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Need for Speed Undercover Review - Xbox 360

Introduction

The ever rolling Need for Speed series rolls on. It received a very lukewarm reception for the last two games, Carbon, and Pro Street. It seems each outing EA has decided to muck with the formula, taking out many recent features, and re-introducing features from many games ago in the hope they'll draw in new players. This time, Need For Speed Undercover tries to entice players by putting the emphasis back on Police chases, and running from the law.

Gameplay

Undercover tries to introduce a bit more of a guided storyline mode, where you go Underground (surprise) as a cop, posing as a street racer, and trying to infiltrate an organised crime syndicate. So ironically enough, you have to out-smart other cops, participate in various street races, and avoid capture to gain enough cred to crack these criminal masterminds.  

Rather than CGI to play through the storyline, this time there are short live-action cut scenes, featuring real actors trying to act sexy and gritty. It's different, but also a bit weak, and the scenes are very short. Really there isn't anything better or anything deeper than you'd expect to find in a Fast & Furious movie, and in most ways that is a scary thing.

After the short starting movie, you are plonked on the streets with a 240sx (or 180sx as seen here in Australia), and can freely roam around, looking for races to build up enough "Wheelman" reputation to attract the attention of the crims you're trying to bust. As you go, you'll also be given better and better cars, and can choose to upgrade your existing ones.

There are several main race types you'll come across over and over which help you gain much needed street cred and advance the storyline. Sprint is racing against many other wanna-be street racers to get to the finish line first. Circuit has you racing around a set course for multiple laps; it really isn't too different to Sprint. Checkpoint has you reaching each checkpoint on the map before the timer counts down. Outrun has you trying to stay in front of another racer for 60 seconds. Cost to the State has you trying to avoid the police whilst trying to trash a certain dollar value of the city streets as possible, by knocking over items such as garbage bins, signs or bus-stops. It works, but it's no Grand Theft Auto. Cop Take-Out has you putting out of action as many cop cars as possible. Highway Battle is probably one of the more entertaining races, requiring you to outrun another racer along a highway at vast speeds, whilst avoiding traffic and being the first to the finish point. What makes this one work well is that it can be hard to predict just how the traffic will behave until you fly past, and often you only have a fraction of a second to decide how you're going to navigate successfully ...

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