Need for Speed: Undercover - Retrospective 

The game was fun but once you grow up it's like all the fun things are gone and the only thing left is suffering.

"If I didn't care about having fun I wouldn't play need for speed, I'd play Forza" killed me lmaooooooooooo

"the police are comically large" says the guy driving the smallest car in the game

This game suffered through development hell. This game was originally called nfs the chase and was planned around a month before most wanted shipped. The original plan was to make a sequel to most wanted and then make the chase, but their forced yearly schedule tied their hands and prostreet was the filler game in between so the main team could finish the chase. During that time, blackbox was also working on NBA Playgrounds and Skate, so they were crunched pretty hard. That's the main reason this game is the way it is. Also, the story was originally supposed to have branching choices and multiple endings, but since they had to rush the game out, they just used whatever material they finished and called it a day. This really could have been the greatest nfs game if they had more time to finish it.

No matter how screwed up this game is, it was my Need For Speed while growing up and I will forever cherish it

Undercover has many flaws, but one thing it excelled at was the soundtrack, especially the garage music. To this day the garage music is peak NFS imo

Undercover is actually an amazing example of how important the choice of game engine. Think about it, Undercover has the exact same mechanics and gameplay elements as the most successful NFS games. On paper its a copy paste success, but because of the ridiculous stiff handling it ends up being a mess

Them arrest scenes 🤣

i never get tired of the speedtrap bit lmfao it gets better with every upload

Worst part is? It had potentially to be incredible. The idea of you being an undercover cop and hunting other races and blending in sounds incredible. They literally could have copy pasted NFS Carbon and improved some aspects as well as whatever the fuck was going on in the story.

carmen is the singer of the kim possible theme song

I didn’t know much about game development, but even my 8 year old self knew at the time that something was seriously wrong with Undercover. Especially after playing it’s previous entries to completion

4:57 It's because both Pro Street and Undercover were developed simultaneously, so Undercover was kinda a rushed game.

"Comically large cop cars" Is in the lotus, the smallest model car in the game lmao

you forgot to mention one crazy thing about the handling and physics. If you use nitrous when turning into a corner, you can achieve insane levels of grip that your car will turn like some rollercoaster ride, and this applies for ALL cars in the game as long as they have nitrous. They messed up the handling big time, I'm guessing its because they used the NFS ProStreet car handling and tried to make it more arcade, when they could have just taken the handling model from NFS MW or Carbon.

it's a terrible game but man, the garage music is absolute gold

They could’ve been more focused on the criminal scene of the racing culture. Like maybe more deeper into the crime scenes. Also they could’ve used the busted cutscenes in which Q T E could be used to decide if you get busted by the cops or you steal a cop car and continue the police chase.

If I'm not mistaking, prostreet was made by a small team and it was in the process of making at the same time as undercover, and undercover was made by a different big team. So it is even worse.

So in a nutshell, this game has the same plot as the first Fast and Furious movie.

There is a mod called Project Reformed that actually changes the game, making the game very good.

All the budget of the game went into making the “busted” cutscenes😹

Even if it was terrible, the getting busted cutscenes are my favourite out of any games ever

Apparently BlackBox had to develop this in like 8 months time and with half of the team only. Yeah that was expected. You should try project Reformed for UC, fixes all the Graphical/Performance/Physics issues. It amps the game from bad to decent or even good if you ignore the story

Even as a pre teen playing this game there were parts of this game that I remember being stuck on for weeks.

in Undercover, he refers to ProStreet when in that video he refers to Carbon when also in that video he refers to Most Wanted

this game helped ME a lot personally, I was on vacation in the US and had no friends since I was only there for a month, and this game was really FUN, I loved the cheesy cut scenes and grinded the story to see every single one. I remember seeing the opening cutscene almost 50 times because the game kept crashing on my laptop haha. The game ran at I think 20-30 FPS max since I didn't know about graphic settings back then. and I got nearly every car! it was a fun game for kids haha. going back to it, it was WAY easier to see through the graphical problems since I mostly thought it was my laptop, but it was unfortunately overall a poorly optimized game .

