When it comes time to race the game has seven different modes to test your driving skills: Circuit, Sprint, Drift, Drag, Outrun, Street X, and URL Race. Most of these are initiated by driving up to the corresponding icon for the race type, but there are also hidden races to be found if you do some exploring. Circuit and URL Races are lap-based, Sprint is a start to finish line dash on a set course, Drift races are designed for tight turns and corners, Drag races are quarter mile acceleration duels, and Street X takes your car off-road. The Outrun races are a little different in that the object is not to be the first across the finish line but instead to outdistance and lose your single opponent. When racing the sense of speed in the game is excellent to the point where you may find yourself slowing down just so that you can still see what’s coming. The cars are easy enough to control so you’ll be able to challenge for first place from the get go, and the control is nice and tight and responsive. Should you hit another car – there will be light traffic to contend with as you race the city streets – you’ll see a slow motion cutscene of your wreck. The crash engine is pretty good and the crashes always look realistic given your current speed and angle of impact. The crashes are pretty much for show, though. Your car is never the worse for wear even if you rolled it a few times and you’ll be back in the race and in contention in no time.

Winning races will earn you cash and reputation points. You can spend the cash customizing your car, both with new higher performance parts and with mods such as paint jobs and decals, and the reputation will get you into higher stake races and may even land your car on the cover of one of the in-game magazines. The level of car customization available is extensive and you can spend a lot of game time simply tweaking your car.

The game’s story mode is somewhat of a letdown. The cutscenes are pretty stylish and done with a combination of action scenes and comic book panels, but the story itself is generic and oh so predictable. Basically you were a top street racer sabotaged by his rival and are now starting your way up from the bottom again. Yawn. Making matters worse is that all of the story-related dialogue is delivered in full street slang that smacks of the kind of overacting employed by people trying very hard to be something that they’re not. Street boys and girls will find it laughable; others will find it near intolerable.

In addition to the story mode you can play the game as individual races and against other players on Xbox Live. This is actually where the game is the most fun because it is fully in its true element – fast, slick, and enjoyable arcade racing. So while the living city aspect of the game is all look and no substance, the racing itself is definitely recommendable. If you’re looking for a fun arcade-style street racer, you’ll find it in NFSU2.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 80%.  Exciting racing action and great car customization make Need for Speed Underground 2 a solid choice for street racing fans.

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