Easily forgotten in the flurry of annual NFS releases. Undercover is underrated. If you liked Most Wanted, spend the $5.
Yes. Corny acting is back... but I like that. And the visuals of the cut scenes are much better than Most Wanted and Carbon.
Yes. Smashing cops is fun. There's a good mix of cop escape and cost to state damage events. Unlike Carbon you cannot avoid the cops and it adds a visceral, heart pounding element to the game.
No. Undercover is not a precision racing sim. This is simply a fun arcade game.
Undercover has all the standard circuit, sprint, and checkpoint races. Gone are drift, drag race or canyon events. EA/Black Box did add one new element that I loved... take 'em out. You get to smash another racer multiple times to take them out. It's tougher than it looks and it comes into play in all of the boss races.
Two other new race types are "outrun" and "highway duel". Outrun is just way to easy. Get the lead within seconds and then just choose your own direction and they'll never catch you. The highway duel is really insane. It's just a matter of luck. No skill.
The major drawback to the game overall is that it is simply toooooo easy. It's fun and entertaining, but I would usually win by 10+ seconds in every race if I had the appropriately available car.
The car I loved the most... Pagani Zonda. That thing is a rocket. A ton of fun.