Sooooo... This was done in around 6 months of actual development, right? That's not pretty. It's even worse when you realize that rivals had a comparable dev time and, glitches aside (but even then they're greatly reduced on console), it's a rather polished and complete game in comparison

The game was actually Black Box's reattempt to make something like Most Wanted again (their previous rellease 'Pro Street' was a sales failure), but ended up failing this one aswell (the game felt rushed to be honest).

"You'll eat whatever i make, and you won't leave the table until you do." WATCH ME. *closes tab and labels video "not interested"*

This game holds a very weird place in my head. I still own the CD and the box, yet I don't remember jack shit from it. It's so garbage my mind erased it from my memory.

3:02 literal nightmare fuel

As a kid, I played a weird pirated version of the game that had absolutely no cutscenes in it. It was honestly much better that way, trying to imagine my own plot connecting all those story missions together. I also remember being disappointed by all the cop cars being so plastic compared to MW and Carbon's more or less realistic damage. That said, it's still one of my favourite games because of it weaving story missions and racing together, probably why I enjoyed Payback as well.

In regards to the race with Rose, I think it is implied that Nickel cut the brake lines on the player car. He and Rose are seen together a lot when you are building your reputation with G-Mac and it does kind of seem like Rose starts taking a liking to the player, so Nickel attempts to derail the possibility of Rose falling for the player, he also is the most likely to do such an action given his criminal history.

I'm glad I have yet to play this on an unrelated note, I loved this as well as your other Need For Speed retrospectives; they got me into playing them

You get more rep/skills if you dominate the event and driver skills somewhat alleviate some of the handling issues. And the word you are looking for when you mentioned that the handling is weird, is that the handling model doesn't suit the city and the map.

babe wake up, Mitchell Diedrich just uploaded a new NFS review

I don’t think it was their intention to make the mechanic job out to be a lesser profession by revealing she’s gonna be a doctor. They probably just wanted to highlight the fact that she’s different from all the racers the player is fighting against all game by showing her pursuing a non criminal career. Other than that great video 👌🏻

I don’t say many good things about Undercover, but if there’s one good thing about it that I can immediately point out is obviously the soundtrack, more specifically the garage music and atmosphere. UC might have been a train wreck, but I honestly believe that the game’s garage might actually be one of the greatest things spawned for NFS ever. There is simply no other NFS game let alone racing game that matches the sheer *vibes* this game’s garage gave. Although many people including me say this game is super-forgettable, one thing about this game that I could never get out of my head in a good way is the absolutely genius music curation and design of the garage. That one single gap in the garage that lets the light in is so simple, yet so effective in giving the garage this ethereal atmosphere that no other racing game let alone ANY video game in general has given me. You think I’m done? I haven’t even mentioned the best part. What do you get when you combine the ethereal atmosphere created by that ray of light with the unrivaled genius of the song selection? You get what I would dare call the greatest video game menu of all time. When I see a picture of this game’s garage I think of songs like “Scuba (Amon Tobin Remix)”, “To Heal”, “The Mark Has Been Made”, “Indigo Children (JLE Dub Mix)”, and “Shunt”. When I think of those songs, I think of UC’s garage. It’s this aspect of UC that sometimes makes me forget that this game absolutely blows. Safe to say that the sound team at Black Box were *cooking* when they were setting up the feel of the garage. Shame that they didn’t get the time they needed to make this game what it deserved to be; a masterpiece.

honestly, when I played the game back in 2010, i was utterly disappointed by the horrific graphics, broken simulation, delusional camera angles, etc. etc. etc. so much wrong here. Honestly, NFS undercover was a steaming pile of garbage. However, I still hold my regard that NFS Undercover could've been so damn good. It had utmost potential to become one of the best street racing games of all time but EA does what they do best. Fuck things up. Also, its so astonishing to realize that in the same year they released Burnout Paradise and lets be honest, thats one damn good looking game.

