Good game early on, very fun. But as you progress, much like every racing game, the AI's difficulty and skill is rapidly outclassed just by how good your parts get. It gets to the point in the end game where in the final area you're told to do 40+ races and they're challenging only in the way of trying to stay awake in between them. I started this game late last year and it just never got to the point of being fun once you pass stage 3.

I had fun when I first got the game as a kid but nowadays it's just a fucking slog...it's a shame.

NFSUG2 is definite proof that you can have way too much of a good thing.

If you take a slice of this game, it's near perfect: the driving feels great, the sense of speed is intense and pumping, customizing your car adds a lot of player expression, the atmosphere perfectly encapsulates the aesthetic it sets out to showcase, the graphics are gorgeous, the city is fun to drive around, the soundtrack is the absolute BEST licensed OST I have ever heard in any game, the gameplay loop of winning races>unlocking parts>tuning car>winning more races feels addictive and rewarding, any segmented stretch of the campaign is extremely fun in and of itself.

This changes, however, when you factor in that this game stretches well beyond 35 hours. Do that to any kinectic fun-based game (such as rhythm games, shmups, fighting games, racing, etc.) and you start noticing the formula that, as time goes on, the problems become more and more frustrating and diminishing returns kick in hard.

The more I played, the more annoyed I got at having to drive to-and-fro every mission. At first, it was immersive and fun, then it just became a massive progress-slowing hindrance. The ridiculous amount of races (you'll most likely need to win over 150 races to beat the game) meant I was forced to play every race type I didn't like 25 - 30 times each, and this gets REALLY grating when it dawned on me that half the types of races were overly gimmicky and absolutely insufferable. I'm tuning my car to race it, not have it flop around like a dumbass scoring drift-points. Even when you tune your car completely and get max handling, max acceleration and max topspeed, drifting still feels like garbage, you can definitely tell that the game was not based around that, yet they had the mechanic in and it was part of the streetracing culture of the time so they shoehorned it in to the maximum amount.

Same for drag races, a type of race where you don't control your car aside from switching lanes (like Sonic the Hedgehog jumps from one rail to the other in 3D games), instead you focus on switching gears at the appropriate time and using nitro strategically. It feels like a puzzle game, you're aiming for the perfect sequence of button presses to pass these races. It's unfun. It feels like they added the gear-shifting mechanic in there but figured out everyone would play in automatic mode so they force you to deal with it through these kinds of races. Those extremely short and curvy races are ass too.

Also traffick is often very bullshit here. Sometimes a car will be sitting there right after a tight curve and you're gonna bang ultra hard, drop to last place, most likely have to restart the whole 5+ minutes long race if it's on the last lap and there's nothing you could've done about that, no way you could've seen it.

Like I had said before, doing any of these races a few times would be okay, but up to 30 times each is absolutely ball-bursting, specially when you factor in that you also have to manually drive to the races themselves. Catch-up mechanics are not that irritating in this game, at least.

Another thing that bugs me, one that is also certainly tied to how long the game is, is that you reach a point where your car is maxed out, fully tuned and pimped, and you still have dozens of races left to do. There's no progression anymore, no extrinsic motivators, just a checklist of races you still have left to do in order to complete the game. This is, to me, the very definition of a chore.

The whole structure of having your progression being through fulfilling sponsor requeriments instead of a story is just plain boring overall, it's not engaging in the slightest.

Still, I can't stress enough how awesome it feels to see your car boosting through these streets with that amazing OST blasting in the background. When everything clicks, this game is like no other. As it stands, though, there is no amount of "SCA-VEN-GER!" and "WE GIVE IT AAAAALL!" that can carry me through tens of hours of changing gears while sliding my car to the sides like Pepsiman or drifting like a soap bar inside the world's biggest game of Operation.

"Rakibi yok, ancak bakabileceğim kusurlara da sahip..."

Bilgisayar sürümü en iyi grafiklere sahip olan sürümü olduğunu biliyoruz, dönemi için çokça başarılı bir grafikte sunabiliyor, pişman etmiyor, kısacası günümüzde de oynarken umursamıyorsunuz.

Çizgi roman stiliyle beraber ses efektleri ve seslendirmeyle beraber hikaye anlatımını gerçekleştiriyor, eğer ki gözünüzden kaçırmazsanız, çizgi romanları inceleyin, hikayeyi daha iyi anlarsınız, daha fazla ayrıntı içeriyor. Hikayeyi en başta elemek için ikinci paragrafa anında yazıyorum, hikaye bu oyun serisinde ne kadar önemliyse o kadar önemli, yani hiç, oyun zaten olabildiğine zevkli, ara sıra canım çekiyor bile.

Biliyor musunuz? Oyunun başında bize verilen o efsane arabayla bazı yarışlara girebiliyorsunuz! Kendi arabanızı almadan önce haritada bulunan yarışlara gidip arabanın keyfini biraz olsun sürebilirsiniz, tabii oyun sonu arabanız çok daha iyi olacak. Ancak asıl amaç burada bu arabayı görüpte ama dokunamıyorum dememeniz, oyun aslında size onu kullanmanız için şans veriyor.

Oyun çok uzun süre boyunca beni götürmeyi başardı, sadece son 3-4 saatim kala sıkılmaya başladım, bu da oyunun artık bana sunabildiği her şeyi sunmuş olduğunu gördüğümden kaynaklandı, artık oyun yeni içerikler sunmuyordu.

