Need For Speed™ Undercover

Speed Undercover

Electronic Arts has returned with Need for Speed - this time taking you from the daylight into the murk of being Undercover. Are you ready to enter a shady world where every chase only takes you deeper?

The Need for Speed series is an unstoppable success, bringing a healthy dose of attitude, excitement and professional presentation with each iteration. Now the stakes are even higher as you enter the seedy depths of the criminal element. It's all part of being Undercover.

The wheel deal

As a deep undercover police officer fronting as a wheelman for the criminal world of Tri-City, it's your job to gather evidence on your offending employers, take on rivals in illegal street races, build a reputation and go pedal to the metal with the police who think you're just another crook looking for fast thrills. Don't get too confused, though - while the racing line may be clear, the moral line certainly isn't...

Need for Speed Undercover immediately allows you a roam around the fictional Tri-City Bay Area, enjoying its many streets, off-road crevices and highways, most of which are teeming with traffic. Given the initial freedom, getting comfortable with the controls through a leisurely drive around can soon blur into a frantic burn across the four boroughs of Palm Harbor, Port Cresent, Gold Coast Mountains, and Sunset Hills that make up the massive territory.

This in turn starts to clock up a number of felonies through your more reckless escapades - fender bumping, crashes, speeding and generally dangerous driving can all bring up the attention of the local authorities who will chase you down in increasing numbers the longer you try to avoid arrest.

Maggie and the Man

Getting busted isn't the best start to your budding career as undercover cop, so your better bet is to start tackling some of the missions available around the area. These can range from taking part in street races to gain respect and better vehicles (such as the Audi R8, BMW M6 and Lexus IS-F), to losing the police within a time limit. Completion increases your status and furthers the game's plot, which plays out with slick cutscenes acted by Hollywood starlets such as Maggie Q, who plays your sole police contact, federal handler Chase Linh.

Further to that, there are some multiplayer gems to get stuck into, such as the online Cops N' Robbers letting two teams face off against each other - robbers have to race over to stolen cash and deliver it to a drop-off point before the timer runs down, while cops have to bust them.

So with the constant theme of law and lawlessness playing through Need for Speed Undercover, it shouldn't be a surprise to learn there are a number of fast moves you can perform to evade capture and make your wheel skills look even better. Style points are awarded for pulling off moves such as 360 degree handbrake turns, drifting or a burnout.

Driven

Need for Speed Undercover is all about creating a filmic atmosphere with high octane racing. From the first time you experience the dramatic flash and camera pan of when the police spot you breaking the law, to the cinematic cutscenes as reward for your driving skills, it's all about giving you a taste of Hollywood style excitement from behind the wheel. That's all here and happening Undercover - so why not see how deep you can go...