Need for Speed

Identity Crisis

HIGH Blistering down a sunset highway at almost 200mph.

LOW Hurtling straight into a divider at almost 200mph.

WTF Where is the start menu?!

I was listening to a podcast recently (and I've heard this same thing multiple times from other people over the last week or so) and I was shaking my head at the way the speakers were discussing recent Events Which Shall Not Be Named. Over and over, they were so insistent that reviewers are "getting paid off" for good scores.

Can Plots Run on Fumes?

HIGH Race that avalanche!

LOW What, you again?

WTF Man, I'm killing way too many people in this racing game.

I never play racing games. There are a number of reasons for this, but part is that I'm not very interested in cars in general, and I'm even less interested in playing a game that makes me repeat sections over and over and over in an effort to get my performance exactly right.

I’ll admit that I’m not especially familiar with the history of the Need for Speed franchise. My first experience with the series was with 2006’s NFS Most Wanted, an average arcade-inspired racing game with a single standout feature: Amazing police chases. The follow-up, NFS Carbon, added a couple of new modes: the mildly diverting "drift" and the frustrating "canyon chase". The police chases were back, but hamstrung by the fact that the city map was so labyrinthine in its construction that it was nearly impossible to get a good chase going.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Suggestive Themes

Game Description: Need for Speed: Pro Street is a racing experience like no other. For the first time, you're designing and building a car, competing in iconic locations from around the globe and battling in four distinct racing styles- grip, drag, drift and the all-new speed challenge. The atmosphere is electric—complete with energetic crowds, photo-realistic vehicles and billowing smoke—all designed to embody the pressure and intensity of the gladiatorial challenge known as Show Down. Need for Speed ProStreet is the realization of the power, aggression and rivalry that embodies street racing culture.

It comes down to balance and harmony of the formula elements, and the Need for Speed Underground series has been the Zen master. The sequel, Need for Speed: Underground 2, continues the success of its predecessor and gets so many things right that after awhile I lost count and basked in gaming nirvana.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Lyrics, Suggestive Themes

Game Description: Enter the world of urban street racing and high performance tuner cars with the latest title in the hit Need for Speed series, Need for Speed: Underground 2. Take on today's most popular tuner cars from Mitsubishi Motors, Subaru, Toyota and many more, building the ultimate street machine by earning cash to pay for custom body kits and a host of licensed car performance mods. But just creating a custom street racing machine will not get you to the top; it takes a certain amount of attitude and razor sharp driving skills to compete in the tough world of urban racing.