Developer : Electronic Arts
Release date : November 19, 2004
Synopsis :
Need for Speed: Underground 2 is a 2004 racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the eighth installment in the Need for Speed series and the direct sequel to Need for Speed: Underground. It was developed for Microsoft Windows, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions were developed by Pocketeers, and a PlayStation Portable version, titled Need for Speed: Underground Rivals, was developed by Team Fusion. Another version for mobile phones was also developed. Like its predecessor, it was also commercially successful, selling around 11 million copies worldwide and breaking sales records in the United Kingdom.
The game entails tuning cars for street races, resuming the Need for Speed: Underground storyline. Need for Speed: Underground 2 provides several new features, such as broader customization, new methods of selecting races, set in a city known as Bayview. Brooke Burke is the voice of Rachel Teller, the person who guides the player throughout the game. The game’s storyline is presented in a comic book strip. The Nintendo DS port introduces a new feature in which the player can design custom decals to adorn any vehicle in the game.
The game was followed by Need for Speed: Most Wanted in 2005, featuring a plot unrelated to the Underground games.
The story begins after the player has beaten Eddie and his street gang, “The Eastsiders”, along with Melissa in Olympic City and is now revered as the best street racer in Olympic City. After a race, the player is called by an unidentified man with an “invitation” to join his team and that he “is not taking no for an answer.” The player ends the call without answering and starts driving to a party but is ambushed by a Hummer H2 that rams his Nissan Skyline GT-R, wrecking it. A man with a scythe tattoo on his hand calls to confirm that he “took care of a problem.”
Six months later, the player boards a plane to Bayview with a good luck note from Samantha that also refers to her friend, Rachel Teller. The player arrives in Bayview, buys his first car using the money provided by the insurance on his totaled Nissan Skyline, and starts racing again. The player soon gains fame and sponsorship deals from winning races and attracts the attention of “The Wraiths” and their leader, Caleb Reece. Caleb is revealed to be the driver of the Hummer that wrecked the player’s car in Olympic City.
Rachel reveals to the player that Caleb is attempting to take control of the racing scene in Bayview by manipulating the sponsorship deals in his favor, threatening the player’s livelihood, and Rachel’s liaison with the sponsors. Caleb attempts to have the player lose an Underground Racing League tournament by placing Nikki Morris, a Wraith member, in the same tournament as the player. This ultimately fails, and Nikki leaves the Wraiths after Caleb berates her for losing; she then joins Rachel and the player’s side. Nikki warns them of the consequences of Caleb’s plan if he takes over the city’s street racing scene.
Desperate to stop the player, Caleb eventually puts all of the remaining Wraiths members in an Underground Racing League tournament against the player, which fails and after losing another sponsor, Caleb challenges the player to a showdown. The player wins the race and celebrates with Rachel and Nikki while Caleb is left insolvent and defeated.
That event solidifies the player’s status as the best Underground racer in Bayview.
Source : Wikipedia
