct 30, 2022
    7
    One of the few games that amuses me.
    Oh, and if the controls were smooth, I'd enjoy it.
    definitely play it. I can play 60fps even on my potato computer.

    By the way, I couldn't see a story while playing. either because I skipped the fast-paced cinematics, or the game doesn't have a direct story.
  20. egyptianbeggar
    Apr 12, 2023
    5
    The game of my childhood. My brother would open the game, so I would buy a Hummer and race against him. It is a game far ahead of the new generation NFS games.
  21. zNeverSleep
    Aug 25, 2023
    7
    After playing so much NFS Underground 1, I don't know, this one didn't get me again.

    I love my memories of playing it as a child - because of that, I tried harder to like this one again. Unfortunately, that was not the case. For me, besides the main song, all the other ones didn't fit to me. That's ok since It is expected. The real problem was the open-world design and overall    After playing so much NFS Underground 1, I don't know, this one didn't get me again.

    I love my memories of playing it as a child - because of that, I tried harder to like this one again. Unfortunately, that was not the case. For me, besides the main song, all the other ones didn't fit to me. That's ok since It is expected. The real problem was the open-world design and overall progression. Traveling from race A to Race B felt like a solid waste of time. The progression, a solid aspect of Underground 1, seems pretty slow here. Oh, and the plot... anyone managed to pay attention?

    I don't think this game aged well enough for me.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Best PC Game of 2004
11
#11 Most Discussed PC Game of 2004
8
#8 Most Shared PC Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Computer and Video Games
    84
    For an arcade game, it's even surprisingly playable with a steering wheel, with near misses causing no small amount of amateurish flinching. If you can't afford to attach largely pointless gadgets to your otherwise moribund vehicle, this is the next best thing. [PC Zone]
    Read full review
  2. Total Video Games
    90
    Its immense thrills and spills through the open-ended city of Bayview is exhilarating, and the culture that is emerging is created in the game to great effect.
    Read full review
  3. Yahoo!
    90
    The world is elaborate, the sense of speed is dizzying, and the customization could cost you a job or a girlfriend. But you'll still have Brooke to keep you company.
    Read full review
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