Stunning ‘Need For Speed: Underground 2’ Remake Resurrects Classic

Need for Speed: Underground 2 is a classic by all accounts. Anyone who played it back in the PS2 days will tell you what a fun street racing experience it was.

Many fans would also agree that NFS: Underground 2 was the beginning of the series’ peak. This would continue into Most Wanted and end with Carbon.

The series has failed to reignite significant interest since then, despite numerous attempts. The most recent game – Need for Speed Heat – was met with a mixed critical reception when it was released in 2019.

Now one Need for Speed fan is taking the series back to its most popular era. They’re remaking Need for Speed: Underground 2 from scratch in Unreal Engine 4.

And best of all, they’re documenting the process on their YouTube channel. So you can join them on the development journey.

Need for Speed: Underground 2 is being remade – by a fan!

The project is called 2Unreal4Underground. The first video of the fan remake was posted to the project’s YouTube channel in October last year. It was a short teaser for the game.

Since then, the unofficial remake’s creator has shared a number of progress updates. Each of the channel’s videos detail different aspects of the game. This includes soundtrack, audio, UI, collision issues, car models, destruction, and more.

As far as we can tell, the developer is working super hard in Unreal Engine 4 to make the game something truly special. And it looks very close to the beloved original – only with some significant upgrades.

The channel’s most recent upload – titled ‘Banging through the city’ – gives the first proper glimpse of gameplay. You can see a car tearing around the city of Bayview just as we all did back in 2004.

The remake’s graphics have clearly improved since we first saw it, as have various aspects of gameplay and the UI.

Upgrades include turbo and nitrous, new steering, collision sounds and sparks, optimised weather cycle, new textures, drift zones, and lots more.

Will it ever be released?

Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely it’ll ever get a full release. And if it does, EA would probably take swift action to remove it.

However, it’s exciting to imagine what a remake could be like. And it’s awesome to see that someone has the creative knowledge and vision to make it happen. Even if we’ll never get to play it for ourselves.

Of course, we’d love to see official remakes of the best Need for Speed games. Perhaps one day we will. But for now we’ll just have to enjoy watching fan-made versions on YouTube.

Maybe we should start a petition or something?

Would you play this fan-made Need for Speed: Underground 2 remake? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other gaming articles…