The year is 2004. I'm 14 years old, and I'm playing Need for Speed Underground 2 with my dad. We didn't think that it could get any better back then, and it's remained one of my most fondly remembered GameCube games. But when I discovered the fan-fuelled project to remake the game in Unreal Engine 5, it blew everything I knew about this game out of the park.
There's been a playable demo of 2Unreal5Underground for around 6 months now, but a recent video posted on YouTube has shown more features such as upgrades to the in-game traffic AI, opponents' free roaming, better driving physics, the first Outrun race, and much more. The game itself looks phenomenal and has managed to capture those same feelings I had while playing it over 2 decades ago - wait till my dad sees this!
Dynamic traffic is what makes your racing experience so much more exciting and unpredictable. The in-game AI is still a little 'hit and miss', which is a pretty fitting expression for a game like Need for Speed, and there is still a bit of work to do as the game hits the 75% complete mark, but the finish line is in sight.
In terms of driving physics, the developer has been working to give players way more control when it comes to suspension and jump mechanics. Other than the stunning graphics, this is what I'm most looking forward to experiencing fully when the game is finally completed and the full career mode is ready to roll. There are plans for multiplayer and co-op modes too - 2Unreal5Underground is the gift that keeps on giving.
The only problem is EA. While this is a free, fan-made game, it remains to be seen whether they will allow it to live or not. We're in a catch-22 situation where more exposure might make that more likely, but the project is so good that we want to tell you all about it so that you can check it out. For now, I'm hoping that EA will see all the hard work that the developer has put into this game and let them finish the project and distribute it for free. Maybe they might even give them a job, who knows!
If you want to check out the demo of the game so far, you can head over to the 2Unreal5Underground Discord server!