👀👀 Come join the Discord discord.gg/4j5GRSMfcU Support the Patreon (why would you do this?): www.patreon.com/MitchellDiedrich Watch me stream? www.twitch.tv/mitchelldiedrich I also Tweet twitter.com/mxtchxll Point of clarification: the checkpoint races are NOT as I've described in this video. The checkpoint races are extensions of the checkpoint/tollbooth races from the previous games. I over committed to the bit and gave myself tunnel vision. I'm really happy with how this one turned out. Obviously, I can always improve, and I'm always *extremely* interested in feedback on what I'm doing well and where I'm lacking, but I feel that this video suggests an upward trajectory. While I don't agree with the thesis, here is a very well made video (that I very much enjoyed) about the game. Show it some love. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VFI4UuRue1g.html

3:02 I LOST MY SH1T! HAHAAHAHHA. It was like RAZOR by BALENCIAGA.

I remember playing this on the PS2 and it being an absolute dumpster fire. Your experience of not being able to beat something on many repeated attemps, only to come back to it a month later and easily beat it is nothing new to me. I didn't even make it to the end of the story because I lost so much interest in it. I dumped the game and went back to NFS Underground 2, Most Wanted, and Carbon for the arcadey racing.

The physics of Underground always reminded me of a mash-up of not the best, not the worst, but the most lukewarm physics choices from Most Wanted, Burnout, and ProStreet.

Seriously, when You showed footage from Underground 2, I was like "Man that looks so much better"... And it does. Not like "it almost looks better", it genuinely looks better, period.

Undercover on the PS2 was the best version of Undercover.

played the PS2 version as a kid, didn’t know how different the gameplay was from other consoles 🤔 but it was always good stupid fun going 300 in a ccx sending cop cars flying 😂 good times

Tbh the PS2 version looks more stable than the PC and PS3 ones. Idk why but I found the PS2 version is way better despite being an unfinished PS3 version. And one thing that I like. The lighting is better and not blinding my eyes

No lie I actually loved this game, yea it’s glitchy & the graphics are kinda shitty & so is the story but i just absolutely love it

I just realized that the two thugs you take out after Hector and Zack are driving the Renault and Evo you stole for them

I loved this game back in the 360 days, haven't played it in years, but I can't imagine it aged well. I do remember a few issues

You aren't wrong, I will in fact watch whatever you upload

Even though I see its flaws I still love this game. Its the game that introduced me to NFS and it did do some things right: - the soundtrack is one of the best in the franchise - the busted scenes are badass and really fun to watch - the car selection is actually pretty good not too much and too little - the cutscenes are so dumb but that’s why I enjoy them to watch - highway battle is really awesome and I wished they brought it back to some of the newer nfs - customization is pretty good - I actually like the map and having everything being connected through highways is an actual good idea - the syndicate jobs are really cool and show off multiple cars that you could use later

Love your uploads, your perfectly timed humor along with actual analysis is spot on. Keep the videos coming

I loved this game when it came out. But I was 13. Looking back and then replaying it I'm sitting here like "wow I had had shit taste." The music though is still good.

to this day this is one of the nfs games i refuse to go back to and play, yet i find deep dive videos like this really interesting, great video man cant wait for the UG2 video

3:02 💀

The funny part about the income disparity thing is that obviously there are different types of doctors and vehicle techs but the technician field is quickly diminishing and the rapid rise in tech salaries are catching up to and even surpassing some doctor salaries.

I'm sure you see how well these videos are doing relative to your others, awesome that you continue to provide the content we want! If you've played Underground 2, I'd love a video on it if you ever get around to it! Edit: I see that was already the plan. Keep up the good work!

My biggest gripe with this game was the physics. I remember having a fully maxed out Bugatti and being able to take every turn effortlessly by letting off the gas. My second gripe was the vinyl editor was SO. DAMN. SLOW! It became a chore to make any type of design.

I kinda wish we got a 2007/8 Underground 3 that ties the stories of Underground 1 through Carbon together instead of Undercover.

12:04 * 'The safeword is police brutality!' *

The takedown missions I would turn into the set pieces, where you have to follow the enemy like a time trial, and if you manage not to lose them, you'll get some set piece of him crashing in actual cool way.

make more videos like this where you are critical of video games and you'll get major views, especially for modern games, in which the state of modern games they are released in it's really easy to do.

Anyone actually love this game or is it just me?

The inception of your explanation was hilarious and I would love you to keep doing it.

my time in this game only exists as a bad fever dream.

one thing i love about this game for Real are those goofy ass arresting cutscenes

Agree 100%...still my 3rd favorite need for speed

Why is the need for speed undercover thumbnail is so good

Damn, I dont remember the filter being that bad when I was a kid. Does this game take place after an atomic bomb dropped?

