We all remember the failure called “Need for Speed Undercover” and the tragic fate of the studio that handled the development. And then comes the logical question “Why a review for this game?” Well, because the version of this title on iPhone is much better than the one dedicated to PC or consoles.
The portable version has exactly the same story, told by the same short clips like in the previous games of the series. Of course, the action was slightly shortened to provide a pleasant experience, and also not too long to become boring.
The map, similar to the original, contains 24 races, spread over three areas. The advancement is by unlocking a single race and the passing to a new area is by eliminating a major figure in the game. The game modes encountered are the classical race, lap knockout, chasedown, bounty, hot car, cop takeout and highway battle, all too familiar to givemore details. The races in which an opponent must be removed or a crowd of cars with flashing lights are on time, while the racing on the highway is based on the distance between the two cars competing. The rest of the game modes have no limitations.
Once the “career” mode is completed, there will be unlocked the “drift” mode, which contains five races that can be uncloked, each with a predetermined number of points to be accumulated in order to advance. In this mode, there is no traffic, so the chances of losing points is limited to the loss of control of the car. After all the races are completed, if you replay any of them will bring the maximum amount of money, while the replay of a race when the career mode is not yet ended will only bring a quarter of earnings.
The control mode is easy and intuitive. To steer, you have to move the phone in the desired position, to enter in a drift, move suddenly, the NOS is enabled by marking a line up and the speedbreaker by marking a line down. The brake, although I do not think that you will use, is produced by pressing anywhere on the screen. You may wonder at what is used the speedbreaker, I’ve asked myself the same question, until I noticed that the intersections are quite circulated and only in this way we can avoid the drastic damage of the car in a hot car race. Moreover, the time during which we can use this option is enough for getting us out of the intersection, so you should not waste it anyhow.
The graphics rises to the most demanding expectations, the cars being painstakingly worked. Although the visual tuning options are very limited, there are variations to not make all the cars to look alike. The levels are greatly created, providing challenges both visually and qualitatively.
The music is typical for this series, with tracks that urge you to push the pedal to the floor. Neither the other sounds are bad and you will certainly appreciate the sound of tires into a drift. This would be to say about a game that keeps you connected for over three hours and manages to be better than its older brothers. Unfortunately, it does not have a multiplayer option, but the entertainment offered is worth every penny.11
