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Geek Culture / Need for Speed Underground

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 6th Nov 2003 20:03 Edited at: 6th Nov 2003 21:49
i'm not posting another review... so go here

i've made some good pictures, i'll probably edit the review later and add in the system specs as well as a box shot. make it look and actually sound good. truely rip apart the game, but i have special interest in this title ... Ford Racing 2 was pretty good as well and another i'll probably be reviewing soon


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Posted: 6th Nov 2003 20:55 Edited at: 6th Nov 2003 21:09
Have they improved the controls of the cars from the previous versions - they were awful for NFS:HP2


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ReD_eYe
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Posted: 6th Nov 2003 21:02
go where? i see no link?


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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 6th Nov 2003 21:49
updated the link... i forgot it didn't allow certain characters


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Posted: 6th Nov 2003 22:19
Looks good - reminds me of The Fast & The Furious - you didn't say anything about how the cars handle though...


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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 6th Nov 2003 23:12
no well the handleing is good, especially the kick brake ... not sure if you've ever driven a muscle car before like the GT500 or such, but they have a second brake pedal that essentially detachs the transmission from the drive axel allowing the rear wheels to essentially loose the entire engine.
unlike when your engine stalls and your gears slow everything down, with this your basically running on momentum.

they've pretty accurately done this within the game, and the cars do handle extremely well. alot better than any of the previous need for speeds... infact is very close to its nearest rival Midnight Club 2. It's arcade handling though, so can't expect to do any truely cool things in it - though the Powersliding ability does remind me alot of Ridge Racer for the PSone...

and depending on the racing mode depends on how sensitive the steering is. for example drag racing gives you only the ability to swap from lane to lane with a 4-6 lane road.
whereas the Stunt courses give you more steering abilities and less top-end action.

it it bloody cool to nitro down the old LA aquaducts though


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Posted: 6th Nov 2003 23:29
Sounds good - like games that have good car handling - it was pretty awful in HP2 (and NFS5 as well).


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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 6th Nov 2003 23:50
the steering in most of the NFS'd for me have always seems a little lack luster in the turning dept. ... but this one actually feels right, i mean still feels like the turning circle of the car is like only 26° as opposed to the standard 30-40° some cars have.
but because of the kickbreak you can forgive that as it adds alot, and the turbo boost feels like your strapped to a rocket.

was playing online against some guys last nite dragging over tokyo, gonna play it on my decent system cause on my low end one with the fx5200 it's fps seemed sluggish online.
not sure why but even though there are 2 less cars online in most games, the speed drops quite considerably... hopefully its something that'll be patched, else playing on the lowest end system just won't let to have much fun multiplayer


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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 00:39
Might be worth getting at the end of the month.


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the_winch
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 02:26 Edited at: 7th Nov 2003 02:26
As arcade racers go the handleing was nothing special, it was generally a bit sluggish an unreactive. I prefer it to be a bit more lively and reactive.

I enjoyed the drag racing. The physics suit the drag racing much better as there a fewer corners. You have a better sence of speed in the drag racing, it really feels like you are wizzing along.

The menus are badly designed. The back and forward buttons are at the bottom left of the screen and the other options conventionally in the middle so you have to keep moving the mouse from the middle of the screen to the bottom left.

I would definatly try the demo before you buy.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 03:57
well it isn't out until Monday for most, only reason i have my order is cause i bribed the kid in EB
The controls are very responsive, as long as you've got the game running at a decent speed ... i mean even at 5-10fps the game appears to be running at a decent playing speed because it has a frame rate compensator. So it's always displaying 60fps not matter what the rendered value it.

the min system i'd say would be
800mhz CPU (1ghz duron/celeron)
128mb ram
GeForce3/4Ti or Radeon 8500pro

simply because it is EXTREMELY demanding even at the lowest settings... for full graphics you'll be wanting atleast