Oyunda sevmediğim, ancak çok büyük dert olmayan olaylara geleceğim; SUV yarışlarından nefret ediyorum, oyuna başladığımızdan beri amacımız hızlı olmak, ancak bu yarışlara girmek için kullanmanız gereken araçlar yavaş, ne kadar geliştirirseniz geliştirin, ana araçlarınızdan çok daha yavaşlar, sevilesi değil.

İkinci ve üçüncü özelliği bir arada bahsedeceğim, çünkü bunlar birbiriyle bağlantılı, oyunda başarılı bir drift mantığı yok, ani virajlar ya da ani olmasa bile birazcık bile keskin olan virajlardan dönmek "Drift" yarışları haricinde işkence, ya duvara toslayacaksınız, ya da vitesinizi cehenneme kadar indireceksiniz. Komik olansa yapay zekaya sahip araçlar da sizinle aynı şeyi yapıyor, bu yüzden sizi yine de geçemiyorlar. Bir diğer "Drift" yarışlarında sahip olduğumuz dönüş gücü de dengesiz, yarışlar da çok kötü, hem hızla bitiş noktasına ulaşmamız, hem de iyi driftler atarak gideceğimiz mekanikler ve yarış pistleri tasarlamak daha iyi olmaz mıydı? Hem oyunun da normal yarışlarda kullanabileceğimiz bir mekaniği bulunurdu... Ama bu dediğim boşa tabii ki, "NFS: Heat" oyununda dahi drift mekanikleri, bölüm tasarımları halen güzel değil...

Need for Speed Retrospective #8

NFSU2 resembles a traditional RPG more than it does a driving game. Your car is your main character, gradually growing in power and visual pizzazz as you progress through the story. I think everyone who played this game fondly remembers their first little Peugeot or Volkswagen they started their journey with. A remarkable achievement for a game like this.

The game's open world very much augments this style of gameplay, with new and more interesting parts of the city unlocking piece by piece. I also love the fact that NFSU2 is bold enough not to boast any fast-travel, making wayfinding and route planning an integral part of the gameplay experience. The way exploration is rewarded by finding new shops and parts makes for a fun experience as the player both hones their skills and grows more familiar with their surroundings.

Fantastic experience, easily the best one so far.

While I fully recognize and respect the influence this game has had on many, it is simply not as good as the original Underground.

They have improved many aspects of the original game, such as making the game open world, improving customization, and handling. But they've also needlessly padded the length of the game and made some questionable additions.

I didn't like the addition of URL and Street X races, which take place on generic tracks far removed from the open world. It doesn't help that the default number of laps you have to complete is way too many. I'd highly recommend downloading Lexal's The Smol Improvement mod, which reduces the number of laps to a more reasonable level.

Aside from these gripes, the game is fun to play, and customizing cars never gets old. Bayview is a nice setting with some iconic landmarks. It's just a shame that it feels underutilized in the races.

The soundtrack is also great, and the intense sense of nostalgia is largely due to it. I'd say it's on par with the original Underground.

Overall, I'd still recommend this game, but not in its default state. If you're playing on the PC, be sure to download the Smol Improvement, the Extra Options, and the widescreen mod. They are almost essential to fully enjoy the game.

Simplesmente fenomenal, nunca tinha jogado um need for speed da era 3d/ do ps2, tinha baixas expectativa principalmente na gameplay e jogabilidade do game por ser um jogo de ps2, ja achei ruim a jogabilidade do Heat, 2015 e Payback, o carro nn tem peso algum nesses jogos que saiu recentemente e eu posso simplesmente dar um drift pra fazer a curva nos novos Needs, uma coisa que fez eu odiar os novos Needs foi por causa da sua jogabilidade muito casual e carro sem peso, coisa que tem no Forza Horizon, por culpa do FH é dificil eu jogar um jogo arcade de carro sem ter o mesmo ou um felling parecido de lá...mas o Need For Speed Underground 2 simplesmente destrói a jogabilidade dos novos NFS, Und2 foi o unico need que consegui jogar dps de jogar Forza Horizon, namoral esse jogo é muito a frente do seu tempo, os gráficos em si são incríveis na minha opinião, principalmente na chuva, a jogabilidade é impecável levando as considerações de limitações da época, simplesmente eu nn preciso ou posso dar drift em todas curvas, realmente precisa frear coisa que os novos needs nn tem, outra coisa é parecer que eu sinto muito mais o peso do carro do que nos NFS novo...Mas uma das coisas que me deixou bem pra baixo nesse jogo até então foi o Mapa aberto, ele simplesmente tá ali por estar, nn tem nada para fazer alem de pegar dinheiro que está escondido pelo mapa, a IA é meio burra as vezes e ganha um boost do nada quando vc está na frente mas nada q atrapalhe, pois ela ganha o boost mas n passa você direto, quando você bate e a IA tá atrás fica dps brm dificil de alcançar pelo menos no começo do game...mas é isso por enuanto estou achando um jogo fenomenal e muito divertido mesmo eu jogando a menos de 30 quadros por segundo no emulador de ps2 no celular, queria ter jogado a 60 no xbox, mas infelizmente queimou ent opitei o celular