MIDNIGHT CLUB : LOS ANGLES

Guys if you’re one of the lucky few who have been to LA, you might actually recognise some of the locations. The rest of us sods can just gawk at the superb attention to detail and the gorgeous graphics. Especially the way the crowds pep up the city and the wat the camera zooms in and out in realtime to give you satellite views of the area. The racing is fact and visceral, featuring a nice, large assortment of your standard fare, licensed cares and a host of very odd and welcome additions like the 1988 VW Siproco, which you are free to pimp out to your hearts content. The game is tough. It does start off easy, but the open-ended city might leave you lost and confused. The game may take some getting used to, but is extremely gratifying nonetheless. This is definitely a must-have, even if it’s just to fill the void that the pathetic NFSU has left.

NEED FOR SPEED : UNDERCOVER

Here Undercover is everything this series isn’t. Having been a fan of NFS ever since the first game , it’s depressing to see how this ends up. Graphics are terrible, uninspired and look lifted from Burnout Paradise. Cars are the standard fare, they handle weird and the camera shake is overdone. Playing this game feels strange and queasy. Gameplay is the same- they have tried to recreate the success of NFS Most Wanted by wrapping it up in a thrown together story starring Maggie Q, the thin girl from die hard 4. You play an undercover agent trying to bust a crime ring and the game features some really ham-acted cutscenes. Bottom Line- stay away from this game. Get a facial or take your girl out to dinner instead. Let’s hope that EA realises that peddling bad games can only get them so far, and seriously damage their main franchise in the bargain..The gameplay was quite heavy.