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6.6 out of 10

Need for Speed Undercover

First seen: 12 february 2008

Information found in: from 103 sources in 20 countries.

Best Price: £12.72

  • User Score (52)
    6.4 6.4 from 52 reviewers
  • Expert Score (67)
    6.1 6.1 from 67 reviewers
  • Gameplay (17)
    6.6 6.6 from 17 reviewers
  • Graphics (23)
    6.7 6.7 from 23 reviewers
  • Sound (22)
    8.2 8.2 from 22 reviewers
  • Storyline (3)
    5.8 5.8 from 3 reviewers
  • Multiplayer (6)
    7.3 7.3 from 6 reviewers
  • Control (3)
    6.3 6.3 from 3 reviewers
  • Lifespan (3)
    6.0 6.0 from 3 reviewers
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Pros & Cons

  • lots of police chases, refined most wanted formula, custom decal editor, even between races, decent driving physics
  • terrible driving model, built around micropayments, terrible cut scenes, unplayably bad frame rate, more glitz than substance

You never thought it would turn out like this, an all-out chase where you’re the hunted. And the hunter. Now you must get behind the wheel and risk everything to infiltrate a ruthless international crime syndicate and take them down. The man you’re after is a maniac behind the wheel, and he’s driving like his life depends on escape, which maybe it does. He’s the one with all the answers you need, you will track him down. Needless to say, that fleet of police cruisers …

Manufacturer's Specs

Release Date

  • First seen
    12 February 2008

Need for Speed Undercover

Need for Speed Undercover is a racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the 12th installment of Need for Speed series. It was released on November 18, 2008 in North America; November 20, 2008 in Australia; and November 21, 2008 in Europe. It allows single player and multiplayer modes. It was rated as T by ESRB, M by OFLC, and 12+ by PEGI.

Features

The Undercover features a new open-world map that consists of 100 miles of road …

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Need for Speed Undercover

Need for Speed Undercover is a racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the 12th installment of Need for Speed series. It was released on November 18, 2008 in North America; November 20, 2008 in Australia; and November 21, 2008 in Europe. It allows single player and multiplayer modes. It was rated as T by ESRB, M by OFLC, and 12+ by PEGI.

Features

The Undercover features a new open-world map that consists of 100 miles of road and a highway system. There are four boroughs of the game environment that make up the Tri-City including Palm Harbor, Port Crescent, Gold Coast Mountains, and Sunset Hills. Besides that, it also features four water crossings which are the Main Guy Causeway (Ocean Expressway connecting Sunset Hills to Port Crescent via man-made island), the Vale Causeway (Sunset Hills to Palm Harbor), the North T Causeway (Man-made island to Palm Harbor), and the Memorial Tunnel (Port Crescent to Palm Harbor). In addition, it features a contiguous highway system that circles the Tri-City, which the four boroughs are actually share a piece of the large circuit. As for the police system, it uses a similar bar graph at the bottom of the screen that moves between the blue "Evade", and the red "Busted", on the left side, depending on the player’s speed and proximity to police. Meanwhile, the Cooldown" period after evading pursuing police units returns as well, along with heat levels, speed breaker and pursuit breakers. Furthermore, it features damage system but the damage only affects the cosmetic of the cars and does not affect the performance. The player can gain reputation points as they progress through the game’s story by participating in side missions or performing flashy maneuvers in a police chase.

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Review Summary

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  1. Need for Speed Undercover

    Reviewer: UK Spotlight
    14 January 2009
    Overall 7
    7.3
     

    Need for Speed doesn't really deserve the score it's getting. Technically, it's a mess, with some odd lighting and shadow effects, laggy multiplayer, a dreadful framerate and a lifeless city. The full motion video isn't as funny or as polished as say Red Alert 3, and the whole story seems somewhat disconnected to the rest of the game. It's also generally a pitifully easy game to play, with little challenge or sense of accomplishment. However, even with this catalogue... Read more

  2. Need For Speed: Undercover Review

    Reviewer: PALGN
    23 November 2008
    Overall 5
    5.0
     

    The Need for Speed series has always been a huge franchise for EA, but it was only really when Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 was released that the series started to become both critically and commercially well received. Since Hot Pursuit 2 EA Black Box has released the excellent Need for Speed Most Wanted , the conversative Need for Speed Carbon and the disappointing Need for Speed ProStreet . Well, here we are another year later and with plenty of competition EA Black... Read more

  3. Need for Speed: Undercover

    Reviewer: Ultra Ninjas
    28 November 2008
    Overall 5
    5.0
     

    The sound department win the award in my book. Great sound track and some really decent SFX at least helped in keeping me playing the game beyond all patience. Hopefully with any luck it'll lucky 13 when the next in the sequence comes along. Read more

  4. Need For Speed: Undercover - PS3

    Reviewer: Pocket Lint
    17 December 2008
    Overall 5
    5.0
     

    It’s a shame for Undercover that the designers seemed to be too intent on offering visual brilliance and dodgy storylines than give us a slice of classic racing. While the racing is decent enough to claim a reasonable score, the poor technical aspects, combined with some strange design decisions make this the racing title to leave on the shelves this Christmas. Read more

  5. Need For Speed: Undercover

    Reviewer: Cheats Unlimited
    10 December 2008
    Overall 7
    7.0
     

    The cut-scenes are pretty dull and cliched (briefcases are opened, threats are hissed down phones) and Maggie Q is probably just biding time until her next action movie comes along. The damage detail when you crash into things is pretty lame (Destruction Derby on the PS was better than this, frankly) and at most you'll cause a few dents in other cars. Ultimately, Undercover has great car options, which are let down by repetitive and lifeless missions. It's got nothing to... Read more

  1. Need For Speed: Undercover

    Reviewer: Eel, swapgame
    17 January 2009
    Overall 8
    8.0
     

    Top cars, awesome gameplay. If you love fast cars then this is definitley one for you. Read more

  2. Need For Speed Undercover

    13 November 2008
    Overall 6
    6.0
     

    Good driving game but gets a bit (very) samey Read more

  3. Need for Speed Undercover

    Reviewer: [Anonymous], Metacritic
    11 December 2008
    Overall 9
    9.0
     

    I agree with Anonymous's comment. I have never played the nfs franchise, and I just picked it up. I really enjoy playing it even moreso than Burnout (longer consecutive time driving rather than having my momentum broken by crashing the car). It's biggest flaw are its occasional drop in framerate. It has happened twice (when my car went through fences) that it was jarring enough to temporarily make me lose my concentration, but I won anyhow, so that's ok :) What I like... Read more

  4. Need for Speed Undercover

    Reviewer: James Cowan, Game Informer
    16 November 2009
    Overall 9
    8.5
     

    This was a great game right from the begining when you started out in a Lamborghini gallardo right from the start.  What stunk though, is that you lost the car on the first level where you have to buy a crappy car.  I bought a orange chevy cammaro and put a purple pig graphic on the side - pretty sweet. Any way, you start out doing races and then over time you get into cop chases and other fun stuff.  The game has a great storyline  and a awesome selection of cars... Read more

  5. Reviewer: Epinions
    24 March 2009
    Overall 6
    6.0
     

    After a year off to make the more realistic and focused Need for Speed Pro Street, EA has returned the franchise to its familiar open-world cities that have existed since Need for Speed Underground 2. This latest NFS is dubbed Undercover, an attempt to ... Read more

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