1.5ghz CPU (2ghz duron/celeron)
512mb ram (sorely increases loading times)
GeForceFX 5700 / Radeon 9600XT

however it is playable, on my lowend system at home
Duron 800mhz / 256mb / GeForceFX 5200

even at the lowest settings it barely hits over 45fps, nice thing is though with the shaders although it runs at around 12fps - it still runs at 12fps at 1024x768 with full shaders.
Turn the RT Reflections down/off and the shadows off and it starts to show a better 25fps...

really to get this game responding the way it should you'll want it to be running atleast 60fps if not better.
though i agree on the menu's they are a little awekard, but thats a NFS title for ya


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Fallout
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 04:06
Grrr. I hate arcade racers. They've never appealed to me. The original NFS is the best in my opinion (even though it is crap by todays standards). The sorta games I like are GT series, GTA3, Driver series, Toca series. Racing games I hate are midnight club, ridge racer and all the NFS games sinse the first one.

I don't understand why anyone would want to drive a car that isn't realistic. Not having a dig at anyone who likes arcade racers, it just don't make sense to me. Especially the ridge racer series with its preset powerslides. Never played anything so crap in my life. It's far more fun to get a real physics engine that's balanced properly, allowing you to perform your own controlled powerslides (the Driver games were a good example of that, and the GT series). Toca still takes the flag as the hardest sim to master, with constant imminent danger of spinning, driving right on the limit.

Insiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!
Xander
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 06:56
Yeah, a Need for Speed post!

No offense Raven, but you know nothing about cars. There is no "second brake pedal" on the GT500. It is called a CLUTCH PEDAL. It is used for shifting gears in a manual.

I really liked the controls in NFS6 Hot Pursuit 2. They were much more realistic than in High Stakes, and High Stakes was much more realistic than Hot Pursuit. I can't wait to get Underground.

Do you think I will be able to run it all right?
1 Ghz Pentium III
64MB Geforce4 MX440se video card
256 MB RAM

I should be able to get it at a playable speed. If I use the low-poly cars in NFS6, it runs at a perfect speed without ever any slowdown.

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 16:08
Bolt incase you didn't know... I am British, all of the cars i've had and learn to drive in have HAD clutch 'stick shift' gear systems.
And have you ever driven a GT500? Ever looked down at the break pedal?
the car bare the GT name because it it setup like a GT Racer, where the break pedal is broken into 2 ... left-side standard break (front pads) right-side kick break, which i've already explained what it does.

What is the point in a kick break? Essentially it allows your car to keep moving without any pulling power. This allows you to powerslide the vehicle without reducing any speed as the wheels will slip, this reduces tireware as well as maintaining a constant speed.

i might not know alot about the mechanics of a car, but i know one hell of alot about the driver features and howto make the most out of what is in these puppies ^_^


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the_winch
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 20:26
Quote: "I don't understand why anyone would want to drive a car that isn't realistic."


Some arcade racers are good, I don't think this is one of the better ones. The computer had far too much control for my tastes and the physics appeared to be faked and occasionally inconsistant.

The best arcade racers are the ones that have realistic physics but have an unrealistic car, with impossible levels of grip/acceleration and increadable strength.

I also really hate the kind of pivot in the center of the car powerslides that are popular in some arcade racers.

The best realistic racer I have played is gran prix legends. Old cars with thin hard tyres, rubbish brakes and powerfull engines and properly the most realistic physics in any racer I have played.
It doesn't work well with processors over 1.2 ghz unfortunatly.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 21:07
yeah the one thing that lets this game down is the physics, but it is extremely enjoyable.
especially the drag and slide games online


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Fallout
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Posted: 9th Nov 2003 06:28
Ahh, I don't care if the cars themselves are arcadey in handling. I'd say the phyics in the driver series is totally unrealistic, but the fact there was a real physics engine behind it made it fun. Games I'm dissing are those where the powerslides are "preset", ala ridge racer and daytona etc.

