I'll throw in my review from another site. Also, keep in mind that the review was written for car enthusiasts so some terms might seem a little foriegn.
Its mostly complete but I don't write much anymore so I left out a lot.
This review is based off of a PS2 unit.
Gameplay: 8
Its not much of an improvement over last year's runaway title. But the brilliance is that its much more polished and refined, though at times, the game suffers from funny physics. My biggest qualm is the use of the left analog controls for steering vs. regulard d-pad, which serves it own, unique and well played function. You literally have tens of buttons to push. Somehow, they made the game feel less arcadey and more simulation; though its a long way from where GT4 will be and where GT3 is at.
Sound: 7
I'm all for great music in racers and even better ones for the downtimes but man, EA picked some really crappy bands this time around. More to the game, the ricers all sound the same, all the V8s sound the same, and overall, except the talented Brooke Burk lending her voice to the game, its about as plain as they come.
Graphics: 8
The colors of the game is exceptionally well done, and like last year's title, very colorful and vibrant with life. It almost feels too vibrant ~ when you drive, sometimes the mirad of colors blur together into one big glob of color, thus confusing you for a second or so. But EA has implemented the schemes very well and it looks nice, almost realistic at some points. But the slow-downs on four car wrecks seem to indicate that even NFS:U2 is pushing the hardware limits of the venerable PS2.
Story: 5
Is a credible street racing story even possible?
Overall: 7
Every street racing game from this point on (Juiced, MC3, GT4, Forza, Enthusia) will try and push the envelope just a little further. NFS meets and beats a lot of things SRS tried (and failed) to do, whether it be the amount of tuning you could do or the dyno. Somehow, the fact that you can custom tune your car on the dyno is more appealing than just dynoing it and getting some fake numbers. I'm very impressed with the technical aspects of NFS:U2 has to offer, as far as hp numbers and parts available are concerned.
What bothers me still is the whole "Ricer" effect. The more ricer parts you have on, even to the point of insanely ridiculous, the more points (or appeal ratings) you get, which is, strangely, inaccurate to the point of laughable, seeing as how most cars decked out with such anemities would be considered the laughing stock of town. But none-the-less, a tricked out Mustang is... a tricked out Mustang.
I'm glad they didn't have the whole "Girlfriends" thing Namco had used for SRS. Talk about a waste of space. Another interesting note is the city ~ How massive and expansive it is! Like Tokyo XR, you can unlock various parts of the city (vs unlocking individual cities) after you beat or meet certain requirements and stages. I don't like how you can only get cars after certain points, but I can see how that would work well with this game. There are, also, tons of hidden shops and places you can visit. Money does grow on trees as you can drive around town and find $50 - $100 bills just lying around.
They've increased the amount of racing you can do from 3 to six or seven, sprint and street-X being very dominant in this game. Also, you can do smaller side-quests like getting to a photographer in a certain amount of time so you can be on, yet another, cover of a magazine. This game is loaded with neat, unique, intricate details that SRS didn't have. This one is definately a good buy.
