Need4Speed is Broken
With all due respect to the other review of this game; I disagree pretty strongly. Need4Speed Undercover is practically broken, never should have been released in this state in the first place, and you have to register with EA before you can play online a la MGS4-which is a major fail on its own. Ironically I decided to check on the online registration in the manual, and I NEVER read manuals, and it states clearly that all you need to play online is a PSN ID. The couldn't even hire some English major to edit the manual before release for accuracy of content.
As for the overall game; it could have been a lot of fun. The graphics are not spectacular but are certainly acceptable, the music is loud and aggressive and fun, which is totally appropriate to the story, and despite having an open world, you can initiate races and challenges by using the D-pad. Some of the challenges are pretty fun as well. My favourite is racing through the freeways to get a 1000 feet past an opponent to "dominate" him, or stay in the lead for 30-60 seconds. For these segments the camera moves you to the hood of the car, which is pretty awesome.
But the chugging and frame drops are beyond distracting, they are totaly unprofessional. Now , I have read elsewhere that the 360 version is not as bad for the chugging; however, if you have a PS3 do not buy this game. The final nail in the coffing for this game is the AI. I'm not a great racer in general but I loves me some car porn, but even a middle aged gamer like myself found this to be way too easy.
I just don't get it. EA sunk a fair amount of cash into this with the actors, the live action cut scenes, and the licensing of vehicles and music. There are some solid elements to this game; to just dump it onto the market when some tweaking could have eliminated the chugging and frame drops is seriously dis-respectful to your fans and customers. In comparison, I can raise bloody hell in an online Motorstorm:Pacific Rift match with all kinds of stuff happening on screen, and there is nary a chug or drop. I can just be racing around the city in NFS Undercoer, trying to piss off the cops to initiate a chase, and it'll chug, with no other NPCs on the screen. I feel totally screwed after buying this game.