As for that kick brake thing. I aint got a clue about them! All I know is, if a kick brake disconnects the drive accel from the engine then kick brake or not, that's exactly what a cluch does too. So maybe they're one in the same thing. Maybe on automatics they're refered to as kick brakes, cos you don't need a clutch, and obviously on manuals, it's just a clutch.

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Posted: 9th Nov 2003 12:01
As long as the cars dont slide around for no real reason, I'll be happy.


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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 9th Nov 2003 14:57
I had a look through the internet for Kick Brakes couldn't find anything about it. I looked on sites about the GT500, and all they said was that the GT500 had powerbrakes. I saw pictures of the pedals in a GT500, and it had normal pedals.

Pincho.
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 9th Nov 2003 18:22
No the Clutch disconnects the Trasmission from the Drive Cog, the engine can blow out when this happens, whereas disconnected from the drive shaft the engine still has to push the transmission and the resistance means that even if your foot is down there is still enough resistance to allow you to react not to blow out the engine.

pincho guess it'll depend on which model, some cars didn't have both pedals ... although the GT500 i've driven did, some of the Australian Muscle Cars you'd kick down the accellerator for the nitro and the same for the kickbrake (which is where it got its name from).
I take you know what a kick down is right?
Incase you don't, its when tap down the pedal for a second and then release and tap it and hold it down again.

Old Porsche's had it to kick in the turbo when it was still experimental stuff


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Dsarchy
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Posted: 9th Nov 2003 20:33
I played it in Game. It reminds me of Fast and the Furious.

There is a Fast and the Furious Game comming out next year. It would be good to see which is better.

I liked the game its like Burnout with good models for cars and more realistic levels. The track I played on was covered in water and I had a realy nice look to it.

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Xander
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Posted: 10th Nov 2003 19:35
Sorry, Raven, I never heard of a kick brake. I thought you would know what a clutch was

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 10th Nov 2003 19:49
^_^ it's oki... i very much doubt many guys here have ever been much into thier cars apart from looking at them in magazines.

personally can't stand looking at a beauty, i must drive them.
had a mate when i was growing up... he was into his music big style, well his brother used to be part of a crew that lead the local 'car borrowing for slavage' scheme ^_^
Abbots had like 2years, the common folk and the Rich buggers.

there were a few streets for the elité, and they had some elité motors to boot - so a few were liberated once in a while from being stuck in a driveway, and taken down a few area's that were known for the 'boy racers' ... there were a good few makedo drag and race tracks around. ^_^ they were cool, especially as my mate's bro worked fulltime at Bovingdon Race Track - so we got to go and do alot of track racing and such as well.

i'm hardly a spanner monkey, but i can tell you how most of those super car kittens handle and feel ^_^


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ReD_eYe
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Posted: 10th Nov 2003 22:34 Edited at: 10th Nov 2003 22:36
bovingdon race track no s***! is this the bovingdon near ley hill and chesham? in buckinghamshire? cos dats near where i live! if its not then oh well


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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 11th Nov 2003 00:00
i believe there is only one Bovvy Race Track
it was like an hour, maybe hour & half drive from where i lived. 30mins on the train


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ReD_eYe
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Posted: 11th Nov 2003 10:10
Wow! that is so cool
lol


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Posted: 21st Nov 2003 22:21
Just played the demo - very nice!


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Dave J
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Posted: 22nd Nov 2003 03:35
I would like to know if the Replay camera allows different camera views (rather then the one you used in-game) which although all previous NFS games did, for some extremely odd reason HP2 didn't.


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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 22nd Nov 2003 17:01
Underground doesn't have replays as such...
but when you do something majorly impressive it'll cut to a cinematic style view.

Best has to be the San Fran bay area, anyone who gets to that will know what i mean - especially on a shader card like my Fx, damn impressive. Reminded me of a similar stunt in xXx


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Posted: 22nd Nov 2003 22:51
The release has been delayed a week


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Dave J
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2003 06:13
Quote: "Underground doesn't have replays as such..."


