Game

Need for Speed: Underground

2003 · Xbox · Nintendo GameCube · PC (Microsoft Windows) · PlayStation 2 · Racing

80IGDB player score
836 ratings

Previously Take

An 80 average from 836 ratings. Does what it sets out to do, no more and no less. Racing game fundamentals, done right. Sometimes that's plenty. The story is the main course; the multiplayer is the reason it's still installed years later.

About this game

Need for Speed: Underground is a 2003 racing video game and the seventh installment in the Need for Speed series. It rebooted the franchise, ignoring previous Need for Speed games that featured sports cars and exotics. Underground is the first game in the series to offer a career mode that features a comprehensive storyline, as well as a garage mode that allows players to fully customize their cars with a large variety of brand-name performance and visual upgrades.

The player arrives in Olympic City as an unknown street racer, guided by a contact named Samantha who introduces them to the local illegal racing scene. As they climb through the ranks by defeating circuit, drag, and drift specialists, they attract the attention of The Eastsiders, a dominant racing crew led by the city's top underground racer, Eddie. Eddie dismisses the newcomer and forces them to race Samantha to continue climbing, a decision that fractures their friendship. After working their way to the top of every racing board and reclaiming Samantha's stolen car from a rival mechanic, the player confronts Eddie and defeats him, only to face a final challenge from an unidentified driver revealed to be Eddie's girlfriend, Melissa.