[Multiplatform] Need For Speed: Underboob

After the rather disasterous Pro Street EA are returning to more familiar territory with the next entry in the Need For Speed series, Need For Speed: Undercover.

Joystiq have a hands-on online (here), and with a strong story element, cop chases, FMV (featuring Maggie Q) and traffic back it sounds like Most Wanted in feel:

Quote:

At this point, Need For Speed Undercover feels like Need For Speed: Most Wanted with a new paint job. With EA itself admitting a focus on story in this game, we can only hope that a rewarding gameplay experience doesn't simply become an epilogue.

Personally I'd say that's no bad thing, as Most Wanted was the first game in the series I'd played in a long time and one I thoroughly enjoyed. This is one I will certainly keep an eye on, and if it's a proper return to the fun cop-chase style of Most Wanted then it's one I'll be quite willing to splash cash on.

Trailer:

YouTube Video

Anyone else interested, or excited, by the prospect of this? Or do you think it's time for the Need For Speed games to take a break?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

While Most Wanted has definitely proven to be the best NFS game since the Underground Era began, this, like every EA franchise, has simply become a franchise that gets released too often without enough new content being implemented. My attitude towards racing games is growing increasingly pessimistic; at some point they (the producers) will be sitting at a table having a meeting for developing a new game and they'll only be able to say, "What can we do now?" There's only so many things you can do with cars, and I think they've all been explored and exploited enough times.

I'll probably pirate it, not because EA doesn't deserve my money (though they lost that right about the time NHL 2003 came out), but because I've enjoyed the NFS games enough to give it a try.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

While Most Wanted has definitely proven to be the best NFS game since the Underground Era began, this, like every EA franchise, has simply become a franchise that gets released too often without enough new content being implemented. My attitude towards racing games is growing increasingly pessimistic; at some point they (the producers) will be sitting at a table having a meeting for developing a new game and they'll only be able to say, "What can we do now?" There's only so many things you can do with cars, and I think they've all been explored and exploited enough times.

I'll probably pirate it, not because EA doesn't deserve my money (though they lost that right about the time NHL 2003 came out), but because I've enjoyed the NFS games enough to give it a try.

Last I read, There are actually 2 different NFS teams so they don't work on yearly cycles (one of the reasons why ProStreet was so completely different). As you said, there really ISN'T much you can do with the racing genre that hasn't been done to death besides say, adding a narrative which hasn't been mined enough as far as I'm concerned. Biggest draw to the genre for me are physics and of course the cars themselves.

I'm excited for This actually. Most Wanted was great fun and the first NFS game I enjoyed since NFSU1. This looks like its Most Wanted with Maggie Q (drool) so I'm sold. According to various first impressions, it seems to play like a slightly more arcadey MW which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Most Wanted was alright but I'm not a massive fan of cop chases and the first Underground remains my favourite of the current lot (It would be Underground 2 but for them putting in stupid huge trucks, making the courses too much like race tracks, stopping you transferring parts between cars and the whole challenging other drivers in the city thing which monumentally gay). This can't be any worse than Pro-Street though which was the most boring demo I think I ever played.

For me, the best thing about the NFS games was that actually getting round the circuits themselves wasn't difficult, it was dodging traffic that made it tricky. It's a recation game rather than a driving game (Unless you really, really suck at driving games). The more they introduce a story and the inevitable free-roaming in between races bit, the further they move away from that in my opinion. If this uses a free roaming thing like Burnout Paradise then I definitely won't buy it. Some people like driving up and down every road on teh map to find all the events and enjoy having the opportunity to take wrong turns during a race but personally I don't. I'd rather have a list of races to choose from and a fairly clear-cut route of how to get there laid out.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Shin

This can't be any worse than Pro-Street though which was the most boring demo I think I ever played.

So very true. I couldn't believe they could take the driving systems from the previous NfS games and make them feel so sedate.

Originally Posted by Shin

If this uses a free roaming thing like Burnout Paradise then I definitely won't buy it. Some people like driving up and down every road on teh map to find all the events and enjoy having the opportunity to take wrong turns during a race but personally I don't. I'd rather have a list of races to choose from and a fairly clear-cut route of how to get there laid out.

I would be very surprised if the it didn't implement free-roaming in the same way Most Wanted and Carbon did, optional ways to get around and play with, but could be completely avoided with the in-game menu system, and with races locked to particular courses. Burnout already has the complete free-roam territory locked down, there'd be no point trying to challenge them for it (unless you weren't all there in the head).

I disagree that racing games have no-where to go, I would argue that racing games have pushed themselves into fairly narrow categories and there's plenty of room to expand and play. GRID does a decent job of making races feel competitive, but there's still big holes in its AI, and there's massive scope for improvement on that front. GRID also tries to manufacture a team feel, but it's slight half-arsed really and could be improved on hugely (I've yet to play a racing game that provides me with even a decent seasonal 'career' mode that makes me feel like I'm a proper rookie driver arriving on the scene, being hired by a team, being head-hunted, working up to owning a team if you like, etc).