Not very happy with that, I liked to save replays of myself doing incredibly cool stunts.


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CattleRustler
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2003 07:49
about to load up the demo and play...
let you all know how it goes...

-RUST-
Shadow Robert
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Posted: 23rd Nov 2003 15:09
yeah, they might patch it in if enough people ask for it as it seems alot of people miss it.
but i'm having so much fun just cranking up the cars setup and then going online and showing up the guys who challenge me to drag ^_^


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CattleRustler
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Posted: 24th Nov 2003 07:41
Just played the demo...graphics are simply awesome. playability is sweet.

Some crits: (street race) With tranny auto, off the line is a little funny, tires spin way too much and car goes to the right without any clear reason (game-wise) why it's happening. Once car is up to speed the rear end hops around ALOT and steps-out way too easy. Braking is fantastic as per usual for NFS games. Graphics are awesome as I stated. Music is cool, although the demo has one repeating song.

Based on the demo I would probably buy this title. Most NFS titles are loads of fun (my favs: NFS3 Hot Pursuit, NFS Hot Pursuit 2) This looks like a mix between NFS and Midtown Madness (ie trolly's and cross-traffic) so it would prolly be loads of fun. I guess it remains to be seen, however.

I'll post up if I get it any time soon.

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 24th Nov 2003 16:09
there's about 28 tracks in the full things, and most are alot more hardcore than what is in the demo.
^_^ it's worth getting


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Posted: 24th Nov 2003 17:16
Any idea why the release of the game was delayed ?


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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 24th Nov 2003 19:54
god knows... we got it ontime. mabye it's your local store because my bro got it last friday.


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Posted: 24th Nov 2003 21:30
Its GAME who said it's been delayed (plus its nowhere else).


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Hamish McHaggis
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Posted: 24th Nov 2003 21:40
My brothers friend got it yesterday (from GAME), and we live in the UK.

Do you bite your thumb at me sir?

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Posted: 24th Nov 2003 21:52
Seems some areas get it before others then - even on the web site the release is slated as the 28th...


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las6
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Posted: 26th Nov 2003 09:11
probably some publisher problems. (not able to deliver the game everywhere on time)

I just got to play the game last night and although I managed only to race like couple quick tracks, I already liked the game very much. Way better than the "porche". gah.
But still, why do NFS series always look the same. I hate the style on the cars, for example. Almost no texturework, just a simple dull colour. they could have even tried to do metallic-color on a simple texture. But nope. Just some Reflection mapping ain't gonna cut it for me. And I've set the options to max - didn't help much. (reflections on the road is the only neat fx so far) Might be my gfx card, but then again - nfs has always been like this.

But it sure is fun. I love the controls and all that. Just the way I want it in such arcade game. Plus it actually feels fast. (except when I'm experiencing a slowdown, of course)

Besides, the soundtrack is quite authentic too.
Not that I'd listen to most of that, but it's what people obsessed with car-tuning/racing do listen. Plus there's blindside.
and it's quite fitting for the game, as long as you remember to kill the default track.

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Dave J
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Posted: 26th Nov 2003 11:25
Oh god, that menu music sh*ts me, it's so repetitive and dull. I preferred the old Hot Pursuit Sound Track. But las6 is right, you can tell they've gone for a whole different target audience and it's the music the people they're aiming for would listen to.


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las6
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Posted: 26th Nov 2003 11:28
I told you to kill the default menu music. The rest is a bit better. Besides you can configure the playlist. (The First thing I did! )

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Posted: 26th Nov 2003 13:43
I really want to get my hands on this...


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Posted: 29th Nov 2003 21:22
Got it now - and its great.
Also got The Simpson:Hit & Run - thats good too! Camera can be a bit of a pain though.

Anyone got T3 (the game) ? Is it any good ?


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