Get the original Need for Speed Underground instead.
From the outset, you can't help but appreciate the design. The look of the title, from the main screen to options menu is decidedly funky, with minimal animation and a cel shaded comic style which reminded me of Japanese Manga. This is played up a bit during Cutscenes which flesh out the story, with you being a nameless driver who must prove themselves on the streets of Bayview.
This is easily accomplished by taking up races, which are pinpointed on your GPS map and which you yourself must drive too. The developers have seen fit to model an entire city, of which you can traverse, in order to reach the next race. Its a novel idea, and at first, has a certain charm - you'll be looking around you in wonder, checking out different turns and corners, as well as appreciating the ability to find Short cuts - of which there are many. However, this appreciation will certainly bog down soon, as you will find the tedious need of driving to different sections of the city - just in order to join a race as an excercise steeped in frustration.
Not only this, you must also drive to different parts shops, and specialty Tuners and Retailers who will buff up your ride, giving it features like Nitrous Oxide and better exhausts. You can also attune your car's personality - from different paint jobs and stickers to even you stereo system of choice in the back. All this of course costs money, or as the game states it - Bank. This is one of the most annoying things about the game, Bank, and the level of street talk - it over-reaches and attempts to be too many things at once. The messages can get muddled in-between. Even being challenged to a race has some stupid grinning african american asking if you're up for a "hawt race dawg?"
It's hard to make a case against Need for Speed Underground 2 on it's overuse of generally bad speech and dialogue. You must experience it for yourself. And unfortunately - it permeates the entire game. I'm not saying everyone must talk in polite ettiquette, but the amount of times I felt like throwing the controller against the TV and punching the lights out of some unseen and derivative character is too many to count. The dialogue is much too forced to be in anyway enjoyable.
The racing itself is pretty good though. Once you are in a series of different races, from Drag Racing, Street Racing, Eliminator and more, you get a good appreciation of the physics. It takes some getting used too, and while you start off fairly slow with some sub-standard cars, the action soon picks up as you begin to "pimp your ride". There is no real rubber banding physics employed here, so once you're in front (not a hard thing to do), you just need to keep the lead. So unless you make any accidents, which would take a bit of skill to do - as the majority of races have little challenge, or obstacle, you should be able to breeze through any challenge.
Being street racing, occassionally there is the odd car on the street, which of course you could crash into. This usually leads to a slow motion replay from a cinematic angle in which you can appreciate the carnage, or lack thereof. Need for Speed Underground 2 employs no damage modelling whatsoever, so all you are treated to are some sparks as you see your car ping pong it's way along barriers - frustratingly annoying and completely unrealistic. Considering the ease of use in play though, quickly gaining the lead and holding it just as easily, that is your only chance of a spill-up, so it's against the games credit that they are executed so poorly, and unfortunately, there is no option to remove them. Thankfully, the incidence of this happening should be low - even when you get to some of the high end models.
There are some variations to standard racing though, such as the race through the streets in order to get to a designated spot and have your picture taken (which you can direct yourself), for the next DVD or Magazine Cover. There is also all the options in kitting ot your car in stores, but only after you find the stores, as they do not show on your GPS. The variety of racing will have you playing happily in short bursts, but the samey feel to it's predecessor and the bogged down feel of being forced to negotiate the streets just in order to attend races, will have people bored a little quickly.
The online mode is cause for celebration though, as this has been implemented well. New to the Xbox version, and continuing on from the PC and PS2 versions of the year past, Need for Speed Underground 2 has a great stat tracking system and a good assortment of races. The car you use offline can be shown online as well, replete with all the pimping you have done, in order to show off your "skillz" to the masses. Play was relatively good, with no real difference to offline racing - there was little to no lag.
Graphics are rather good, with good modelling detail and a fairly high level of envionmental detail. Although most games take place at night, there are instances where you can see the sun poking it's way through all the glitter. Light bloom has a new master now, the eye candy and Las Vegas soaked streets early on will have you dazzled. This is backed up by soe blistering speed, although the trails we all enjoyed from the previous game from the Nitrous Boost has been lessened somewhat, sorry to say. Overall, the graphics shine really well, with a massive amount of lighting being employed.
The Sound is fairly dodgy, with the aforementioned Dialogue being hammy, and this is backed up by a soundrack that isn't exactly sure what it wants to be, incorporating far too many artists and styles. You are given the option of picking and choosing which songs you enjoy most, but amazingly, the Xbox version has no option of using your own music. The car sounds are generally convincing - but they aren't throaty enough, they don't sound like they have the power which you have just spent your Bank on. However, whenever you upgrade, the sound does take notice and takes on a deeper grunt, it just doesn't have the feel of an awesome street machine.
One of the main criticisms levelled at the game must be it's overkilling use of product placement. This is to be expected, but creating the entire game with a Mobile Phone company in mind (which includes all of that Company's signatures and is on screen at all times) is over the top. Roadside Billboarding is ok to a point, but even this has gone a little to far, and races are made to look so you don't miss a single bit of advertising, of which, there is far too much.
Overall, Need for Speed Underground 2 is hard to recommend. It has a patchy soundtrack, dialogue and voicing - over the top advertising, and some boring driving to and from destinations just in order to race, which is the best part of the game. While many criticisms could be levelled at Need for Speed Underground 2 - the solid racing feel is still there, its just you must trundle through some of the worst kinds of gameplay in order to reach them. Only for fans of the series.