Hands On with Underground 2
So I got my hands on the PC demo of Underground 2. Considering the only differences between the PC and the GameCube version is controls (and graphics depending on your PC setup) I felt I could share my experience so you can get a better idea of what Underground 2 will be like when it ships November 15th.
As soon as I boot up the game I find myself chillin in a dope looking ride in the middle of the street. Immediately my mind starts tickin; where should I go, whom can I race, I want to do a drag, where are the drag races? But all the questions come to a stop when I press on the pedal. I just go with the flow, cruise up a hill past semi-invasive advertising, through the drive-through of a photo-realistic Burger King, and soon find my car rolling itself down a shiny drive-way that leads to a garage door painted by the nightly glow of yellow fluorescent lighting. I enter the shop.
I browse through the many selections of car upgrades which include neon lights, hydraulics, car audio, sliding doors, and a few other customizable options - each of those categories have their own unique selection of choices to choose from – and already I’m beginning to get a feel to the massive custom options drivers can choose from. I’m not here to purchase upgrades though I’m here to race – mainly because I’m flat broke and the demo wont let me purchase anything.
Each neighbourhood has a handful of different shops.
Regardless, I leave the shop and continue cruising the streets listening to tunes from artists like Chingy, Queens of the Stone Age, and Paul Van Dyk. These are just samples off the full soundtrack. Which is made up of a mixed variety of Hip Hop, Rock, Techno, and other music most teenagers tend to enjoy. As I contin
ue down the winding roads of Beacon Hill I begin to feel total immersed in the games environment. The sounds of distant traffic and the quick zooms as I pass nearby cars all feel realistic and the fact that this game looks drop dead gorgeous only adds to the whole experience.
Handling of my Nissan 350Z was tricky at first, the thing slid all over the place and into walls – but I persisted and nailed that sucker car to the ground. With a little over an hour of experience behind the wheel I was rocketing around corners without hugging the walls and boy did it feel good. I was confident enough to challenge some of the other drivers on the road to OutRun races – the lead car needs to outrun the other driver by 1000 meters – and lost most of them, this game will teach a gamer a few things about defeat.
When you get tired of looking for races and exploring the city, you can cruise on over to shops to fine tune your ride or you can play around with the games wacky hydraulics system. You can get your car on any two wheels and bounce around the streets, throwing boosts of nauss into the mix can even throw the car in one-wheelin circles. It was fun to tool around with and gave me a greater feel for the games sense of freedom.
This is me using hydraulics after I hit the nauss. Watch me now!
The demo only offered a look at Beacon Hill, which alone was a sprawling city full of visual diversity, a highway system, and loads of different looking buildings. There were only two races to be had but my time exploring all the corners of the town and all the shops and sight seeing spots was well spent.
Keep in mind this was a PC demo so controls will feel different on the GameCube controller. Minor graphical touches aside it’s virtually identical and even better, you can download and tryout the demo yourself. It’s free from the official website and playable online.
The GameCube version bites the dust with online play, so get the online version of the game if possible. Underground 2 is no more than two weeks away and you can expect a review shortly after its release.
