Need for Speed: Undercover

Need for Speed: Undercover from 2008 brought the series back to illegal street racing and a story inspired by action movie car chases - the player, as an undercover agent, infiltrates a criminal car-smuggling organization and gradually rises through the hierarchy of illegal races in order to bring the head of the gang to justice. The game was accompanied by live-action cutscenes starring actress Maggie Q in the lead role, and the open city served as the setting both for free driving and for police chases, which were again more action-heavy than in Most Wanted, with more intense police unit behavior. The career was divided into several tiers according to the type of races and the player's rank in the underworld; the Autolog system for comparing results with friends did not return to the series until later installments - it was still missing here, and the player relied on classic online leaderboards instead. Between individual races, the player could move freely around the open city, complete side missions and collect money to buy and upgrade further cars from the roster.

The PC version was released simultaneously with the console releases and offered the same story, open city and car roster. PC players had keyboard, gamepad or racing wheel controls available, along with the ability to set graphics detail and resolution according to their computer's performance, which the consoles of the time did not allow to the same extent. The cutscenes with Maggie Q and the soundtrack via EA Trax remained the same across platforms, as did the police chases and the career structure divided by the player's rank in the underworld. The choice between keyboard, gamepad and wheel on PC also allowed fine-tuning the controls for escape chases according to personal preference.

In terms of content, the PC version thus brought nothing extra and nothing missing compared to the console releases - it was the same game, just with the option of finer control and graphics tuning according to the specific setup on which the player ran it. Online leaderboards and competition for the best times worked the same way on PC as on consoles.

Why play it: For an identical experience to the consoles, just with finer graphics and control tuning for your own setup - online leaderboards and the race for the best times work the same on PC as anywhere else.