Need for Speed Undercover

Not even a hot Asian chick in the sky can save it.

	Version 360, (All formats)	Developer EA Black Box	Publisher EA	Genre Racing

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Graphically the initial screenshots were very promising, visually capturing a look similar to the aforementioned and excellent NFS Most Wanted, with a three year old graphics engine that's still solid - surely building on that would make for a polished experience, we thought. Unfortunately the graphics are among the worst of any version; the title is well below average in every aspect, and a terrible disappointment to fans of the genre and of the series.

We have to kick off by mentioning the dreadful frame rate, often falling well below 20fps, to the extent that driving becomes more of a "hope for the best" experience rather than a skilful one. The graphical situation deteriorates further as more powerful cars are unlocked. Again disappointing, particularly from the publisher that brought us the visually astounding Burnout Paradise. EA knows better.

Another appalling example of how poorly this game runs is pop-up. Yes, this was a gaming bugbear we felt had long since passed, but alas NFS Undercover suffers here too. Trees and buildings pop into view on many freeways, but the most notable instance is the traffic ahead - with black blobs appearing all over the road while racing at high speed; a tragic display of some of the worst graphical issues seen in years.

A photo mode is included and your pictures can be uploaded to EA's official community website, but this is one of the most limited photo modes you will ever see. The camera axis is attached to the centre of the car, you can never get the angle you want, and if the road is narrow it forces the camera in awkward positions. It offers nothing in the way of after effects seen in a wide range of other titles and gives the impression of a last minute add-on rather than a well engineered asset to the game.

Online options are basic but functional with a range of scoreboards, though this could have been better managed with a listing displaying the range of courses to make it easier to navigate, and with no aggregate scoreboard there's little impetus to really attack every track in the game. Online racing is reasonable fun with a range of modes, but cars do have a tendency to fall off the road - if you do lose some control from contact, it's almost impossible to regain that control and this brings us back to the overall handing issues. It's good to see EA getting involved from a community standpoint, but we'll have to wait and see how they intend to support the title over the year ahead.

Electronic Arts has long been blamed for rushing out poorly made titles and using its marketing muscle to generate sales, but as a company it's worked very hard in recent times to change this image, and prove that it does care, that it is willing to take risks in the name of innovative games. In this regard, Need for Speed Undercover is a significant setback for both EA and the Need for Speed brand. EA clearly has some of the best developers in the world but this title looks and plays worse than the three year old Most Wanted - and this is essentially the same game with different presentation and a much lower quality finish.

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