| Need for Speed: Underground | |
|---|---|
 Cover art featuring Eddie'sNissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) | |
| Developers | EA Black Box[a] Pocketeers (GBA) |
| Publisher | Electronic Arts[b] |
| Series | Need for Speed |
| Platforms | |
| Release | November 17, 2003 |
| Genre | Racing |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Need for Speed: Underground is a 2003racing video game and the seventh installment in theNeed for Speed series followingHot Pursuit 2 (2002). It was developed byEA Black Box and published byElectronic Arts. Three different versions of the game were produced: one for consoles andMicrosoft Windows, and another for theGame Boy Advance. Anarcade version developed byGlobal VR and co-published byKonami came out two years later.
Unlike previousNeed for Speed games, which featuredsports cars andexotics,Underground featured vehicles associated with theimport scene. It was the first game in the series to offer a career mode that features a comprehensive storyline, and a garage mode that allowed players to fully customize their cars with a large variety of brand-name performance and visual upgrades. All races take place in the fictional Olympic City.
Underground was critically and commercially successful, selling around 15 million units and receiving positive reviews. It was followed byNeed for Speed: Underground 2 in 2004.
The game begins with a circuit race set in Olympic City (A fictional city based mainly on the city ofSeattle and named after nearbyOlympic National Park), with the player driving a whiteHonda/Acura Integra Type R that sports a unique set of vinyl and a widebody kit. They dominantly win the race; only to be awakened from a daydream by a woman named Samantha.
Samantha is the player's contact in Olympic City, touring them across theimport culture scene andillegal street racing therein. Albeit poking fun at the player's choice of car, she helps the player buy their first car and kickstarts the player by introducing them to local street racers such as Jose (who offers circuit events), Klutch (who offersdrag events), and Dirt (who offersdrift events). In event #7, she introduces him to T.J., a mechanic who rewards them with numerous performance upgrades and parts, provided they win their time trial challenges. Samantha also issues time trials to the player, her rewards being unique visual modifications instead.
Eventually, the player draws the attention ofThe Eastsiders, after racing their members Chad, Kurt, and Todd to climb up the racing ranking boards. Eddie, the leader of the gang and his girlfriend Melissa take notice of the player. Eddie is the current best underground racer in Olympic City - unimpressed by the player, he insults them for their racing skills, going as far as demanding they "take a taxi home so that he can get home faster" while throwing cash at their face, and signaling for a taxi cab to pick up the player in an event.
In time, the player develops too much reputation and hype to be ignored by Eddie, who proceeds to challenge them to race Samantha to continue upward in the ranking boards. She gets infuriated by the player's acceptance and loses after she totals the engine of herHonda Civic Si during the race. Her car is taken by T.J. for himself thereafter. Deeply saddened by the player's willingness to race her and the loss of her car to T.J., Samantha distances herself from the player, but they continue receiving race offers nonetheless.
Building up to the endgame, the player faces and defeats Chad, Kurt, Todd, and Dirt for the #1 rank of their respective boards, then faces T.J. in Samantha's vandalized Civic in a pink slip race. They win the car back and return it to Samantha, rekindling their friendship. Samantha rewards the player with a unique body kit choice.
Eddie then challenges the player to a sprint race and loses; before the player's crew can celebrate, an unidentified racer in a greyNissan 350Z challenges the player to a final 4-lap circuit race; the driver of the 350Z is revealed to be Melissa. The player accepts her challenge and wins, solidifying their status as the best underground racer in Olympic City.
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Gameplay inUnderground typically involves the player defeating opponents in an illegalstreet races in the fictional Olympic City (which was largely based on many real-life cities such as Vancouver, London, Paris, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.) The game introducesnitrous oxide for the first time in the series which can be used to boost the acceleration of the car for maximum speed; however, it can only be used once and cannot be used again until the player restarts the race.
There are several game modes present inUnderground:
In the car customization menu, cars can be altered with performance upgrades and visual upgrades, such as paint colors, vinyl,underglow neon, custom front, and rearbumpers, custom side skirts,spoilers, customhoods,exhaust tips, roof scoops, customtires andstickers, and widebody kits.
Players can apply performance upgrades to their vehicles. The player can upgrade their car's engine,drivetrain,suspension, tires,engine control unit (ECU) as well as addnitrous oxide,turbochargers and reduce the car's weight (in the form of "weight reduction packages"). Performance upgrades are earned by completing certain races in the story mode.
Underground features a total of 20 fully licensed cars. In contrast to previous installments that featured predominantly exotic cars, the cars inUnderground are exclusively tuner-type cars (such as theDodge Neon,Mazda RX-7,Toyota Supra,Honda Civic Si,Nissan 350Z, andVolkswagen Golf GTI).Underground is also notable for being the first game in theNeed for Speed series to offer aKorean-made car, theHyundai Tiburon, as a playable vehicle.