I guess its late to tell you that there's the mod known as Reformed that basically fixes most of the game, especially graphics and handling.

🇮🇳🙏a lot of memories from this game. I can see what kind of "Hollywood" look and aesthetic they were going for but honestly pro street looked way better visually and even gameplay wise was superior. To this day idk why the skybox in Undercover is so jacked. Edit: waiting for your next video on nfs shift.

Whats the soundtrack used in this video>? Thx

The worst part of the game for me is that instead of driving to the races/missions you go to the map and teleport there.

THIS IS ROCKET LEAGUE

Any hot takes on NFS 2012 or NFS The Run?

The game is actually pretty decent with the Project Reformed mod

i liked playing it as a kid. as an adult it was kinda good but not perfect. my main complaints is no music in free roam, the physics are off, and they really needed to categorize the rims by manufacturers. the garage is the best part. what’s with the light behind the wall? the garage music is great as well. by the way, in some areas the sky will change color when you look back at the camera

You should talk about the PS2/Wii version which is just as bad

How original. Another milennial video game youtuber who constantly cries about the game

Like how recovering the pda and the car was basically the plot of fast 5 when they stole the gt 40 or the hyper car in fast 7 😂😂

Questioning if NFS Undercover is the worst racing game ever would be blatantly overlooking games that actually deserve that title.

I don't know, man. You make it look like a very fun game!

So...the out-from-sea helicopters in Undercover are odd, but the "Helictoper in a roadblock in a tunnel"-ones in Most Wanted are not?

Song playing in the background at around 16:40?

Guess what fellow commenters NFS Prostreet was the best NFS game and it’s not close. Cry about it.

EA forced BlackBox to channel their efforts into 2008 NFS, leaving Pro Street an unfinished product. This unfinished product was one of the best NFS of my childhood and it's sad that Pro Street could've been even better.

You just spitting bullshit at this point 😂😂😂

When I played this when it first came out, back when I was 12/13 (so 2008/2009), I used my Mom’s credit card to get the Bugatti Veyron as quick as possible. I got grounded for 6 months, which was reduced to 6 weeks for good behaviour, which worked, cus I didn’t do anything as stupid again. Anywho, when I got my xbox back, I played the game with the Veyron for all of 5 mins before I decided I didn’t like it and went back to Forza Motorsport and what was probably CoD WaW at the time, shortly before I switched to Battlefield.

What song is in the background?

I absolutely enjoyed tf out of this game. Still do whenever I can play it. Needs a remaster.

IT wasnt bad. IT was different than carbon and that's IT. You are complaing about helis which are going from the ocean 😂 that's too much

anyone know the background music ?

I enjoyed the PS2 version more than the PS3. The PS2 felt more like the old need for speeds while the PS3 was just an absolute disaster

A very accurate review of the game, only comment I missed is that the world felt empty and lifeless. Back in the day I waited for the arrival of every NFS game until this game. I got the game from EA as was the case with previous titles (MW and Carbon) while working for nfsunlimited and even then it felt like a massive disappointment. Even free it felt like being ripped off. Felt very sorry for the people who paid for it. I felt obligated to finish the game but never touched it afterwards. It just felt like a drag playing it, it was the complete opposite of MW. Sure no NFS games had people in it on the streets etc. only cars. Yet Carbon and especially MW felt like it was lived in for some reason. Never liked the visuals, EA called it the golden hour of the day for sunlight but all it dit was make it look yellow and boring. The car list wasn't bad at all, just could not be bothered much with it. This game made me loose all hope in NFS and I was basically done with it.

Undercover stills better than Payback, Heat and Unbound combined.

It's quite sad that Blackbox haven't completed production of this game like I belive it could be 2 times better

This game is bittersweet. Its a Blackbox game, and whilst it does suck, this is entirely because of EA giving the devs a very tight deadline. The missed opportunities are baffling honestly.

1 second gang lets go!

I've seen so many people wanting a Most Wanted remaster or remake, but honestly I think Undercover deserves a remake more and that's done better that the original.