Join the underground racing subculture.

Time to return to the underground for cool cars and hot racing.

Features * Free-roaming * Unlock new races * New gameplay modes * Thirty tuner cars * Twice the visual customizations of Need for Speed Underground

Taking on the mean streets is the only way to gain respect in the underground racing scene. Need for Speed Underground 2 drops you off at the curb; it's up to you to survive.

Street racing games are both a test of skill and a clash of personalities. Everybody thinks they're the best, but at the end, only one car can be first. It's up to you to try to be first in the more than 150 challenges that cover 125 miles of pavement.

The massiveness of the city in Need for Speed Underground 2 can't be understated. The city encompasses five different neighborhoods that you can roam freely as you search out races and respect.

It's easy to divide the draw to the game in half: racing and customization. New to the racing part of the franchise this year are additional contests, including Sprints and performance tuning. Customization junkies will get their fix with dozens of new cars and thousands of aftermarket upgrades from window tint to engines.

The Underground is an exclusive club, that's why it's not called "above ground." You can't just pull up to any car and race. You need to gain respect. The more respect you have, the more apt people are to let you in on the location of other races. To get respect, just win, baby. Just win. You'll unlock more than just races. A whole world of shops, cars and even sponsorships await you.

The racing action in the game doesn't blow you away, but it's solid. The well-designed streets and sudden changes in weather enhance the racing. Still, ultra-customization stands as the best feature of Need for Speed Underground 2. EA says you can make billions of car customization combinations. That's probably right. Gamers can swap out just about every single part of the car, including the audio in the trunk. The only boundary is the one in your mind.

The ultimate goal is to get in the Underground Racing League. You need some rep, some pizzazz and a little karma from resident Need for Speed Underground 2 hottie Brooke Burke to get you there.

Bottom Line

Customization and racing junkies should sprint to this sequel.