Yeah I know, I'm quite a bit late to the party on this one.  Fable 2 has been out in the wild for nearly a year and I've just recently began playing it in earnest.  The only reason I started in the first place was due to its inclusion on XBOX Lives "Games on Demand" service.  For that release, Microsoft and Lionhead decided to cut the game up into episodic content, the first of which is free with either a Silver or Gold level account.  Each subsequent episode runs gamers around 800 Microsoft Points (about $10 USD) and continues for 4 more episodes.  Instead of spending $40 in points, as well as the time to download over 8GB of game data onto my hard drive, I decided to purchase the full game at retail... for $10 cheaper no less.  This is certainly a problem that permeates throughout the Games on Demand service, but that's an article for another day.

Todays topic is Fable 2 and truth be told, I really don't like RPG's that much.  Case in point, I'm that kook who didn't finish or even really enjoy what I did play of Final Fantasy VII.  The only titles in the genre I do play are of the action-oriented variety, and even there it's slim pickings.  The Legend of Zelda (particularly A Link to the Past on SNES) immediately springs to mind as an all time favorite.  Shining Wisdom on the Sega Saturn was also one that I really dug, but unfortunately never completed.  An RPG has its best shot at my approval if it's not turn-based, doesn't bog me down with the traditional "experience points" method of leveling up, keeps the action moving, and helps me along when I get stuck.  Despite the experience points and leveling up that lead to increased strength and abilities I'm happy to say that overall, Fable 2 leans much more towards action rather than RPG.

I've noticed that I've been buying a lot more PC games lately.  Having been a dedicated supporter of the platform over the last several years, it all hit me last December when I finally came to grips with the fact that PC Gaming had lost that loving feeling.  Since then, I received an Xbox 360 for Christmas and have not regretted asking for it or looked back since.  The simplicity of the platform, along with visuals that are close to what my gaming PC is capable of further emphasized that I made the right choice... in most aspects.

The part I miss most about the PC platform is how premiere titles that retailed for full price just a few short months ago often make their way into the bargain bin at significantly lower costs than their console equivalents.  This brings us to todays look at Need For Speed: Undercover, or Most Wanted 1.5 as I've grown accustomed to calling it.  I was a huge fan of Most Wanted (I still occasionally play it) and a semi-sequel or spiritual successor was something I knew I'd really enjoy.  Mind you, I'm not one of those "OMG tune every aspect of the car FTW!!1" types... I just really like arcade style racing games and the NFS series has always provided me that fix.  With its visuals, sounds, genuine cars, and intelligent police banter and cop chases, Most Wanted was the crown jewel in the series for me.

Needless to say, when I got my 360 at Christmas time Undercover was definitely on my purchase radar.  Unfortunately the reviews citing overly simplistic gameplay, poor performance on all platforms, and most of all the $60 price tag quickly shuffled it aside.  I then decided that the new NFS game was out of the question and Most Wanted would just have to last a little longer.  Perhaps a significant reduction in price and a patch or two later might change my mind.

Fast forward to last weekend and a root through the bargain bin (which is nearly the entire PC section at GameStop nowadays) revealed Undercover retailing for a mere $9.99.  I figured "what do I have to lose" and immediately brought it up to the counter for purchase.  At the aforementioned $60 price tag, those flaws that were so heavily cited by reviewers and the public alike turned into a dealbreaker for me.  Now that the game was a mere 1/6th of its former price, could those shortcomings be justified?

In a word yes, but don't expect too much out of the latest Need For Speed.

Undercover is built on the same engine that the last 5 or so NFS games were and it definitely shows.  While EA/Blackbox have continually  added contemporary features every year, it's still a 6 year old engine and there's just no getting around that.  In all honesty, the game doesn't look that much better than 2005's Most Wanted did and actually performs a little worse with equivalent hardware.  Scenes that flew at max settings on Most Wanted with a Core2Quad, 9800GT and 4GB of RAM often show framerate slowdowns, some hitching, and quite a bit of texture/object pop-in on Undercover.  The races are much less challenging than the former title and the once "laughably bad" FMV sequences are now just simply bad.  At least Undercover has support for widescreen resolutions, where Most Wanted required ini file hacking to support.  All around the presentation varies from almost adequate to varying degrees of substandard.

Sound-wise, the game seems to borrow a lot from its predecessor as well.  The good news is the cops are back and are just as much fun to out race, out think, and out maneuver as they were in Most Wanted.  The bad news is the once smart police radio "banter" now seems antiquated 4 years later.  I had to take a second listen on some of the sound effects, as many of them appear lifted clean as well.  The soundtrack is even less memorable and I don't think I recognized one band on the playlist.  The more I played this game, the more it appeared I had bought an expansion pack for Most Wanted rather than a full retail release.  7 months and $60 ago this review would've been borderline inflammatory with a definite "do not buy" recommendation.  Last weekend for a mere 10 spot?  Not so much and I ultimately feel like I got the bargain I had originally perceived.

In the end Need For Speed: Undercover is best described as a "late to the party" extension to or slight reformulation of the aforementioned Most Wanted.  The console versions still retail for around $40 USD currently, and at this price point the game remains a hard sell.  For $10 on the PC though, it's nearly a must have if you're a fan of the series, the prior Most Wanted game specifically, or arcade racers in general.  It'll give you enough new content (locales and races) and visuals/audio that justifies the small entry fee.  If you weren't a fan of Most Wanted or you're looking for a brand new entry in the franchise, save your $10 and put it towards something else... possibly the upcoming Need For Speed: Shift title due out later this year.  For Most Wanted fans with a tenner burning a whole in their pockets, the game is worth it... flaws and all.