Need for Speed: Undercover

Released for: PC & major consoles
Some info:
1) Wiki
2) Gamespot
3) Official Site (English)

Been playing this now and then for the past few weeks since I got it from Dom (thanks a lot!) when school started. Decided to finish this during the CNY period so that I won’t be distracted by this any further during the semester (although there are still many other things that can =X). It’s been a generally fun experience so I thought I’d blog about it too (takes some time to blog this).

Though this is the 12th installment in the NFS series, I’ve only played Porsche Unleashed and Underground 2 before this one. There have been marked improvements between each title that I’ve played, which isn’t surprising since they are like 4 years apart each.

As the title might suggest to many of you, in this game you go undercover and try to smash a syndicate that deals with smuggling and illegal street racing mainly. There isn’t really much to think in terms of RPG as the game will “force” the storyline out by completing certain main quests known as jobs in-game. A summary of the plot (or game storyline if you can call it that) can be found in the wiki article. It’s nothing much really, other than some notable people appearing in it like Maggie Q.

Well, I suppose in a game such as this, what players (or gamers) will be looking out for is really the driving experience, as well as the races and events. Well, I guess I’ll try to explain some of the more important things in this game (from my experience).

Firstly, there are some types of events in the game – Job, Circuit, Sprint, Outrun, Highway Battle, Escape, Cost to State, Cop Takeout and Checkpoint. I’ll briefly summarise each of them below.

Job: The main tasks given by your police correspondence as well as the syndicate that you’ve infiltrated. These generally unlock automatically once you hit certain progress, be it completing other jobs or simply winning enough races (or something. I didn’t really go test). Most jobs do not require you to dominate the event (I’ll talk about domination later) unless it’s a challenge to a race or something. Generally, it’s quite easy to complete (fully) especially when domination is not required.

Circuit: Well, this one should be obvious enough. You will run through a given map 2-3 rounds (depending on event) and can aim to dominate the event if you clear it under a certain time.

Sprint: Another obvious one. First one to the finish line wins. Also dominate-able if you are fast enough.

Outrun: Well, you always start as the one trailing behind and you’re suppose to be leading the AI by a given number of seconds (it gets more as you hit higher levels) within a given total time for the event. Domination is achieved by completing the event in an even shorter time (the event ends when you’re in the lead long enough).

Highway Battle: Possibly one of the fastest event around. You’re supposed to lead your opponent by 300m here in order to win although it’s possible to “win” the event just by being ahead at the end of the timer for the event. To dominate this event, you need to finish the event in a given time. Oh, I usually don’t like this event because it’s quite easy to get total-ed (meaning your car is gone case and you lose) since you travel at insane high speeds on a rather crowded highway. Yup, there’s a need for some quick reflexes to dodge all those cars without affecting your speed (you want to lead your opponent mah…).

Escape: As the name suggests, you try to escape from some cops chasing you by either outright outrunning them or by disabling them then run away. You need to be a certain distance (out of sight) away from them for some amounts of time before you are considered cleared of cops. This works for any time that you’re under pursuit from cops. Domination is achieved if you escape in a short enough time.

Cost to state: In this kind of event, you destroy things (yes! destroy!), be it property, some random vehicles on the road or simply just take out cops. Yeah, cops will be chasing you so even after you hit your quota (you need to destroy a certain amount to complete it) you will be to escape from them before the time is up to win the event. Domination is achieved, once again, if you are fast enough.

Cop Takeout: Yeah, simply take out enough cops (increases as you level up) and complete it within the given time to win the event. To dominate, be fast enough.

Checkpoint: This is like a solo event where you travel across a given map and try to complete it within a certain time, only that the time is split by stages, hence the checkpoint. You get some time extension if you reach a place fast enough. Domination is as usual, if you drive fast enough.

Yeah, that sums up the events in the game I suppose. I hope I didn’t miss anything out since I’m too lazy to double check. Anyway, about domination, there’s a good thing about dominating an event. You get an extra increment in a random skill when you do so. Yeah in this game, there is such a thing as driver skill that you can obtain that well, improves your performance as a driver. Having a good car isn’t everything. A good driver and a good car is =P Oh and that reminds me, you can level up too, to gain 5 increments in a random stat although the maximum level is 18. Given all the events, I think it’s probably enough to hit something like level 20. 18 is just a weird number.

But fear not, it’s usually not hard to dominate/win an event since the AI is pretty easy to win. It’s a good thing for casual gamers who want to complete the game and maybe enjoy the driving experience. But it’s probably bad news for those who treat this game in a more hardcore and competitive fashion. Then again, there are some events seem to be harder than others as I needed to put in 100% concentration just to win it, which is already clearly a domination-worthy time (up to 1 min FASTER than the domination time). Hic, maybe I’m not a good driver since I can’t drive in real life. =X

Graphics wise, it’s a no brainer that it’s way better than Underground 2 since it has been a few years, but in-game driving and stuff supports up to full HD (yay!), which of course is a good thing for me and my PC. =P However, live-action video cutscenes are not in HD though, so don’t be disappointed when you see slightly pixelated video on your screen (if yours is a HD-ready screen).

Oh, I nearly forgot about the cars. I didn’t really test out many cars in the game, but there are a few tiers (Tier 4 being the lousiest and Tier 1 being the best) of cars, which of course are unlocked through the progress of the game. All I can say is the Bugatti is damn shiok. Lol. And something about the cars is that in most cases, it doesn’t matter how many times your crash your car as it won’t affect its performance. Only on certain jobs it requires you to make sure that you keep the damage under control, as well as avoiding being totaled in Highway Battle as I’ve mentioned above. During events with cops in them, some roadblocks have spikes, which will of course cripple your car heavily. Avoid those at all costs. Haha.

Anyway, below are the “end products” of my playing after some trying. Yup, I dominated all the events possible and completed all the jobs. Hence the nice stats =D You can click on the picture to see them in full HD. Lol.

Yup, it has been a fun time playing this, but I doubt I’ll replay this unless I want to try all the cars which isn’t possible with the current amount of money in that profile now. Haha, I suppose that’s another not so good thing about the game – low replay value. Perhaps I should look forward to the next installment since I think my PC shouldn’t have any problems running it =D

p.s. once again, special thanks to Dom =P