App Store Essentials: Need for Speed Undercover

Nee-nawww nee-nawww nee-nawwww!!!!!!

It’s our understanding through the discussions we’ve had with you that many of our members are first time iPhone owners. That got us to thinking that for a large number of you, the current batch of post-OS-3.0 apps on the App Store are all you’ve possibly been exposed to. But there is a whole raft of titles that are in our mind essential purchases that, due to the nature of the App Store, have had their time in the charts and then faded from the spotlight. In our new series of App Store Essentials, we’re going to bring you the best of the New Zealand App Store. First up is a game: Need for Speed Undercover.

If there’s one gaming genre where iPhone users aren’t left wanting, it’s racing. There are racing games for Africa in the App Store – some good, some awful and, occassionally some great. Need For Speed Undercover fits into the latter category. Made by EA Games and based on the successful console franchise, this is one slick production that both entertains and also delivers on that wow factor.

Go you good thing, go!

In NFSU, you play a former street racer who’s been coerced into helping the cops bring down a criminal underworld of stolen cars and illegal races. Starting at the bottom of the ladder, you must make a name for yourself by winning some races, taking out some cop cars, and escaping with some hot cars. The storyline is built up with slickly produced cut-scenes that look gorgeous on the iPhone screen and sound just as good with your headphones on.

The in-game graphics are pretty amazing, especially on the 3GS. The 3D world is very detailed – reflections in the windows of your car and on the road, cracked tarmac, overhead power lines, it’s all there and it whizzes by with a very impressive frame rate. At first glance you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re looking at some video of a PS2 game, which is a pretty big achievement for a mobile phone.

The controls are, as you would expect, accelerometer-based. There is no need to accelerate, the app does that for you. To brake you simply touch and hold the screen, anywhere. Nitro-boost is achieved by a single swipe up the screen while a single swipe down the screen will slow the action down “bullet-time” style. Pausing and camera angles are similarly gesture based and are quite easy to remember. Reminders for these gestures appear while level loads but on the 3GS the load times are so quick you barely get time to read them before they disappear, so keep those eyes peeled!

Oi! Don't touch what you can't afford, love, okay?

There is some good variation within the game – rather than just level after of endless races there are also duels where you must evade the police or ram a set number of police cars off the road, duel one-on-one with a rival driver by destroying their vehicle, or make it from A to B while your enemies try to destroy your ride. Some of the early levels are are almost too easy, but by the final levels of the first city (there are three) the difficulty curve starts to steepen and you’ll find yourself having to have a few goes before you win.

Oi! Who tagged my car!!?

As you win races and complete missions you earn cash which you can spend on upgrading your vehicle or buying new ones. You won’t get very far in the game without doing this, and luckily you can repeat completed levels to gain more money. Tweaking your top speed, acceleration, handling and nitro-boost capabilities makes a real impact on your ability to complete objectives in-game.

NFSU isn’t the longest game on the planet by console standards but for a mobile game it’s plenty. There are three cities, each with 8 levels so that’s 24 levels of gameplay. Because the levels are relatively quick (most take around 2 minutes) they’re manageable in real-world scenarios if you get my drift — it’s the type of game you can enjoy in short bursts when you get the opportunity rather than only playing a frustrating half a level or so.

"Hello, AA? Yes I seem to be on fire, is that bad?"

The game debuted on the store back in April at $13.99 which seemed a reasonable price when compared to it’s Nintendo DS and PSP counterparts which run to around $70 currently, however it is currently on special at an almost ludicrous $6.49. Let’s think about that for a moment — this is a top quality game from a major publisher and is part of a major franchise. I can’t imagine such games on a platform like the DS or the PSP going for that, ever. This is an exciting time to be part of an emerging gaming platform, so what are you waiting for? Grab the bargains with both hands!