Anyone else picking up NFSU 2 today?

[Gratch]

Can't wait to get a new arcade racing fix.  The last NFSU had me hooked, and I'm looking forward to this new format.  Funny thing is, I hate tricked out cars irl, but can't get enough of them in this game.  

Just wish I didn't have to work until 8:00.  

[crumsteel]

When you pick it up can you compare it to NFS:U 1. I played the demo of the second one on the pc and liked it. I hear good things about the first one and looking to maybe pick it up for a cheap price now that 2 is out.

[Devil]

IN!

[Vindel]

I will be picking this up after work. So far the reviews have been good. In the range of 8.4 to 9. Looking for to this one.

[Bullwinkle]

You know, I'm not impressed with the presentation this time around.  The graphics look nice, sure, but who's idea was it to tie the whole thing together in a comic-book style?  That really doesn't gel with this style of gameplay, IMHO.  It worked for Max Payne, cheesy as it got, but here it is too static for what is a game about speed.

Also, the music suh-hucks (except for that Snoop/Doors tune, somehow I like it).

[Jeff]

Also, the music suh-hucks (except for that Snoop/Doors tune, somehow I like it).

That Doors/Snoop piece is very cool.

[stiffler]

I'm wating to read some impressions on Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition.  Then I will try and determine which one is the best value and get that one.  So mabye NFSU2, maybe not.  I'm not rushing out to get my tuner car fix at the moment.

Either way, I look forward to reading more about NFSU2 here, which will help me make my decision.

[Gratch]

Played for an hour or so last night, so these are some very early impressions (even though we're not on Page 2 yet).

1)  I'm not crazy about the presentation.  The whole comic book thing is really cheesy, and Brooke Burke sounds bored out of her skull whenever she reads a line.  Alot of the still image artwork seems to be pretty lo-res as well.  The loading screen is really pixellated, and many of the comic book panels look blurry.  

2)  I also don't really like the new "open city" format.  If you hadn't heard, NFSU2 takes place in a large open city and you drive around to certain areas to find a race, go to the body shop, pick a new car, etc.  It just seems like a huge waste of time to me.  I'd rather just automatically move on to the next race than have to spend 5 minutes driving around to find it.  It is nice that you can pick a race, then turn on the "GPS system" (read:  Big floating arrow) that directs you right to it.  

This gripe is probably just my personal preference.  The whole city thing just reminds me too much of the GTA series, which I didn't like at all.  Just put me into the next race, don't make me drive around looking for it.

3)  Maybe it's just me, but the graphics actually look worse this time around.  Neither the car models or the backgrounds look nearly as clean and sharp.  Maybe I'm just spoiled from playing Burnout 3 for the last few weeks, but this didn't look good at all.  It almost seemed like they tried to cram in more track variety at the expense of image quality.

4)  Once you actually find a race, the racing is still pretty fun.  However, it seems like they slowed it down quite a bit.  I'm sure it will pick up when I get some faster cars and upgrades, but the starter cars feel slow as hell.  I'll don't remember the starter cars feeling this slow in the first NFSU, but it's been a while since I played it.

Overall, my first impressions of the game were not very good.  Again, maybe Burnout 3 has just spoiled me, but the racing in NFSU2 isn't nearly as fun, even with the slow starter cars.  I'm not crazy about any of the "improvements", but I'm hoping they will grow on me.  It took me a while to really get into the first NFSU, so maybe this one will take a while to hook me as well.

[Bullwinkle]

Gratch, I agree with every one of your points here.  And the slow thing is amazing.  It really feels like you're being held back.  I also don't remember that in the first game.  Hell, the impression of speed you got in the first game is one of the most memorable things.

[Devil]

These aren't good signs!

[Zekester]

How many times can the NFS series die and come back?

Note to developers: BE CONSISTENT!

[Vindel]

Well I guess I am one of the few that is actually enjoying this one. I find the graphics on par with the first and the sense of speed is fine for me. I have tuned my car so that probably helps. And the new blur effect when you use the Nos is great. Also the music is good for me as well. I mean we get tracks from Christopher Lawerence, Paul Van Dyke and Fluke just to name a few. I also enjoy roaming  the city looking for new things to find, even though I do wish there was some sort of  warp like in SRS but oh well. This  game is much better then SRS.

[Gratch]

I haven't gotten to the point where I'm using NOS yet, and I'm still on the un-upgraded beginning cars (I did do the first engine upgrade, but that's all).  I'm hoping the sense of speed gets better as you get faster cars and more powerful upgrades.  I should get a couple hours to play tonight, so I'll see if it gets better.

As far as the soundtrack goes, why oh why did they not allow custom soundtrack support for the X-Box?  There are a couple decent tracks in there (Ministry and Helmet are my faves), but overall the soundtrack is typical EA filler crap.  And that Snoop/Doors song is near blasphemous.

[Jeff]

How many times can the NFS series die and come back?

Note to developers: BE CONSISTENT!

That's an interesting point. This series has gone from good to suck and back again more times than I can count.  It's like the NFS developers are completely closed off from the world, or any kind of feedback about what people like, or don't like about the games.