Need for Speed: Undercover

The Need for Speed series is now in to its third consecutive generation of console games, and has really carved itself a niche in racing games, and will go down in history as one of the strongest videogame franchises, with the soon to come Need for Speed: Undercover to be the seventeenth iteration of the series.

With a longer development cycle now that the Need for Speed development team has been split up into two teams, EA CEO John Riccitiello has publicly stated that he’s expecting bigger and better things from the series, after commenting on ProStreet being just “an okay game”.

The premise of Undercover has you playing as an undercover cop attempting to fit in with low-lifes in order to infiltrate and take down a crime ring. From trailers that have been released, the game looks set to have plenty of highway battles and missions where you crash into enemies while dodging your own allies (unbeknownst to them of course) .

Undercover takes place in the fictional Tri-City Area, which EA divided into three parts: Palm Harbour, Port Crescent and Sunset Hills. You're the driver in the middle of all of this, and you'll get your orders from Chase Linh, played by Maggie Quigley, who is of Mission Impossible III and Live Free or Die Hard fame. She'll not only give you missions, but also helpful advice on your surroundings and tips for defeating enemies.

One of the most touted features of the game will be the live action cutscenes in between races, which will help further the storyline. EA have worked hard creating numerous sets, the goal to blur the line between film and game, although hopefully the overly cheesy tone of Most Wanted doesn’t make a return to Undercover.

As expected, the game has real time damage to all of the vehicles, so you’ll be able to dent your rides and scrape the paint, although whether full-scale damage occurs is yet to be seen. But as seen in the trailers the damage that is included thus far looks extremely realistic, as does most of the graphical detail, with the environments really standing out.

Set to be released in November on all consoles, handhelds and PC, Undercover looks set to forge a new track in the Need for Speed series, while maintaining all the core gameplay that has made the games so enjoyable since the initial release way back in 1994.