The game is also unfamiliar with the expected level of car customization demanded by the car game set. "Undercover's" options pale in comparison with older games such as "Midnight Club: Los Angeles" and the racing-sim "Forza Motorsport 2." Performance upgrades follow the Speed standard of fast, faster, and fastest, but bodywork alterations are limited and offer no benefit -- like they did in "Pro Street" -- just cost. Most options are locked from the get-go as well.
No matter how much in-game money you have, you're allowed to buy only what the game allows you to buy. It's not until your Wheelman Level increases to a specified point that more cars and customization options become available. In gaming circles, it's called "grinding" -- forcing the player to partake in repetitive sequences to unlock gameplay -- and it's inescapably boring.
The game punctuates the grind with live-action cut scenes, another nod to "Most Wanted." But where "Most Wanted's" scenes were humorous and self-aware, "Undercover's" poorly acted montages are cheesy and overly melodramatic. Worst of all, you can't skip them. They do, however, make for a cathartic experience later in the game, as you're asked to "take out" the gang leaders by running into their cars at full speed as many times as possible.
Most races are easily won. In fact, the biggest difficulty in the game comes not from the other racers, but from the uneven frame rate, graphic pop-in, and distracting lighting effects. Tri-City is bathed in so much light that, at times, actually seeing where you're headed is near-impossible. But boy is it pretty when you're at a stop.
Understanding what's going on also proves unnecessarily difficult. At the beginning of the story, you're placed in the middle of a high-speed police pursuit without even being told how to accelerate. The owner's manual, at a paltry nine pages, doesn't offer much help. That being said, you'll be too busy jumping cars off bridges, avoiding police, and blasting down the freeway at 150 mph to ask questions.
Questions Like: Why offer a free-roaming city when there's no reason to explore it? Why close roads with barricades during races? Why are city residents "okay" with these streets perpetually blocked for street races? Why can they magically pass through these barricades, but I can't? Just who is running the what-must-be-massive army of fork-lifts that keeps rearranging these barricades? Why is my car invincible during most races, but damage-susceptible in freeway races and the occasional police chase? Why am I getting in police chases anyway? Where do the police get a fleet of Porsche 911 Turbos from? Why am I, an undercover agent, being rewarded for destroying police cruisers and city property and causing general mayhem?
It's only upon reflection that you see the holes. But perhaps this is the point of the presentation: To distract you from the game's flaws with fast cars, bright lights, and attractive women. Isn't this the point of a videogame, to distract you from reality with vast helpings of fantasy? Why analyze a "Need for Speed" game to begin with? 'Undercover" exists for the casual gamer and offers that dream crime syndicate lifestyle; it amuses like a Bruckheimer flick. Or an explosion.
Pretty, loud, and empty.
MT Verdict: Entertaining, just don't think about it. Rent it. 2.5/5.