Full speed ahead for race game

Jan 8 2009 by Richard Evans, North Wales Weekly News

ON THE shelves for a couple of weeks now is EA’s latest instalment of Need for Speed.

Need for Speed: Undercover brings back the better ideas from the previous games and returns to a police chase theme as opposed to the tweaking and tuning rubbish which made other games more akin to MTV’s Pimp My Ride than to a street car racing game.

I won’t go into the thinly-veiled plot, but basically you play the role of an undercover cop who must compete in a series of races before you get to delve into the criminal underworld.

The car’s handling is quick and simplistic and easy for beginners to pick up and play as opposed to the more expert knowledge relating to car tuning, which might have put off those who don’t spend all their days watching Top Gear reruns on Dave and worrying about carburettors and fuel injection efficiency.

On the face of it Need for Speed: Undercover provides Xbox 360 and Playstation3 owners with a fun and accessible game to enjoy high-speed races and cop car chases, without the need to be a proper petrol head.

On the other hand, those who enjoyed the almost geeky depth of the car tuning experience in the past may be put off by this easy pick-up and play ethos, which better suits the 90% of gamers who don’t spend their hours donuting in McDonalds car park and admiring the various spoilers on offer at Halfords.

7/10