I also enjoyed the game but not for long. The game is not a sim so did not expect realism, but it would be nice to have a simulation option along with the arcade mode. I've been playing NFS since the first one, I wish they woould take al the tracks from the previous NFS games and bundle them in the next game. The first Underground had the same problem as Hot pursuit 2.... not enough tracks. Despite the variation all tracks felt almost the same. From what I've read in the past people did not like the tracks in the first NFS but i loved the variety offered by the segmented tracks like Alpine. I've played so many NFS games in the past that i finished HP2 and Underground in a day. At this point the the AI is weak for me in those games so i have to play online for some challenge, but EA has serious cheating problems with their NFS games.

To all you realism nuts, I am big on realism too. But I enjoyed the game because it gave me a chance to race cars that are affordable to average consumer. AKA the Ricer market. Hehe, I admit I am a rice rocket boy.

First off, only 4 door Skylines are RWD, all others are AWD. Drifted Skylines usually are modded to RWD. And you can drift just about any car, some just do better than others (obvious reasons) =). Good point though, a penalty of some sort should be in place for FWD cars, or just reflect it in poorer performance.

This game rocked - heavy on arcade but not too much ala' Midnight Club 2 (game sucks!) Plenty of shortcomings though:

No Replay or damage modeling. The "tuning" was really just brand name packages that you didn't have much control over. Would be nice to really "tune", instead of just naming stuff.

How about some test tracks for 1/4 mile or drag racing, maybe a dynometer for tuning?

The physics could be improved as well, I dont want F1 Season style realism, but it could be made a bit more realistic.

One of the most enjoyable games I have played, a real surprise cos' I was counting on it sucking hard.

This comment was edited on May 18, 11:51.

12) Unrealistic drifting.

As any fan of import racing is, I'm also a fan of drifting. I thought it was a pretty cool feature, one of the redeaming values...until I saw a guy playing it at Best Buy, and drifting an Eclipse.

Eclipses (Eclipsi?) are FWD, with the exception of one trim level, the GSX, which is AWD. You CAN'T drift (in the classic sense) in a FWD car. That mode of play should have only been open to the RWD cars (RX7, Supra, Skyline, 240SX, etc.)

-Azrael
"Don't Fear the Reaper, fear ME."

Nice, more retarded, arcade crap.

Rubberbanding is not as bad as people make it out to be... The game was not that difficult I played through it twice and didn't drop the difficulty to medium/normal until around level 70. The rubberband element keeps the tension up on the players and it makes them feel like they are in a race. As opposed to just running through the track by themselves...

Anyway, I understand why the devs made the game that way.

I want replays and user friendly MP modes.

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Rubberbanding is a gameplay element, where the cars in front of you have similar or lower speed to you, but when they drop more than a few seconds behind you, their speed and acceleration increase sharply. Most people find it annoying because, even if they're driving perfectly, a single crash is usually enough to drop them out of first place. Even if you've earned a fair lead over the competition, there's such a slim margin that all the laps and all your skills feel somewhat pointless. However, it is a decent deal for new players, because they have a chance even if their driving skills are fairly poor. It really should be an option, so those who have gotten past the early learning curve can really get an advantage from their improved skills.

unreal sucks

Agree with agreed.

I think it's a bad usage of graphics. There are reflective surfaces on every object. It is like a horrible mirror maze. The reflective services and poor physics just forced me to instantly un-install the game. The other games were much better. Then again, I'm more about the realism. I just play EA's F1 challenge 99-01 which is a great sim car game. NFS is just hoping to capitalize on dumb, gamers and big car trends. Where is the love..

This comment was edited on May 18, 10:10.

I may be getting old but I'm just not feeling the whole 2Fast 2Furious vibe with the NFS series.

Agreed.

http://www.ash-official.com/

I may be getting old but I'm just not feeling the whole 2Fast 2Furious vibe with the NFS series.
The cars are a little ridiculous looking and it seems most of the races take place at night.
Night races have always been my least favorite in racing games.
Man, bring back those harbor town races at sunset from Porche Unleashed!
Bring back the winding, mountainous, snowy roads from Hot Pursuit, or the country roads with fall color in bloom.
To me NFS was never about realism (ESPECIALLY now with no damage etc, ugh...).
NFS was about location. I can still remember some of the courses turn for turn just thinking about them.
Underground?
I just remember a city with lots of lights flying by.

"Cheating"

As in, the AI always manages to stay on your tail or somehow catch up with you even though you should be (or even were) clearly in the lead.

Having skipped NFS:U,
Ray

--------------------------------
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I love you, mom.

someone please define "rubberbanding" as it pertains to a racing title.

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Currently Playing - Soldner Beta, Joint Ops, UT2004.

someone please define "rubberbanding" as it pertains to a racing title.

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Currently Playing - Soldner Beta, Joint Ops, UT2004.

Well, PC gamers obviously do not want multi-player, cooperative play, or timely releases.

But, like, the console gamers are all like "Yeah, we want that stuff!"

:o,
Ray

--------------------------------
http://www.thief3.org/
http://users.ign.com/collection/RayMarden
http://www.guzzlefish.com/collection.php?username=ray_marden
I love you, mom.

The NFS series will go through an evolutionary step with NFS:U 2. Not only will it be filled with cars you'll never own, now they're promoting it with a girl who wouldn't give you the time of day. Aah, progress.

On a slightly more serious note, I'd agree with most of the suggestions here. I'd especially agree with rubber-banding...at the very least, it should be an option, as it does make things a bit easier for new players (not having other racers be waaay ahead of you). However, for skilled players who've earned what should be a 45sec gap, or have worked to finish all the tracks on Hard (which should be a viable route: if you play against tougher opponents, you get better gear) they should be able to enjoy their lead and not worry about hyper-accelerating computer players who are always dogging their bumper.

I still love the pure racing goodness that was NFS:SE, to be honest. While the cops vs speeders thing was great for multiplayer, it could get annoying when you just wanted to race. That and it has the most enjoyable incarnation of the Dodge Viper I've ever had the pleasure of driving. NFS2 was a good game (I got it with my 3dfx Voodoo2 ), but more of the same. The career mode from NFS:HS sucked, and HP2 was just lacking in direction. Porsche Unleashed was a great game, but lacked the interesting variety in vehicles (unsurprisingly) that I liked. Underground is a different direction, and one that I'm not all too fond of. While all the games were arcadey, this seems to be taking it too far, and foregoing an interesting racing game for flash and glimmer. Hopefully they'll add more of the most-loved and most-requested features from the other NFS games (aren't they supposed to IMPROVE with time?), along with more variety and more real choices throughout the game.

whats funny is that there are lots of forums where people have their NFS:U cars on the signature as if those were their actual cars. its pretty funny and somewhat sad to see that. but its also good to see these people cant afford such a car in RL or our streets would be a daily horror show. EA got that and will even add upgradeable music systems this time, so people can show off even more in their forums. lol

[i]Yeah, and the first one had online support for the PC so I'm sure this one will too. [/i]

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King didn't have online play for PC, but it worked fine on PS2.

Hah, probably. Just putting that as a option was silly.


I hope they also let you put vinals on modified hoods this time. The hoods with the scoops were nice and all, but you couldn't put any vinals on them. So those vinals were pointless since only the hoods added to your rating.

Who's the 2% that voted for "All of them"?

The marketing goons @ EA...

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