Again, GRID provides a small dose of destruction derby racing, but we don't have anything that really fits that category any more. You could argue Burnout, but I'm talking classic PlayStation Destruction Derby style stock car races. We've not had anything like a great Micromachines game (OK, there might have been crappy attempts, but nothing good). Rally games are another area that have faded recently, with the most recent rally titles having watered down the core idea and almost seem embarrassed to offer the full rally stage type experience.

I've perhaps not given the best examples, but my rough point is that there's plenty of room to expand, even within the realms of what has gone before, so I think there's plenty of scope in racing genre, it just requires designers with a bit of vision and a publisher brave enough to give it a shot.

I was speaking idiomatically.

It looks as though this might be going up against Fuel from Codemasters which itself is a free-roaming, car tuning, street racing effort and given how good Codies are at making driving games, a new NFS game would have to be pretty special to get a look in.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Not gonna lie, I haven't given a shit about Need For Speed since the Underground era began. So adding a narrative in isn't really gonna help things when I can just play a better game elsewhere. I'll wait and see, but the whole "There gonna be a story" isn't enough to catch anything but my cynicism at this point.

FELIPE NO

Most Wanted was my favorite game in the series, so yes I'm exited about this one if it suppose to follow in MW step. Carbon was OK but somehow didn't feel as good as Most Wanted even though it was a direct sequel.

I like the idea to be a undercover agent, I wonder if there'll a mode where you are the police chasing racer instead of always being chase.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Inhert

Most Wanted was my favorite game in the series, so yes I'm exited about this one if it suppose to follow in MW step. Carbon was OK but somehow didn't feel as good as Most Wanted even though it was a direct sequel.

I like the idea to be a undercover agent, I wonder if there'll a mode where you are the police chasing racer instead of always being chase.

Go play Need for Speed 3 already.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I don't care what anyone says; NFS3:HP was the best game in the series. Pursuit mode was the reason why.

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

AI

This is my biggest pet peeve of racing games; they are likely generations away from making a racing game that has a proper AI. By proper, for myself, I'd say AI that isn't going to destroy you if you fuck up a little (see NFS:Underground) but not AI that looks, feels and behaves like they're in a rail-shooting game (see Gran Turismo 1, 2, 3 and 4). AI that's clever enough to know how to fuck you up (pit maneuvers, clipping, bumping, drifting, et. al.) and only gets devastating on higher difficulty levels.

The only racing game from this generation or the last I actually enjoyed was Rallisport Challenge 2, believe it or not, because the AI actually played you really well and I felt challenged by it.

I think the tuner bullshit is what's ruined the NFS series. If they had you racing stock cars and focused on that, I think I'd be much more pleased with the end product than I am with all this "GET THE BEST TURBOCHARGER BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT MAKES YOU GO FASTER THAN YOUR OPPONENTS EVEN THOUGH THEY'LL STILL CATCH UP TO YOU" shit.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

I don't care what anyone says; NFS3:HP was the best game in the series. Pursuit mode was the reason why.

Additional Spam:


This is my biggest pet peeve of racing games; they are likely generations away from making a racing game that has a proper AI. By proper, for myself, I'd say AI that isn't going to destroy you if you fuck up a little (see NFS:Underground) but not AI that looks, feels and behaves like they're in a rail-shooting game (see Gran Turismo 1, 2, 3 and 4). AI that's clever enough to know how to fuck you up (pit maneuvers, clipping, bumping, drifting, et. al.) and only gets devastating on higher difficulty levels.

The only racing game from this generation or the last I actually enjoyed was Rallisport Challenge 2, believe it or not, because the AI actually played you really well and I felt challenged by it.

I think the tuner bullshit is what's ruined the NFS series. If they had you racing stock cars and focused on that, I think I'd be much more pleased with the end product than I am with all this "GET THE BEST TURBOCHARGER BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT MAKES YOU GO FASTER THAN YOUR OPPONENTS EVEN THOUGH THEY'LL STILL CATCH UP TO YOU" shit.

You should really give GRID a try, the AI in that is far better than any other game I've played. The computer cars smash each other about, go off-line to overtake and block and being a Codies game, the more you piss one of them off, the more they go for you. I'm can't beat one race because you're in hugely slippy rear wheel drive cars and an ex-teammate of mine (Who happens to be my official biggest rival) keeps getting entered in the race. Evey time I go to pass him he taps the back of my car and sends me (And himself to be fair) flying off the track. It's not perfect by any means (Ridiculous rubber-banding, designed to keep you scrapping all the way round but really annoying on the Le-Mans track where you just can't catch back up yourself if you fuck up and a tendency to ignore you when you brake in front of them) but it's in a whole different league to everything else out there at the moment.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Shin

YIt's not perfect by any means (Ridiculous rubber-banding, designed to keep you scrapping all the way round but really annoying on the Le-Mans track where you just can't catch back up yourself if you fuck up and a tendency to ignore you when you brake in front of them) but it's in a whole different league to everything else out there at the moment.

Nailed on the head. There are holes in GRID's AI, definitely (I've found most issue with how your team mate actively works against you sometimes), but it's leaps and bounds ahead of any other racing game I've played. To their credit Codies have made a racing game where it feels like a proper race is taking place, the AI feels challenging, but yet is fallible.

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Too bad I don't have a next gen console then

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Well there is a DS version but how much of the original game survived the transition I couldn't tell you.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?