First introduced inUnderground was theStyle Points system, strongly influenced by "The Kudos" system inMetropolis Street Racer andProject Gotham Racing. Style Points are rewarded to the player for performing stunts and being competitive in race events.Style Points can be multiplied by theStyle Modifier, which can be increased by visually modifying the player's car. The more "tricked out" the design of the player's car, the higher their score gets multiplied. Style Points are earned by drafting, power sliding, taking shortcuts, closely avoiding traffic, and avoiding walls. Style Points gradually unlock visual upgrades for the player's car, as well as custom cars they can drive.[11]
The game's soundtrack contains 26 licensed songs, ranging fromrap,hip hop,rock,EDM, anddrum and bass, performed by artists likeNate Dogg,T.I., as well asLil Jon & The East Side Boyz (who are best known for performing the game's theme song,Get Low),Petey Pablo,Static-X,Rob Zombie,Lostprophets,The Crystal Method,Junkie XL,Andy Hunter,Asian Dub Foundation andBT (who is best known for producing the game's opening song, "Kimosabe"). The main menu mostly plays hip-hop music, while the race sequences mostly play electronica, metal, techno, and disco music, though it is also optional for the player to integrate the main menu music into the race sequences or the race music into the main menu.
Need for Speed: Underground was first announced in April 2003.Underground features 20 fully customizable licensed Vehicles from thirteen manufacturers, and hundreds of aftermarket parts from no fewer than 52 aftermarket parts manufacturers, includingBilstein,Holley Performance Products,GReddy,Sparco,HKS Power,PIAA Corporation andEnkei.[12] The game's visual effects was designed under the supervision ofHabib Zargarpour, who previously worked on the pod-racing sequence inStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[13]Need for Speed: Underground was released worldwide in November 2003 for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube (with the exception of Japan for PlayStation 2 and GameCube on December 25).[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]
The game had a marketing budget of $5.8 million.[23]
Thearcade version was developed byGlobal VR and published byKonami with assistance from Electronic Arts, released in late 2005.[24][25]
| Aggregator | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GBA | GameCube | PC | PS2 | Xbox | |
| GameRankings | 77.33%[52] | 83.73%[49] | 82.29%[50] | 84.29%[48] | 81.76%[51] |
| Metacritic | 77/100[57] | 83/100[54] | 82/100[56] | 85/100[53] | 83/100[55] |
| Publication | Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GBA | GameCube | PC | PS2 | Xbox | |
| Edge | N/A | 7/10[21] | 7/10[21] | 7/10[21] | 7/10[21] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | N/A | 8.67/10[20] | N/A | 8.67/10[20] | 8.67/10[20] |
| Eurogamer | N/A | N/A | N/A | 7/10[26] | N/A |
| Game Informer | N/A | 9/10[29] | N/A | 9.5/10[27] | 9.25/10[28] |
| GamePro | N/A |   [19] | N/A | [30] | [19] |
| GameRevolution | N/A | B[31] | B[31] | B[31] | B[31] |
| GameSpot | 7.7/10[33] | 7.9/10[17] | 8/10[32] | 8/10[32] | 7.9/10[17] |
| GameSpy | N/A |  [35] | [36] | [18] | [34] |
| GameZone | N/A | N/A | 8.1/10[38] | 8.5/10[37] | N/A |
| IGN | 7.9/10[41] | 8.8/10[16] | 9/10[39] | 8.9/10[40] | 8.8/10[16] |
| Nintendo Power | 3.4/5[43] | 4.1/5[42] | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | N/A | N/A | [44] | N/A |
| Official Xbox Magazine (US) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8.6/10[45] |
| PC Gamer (US) | N/A | N/A | 88%[46] | N/A | N/A |
| The Village Voice | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8/10[47] | N/A |
Need for Speed: Underground received positive reviews according to review aggregatorsGameRankings andMetacritic. Both gave it a score of 84.29% and 85 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version,[48][53] 83.73% and 83 out of 100 for the GameCube version,[49][54] 82.29% and 82 out of 100 for the PC version,[50][56] 81.76% and 83 out of 100 for the Xbox version[51][55] and 77.33% and 77 out of 100 for the Game Boy Advance version.[52][57] The only complaints critics had were the repetitive tracks, unbalancedrubberband AI, especially in the game's Easy mode, and the lack of free roam and damage in the game, with the latter only confining to detachment of license plates and side mirrors from cars during collisions, especially during Drag races.[58]
In the UK,Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine gave the PS2 version a score of nine out of ten and made much of the illegal nature of the gameplay. They praised the speed but called the title as another driving game with Hollywood sparkle.[59] In Japan,Famitsu gave the GameCube and PS2 versions a score of two eights and two nines, bringing it to a score of 34 out of 40.[60]
According to Electronic Arts,Need for Speed: Underground was a commercial hit, with sales above 7 million units worldwide by mid-2004.[61]Underground ultimately sold 15 million copies worldwide.[62]
By July 2006, the PlayStation 2 version ofUnderground had sold 2.6 million copies and earned $115 million in the United States alone.Next Generation ranked it as the sixth highest-selling game launched for thePlayStation 2,Xbox orGameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. It was the highest-sellingNeed for Speed game released between those dates in the United States.[63] The PlayStation 2 version also received a "Double Platinum" sales award from theEntertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[64] indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom,[65] where it had sold 700,000 copies by January 2004.[66]
The editors ofComputer Gaming World presentedUnderground with their 2003 "Racing Game of the Year" award.[67]
Need for Speed: Underground also wonThe Electric Playground's 2003 "Best Driving Game for PC" award,[68] theInteractive Achievement Award for "Console Racing Game of the Year",[69] andThe CESA Game Awards for "Global Awards (overseas works)" fromCESA andMinistry of Economy, Trade and Industry.[70]
"By bringing in Hollywood visual-effects artists to help create the game's movie-like lighting and fantastic sense of speed, Underground became a true artistic achievement for theuber-publisher".
Release date: 15th January, 2004
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