Brooke Burke in Racing Game

Electronic Arts announced that they have signed one of the world’s sexiest thrill seekers and cover girls, Brooke Burke, to star in Need For Speed Underground 2, the sequel to the best selling game of 2003, Need For Speed Underground.

In Need for Speed Underground 2, Burke plays the streetwise organizer of an elite underground racing circuit. Her character, Rachel, takes gamers under her wing, guiding them through the game’s massive free-roaming city, helping them become the top racer in the underground.

“I’m an absolute adrenaline junkie and car freak in real life, so starring in Need for Speed Underground 2 is a huge thrill,” Burke said. “Need for Speed Underground 2 really captures one of the reasons I love my cars so much – they’re a canvas for self-expression.”

Need for Speed Underground 2 challenges gamers to immerse themselves in the tuner culture, exploring an expansive, free-roaming city divided into five distinct neighborhoods. Gamers will encounter rival racers who will initiate events, tip players off to the hottest racing spots, and show them where to buy the most sought-after licensed aftermarket upgrades.

The new game delivers complete automotive self-expression with more than 30 of the hottest licensed turner cars and hundreds of aftermarket parts for nearly infinite visual and performance customization combinations.

Brooke Burke is recognized worldwide for her three-year stint as the adventurous host of E! Entertainment Television’s popular travel series, “Wild On,” as seen in 120 countries. Now that she has completed her assignment with E!, Burke continues to focus her attention on hosting and acting, and has landed roles in a number of television and film projects. Her official Web site is www.brookeburke.com.

Need for Speed Underground 2 is being developed by EA Canada and will be available on the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox video game system from Microsoft, the Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance and PC this fall, under the EA GAMES brand. The official home page for Need For Speed Underground 2 is www.needforspeed.com.

About Electronic Arts Electronic Arts, headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenues of $2.96 billion for fiscal 2004. The company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. In 2003, EA had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS, EA GAMES and EA SPORTS BIG. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

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ProjectGotham Racing 4 RevX360

Project Gotham Racing is back and better than ever after a nearly two year break since PGR3 launched alongside the Xbox 360 in November 2005. PGR4 takes everything that was great about that game and improves it. It looks better, has a far better car list, has a better career mode, and just plain has more stuff to do. The gameplay is as sharp as ever as well. Project Gotham Racing 4 is a solid racing game that Xbox 360 owners will be proud to have in their collection.Quick Hits Title: Project Gotham Racing 4 Platform:Xbox 360 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: Bizarre Creations ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone Genre: Racing Pros: Great graphics; good car list; improved career mode over PGR3; solid gameplay; in-car camera still rocks Cons: First-person camera + motorcycle = nausea; the weather effects look good, but don’t really make the races more fun

Features

PGR 4 is all about changes and improvements over PGR3. One of the first things you’ll notice is that the car list is greatly improved. Instead of just focusing on exotics and supercars, there is a much more varied list of cars to choose from this time around. Another major addition is that you can now ride motorcycles, which add a nice added layer of depth and fun because, obviously, motorcycles and cars handle rather differently. Another significant new feature is that there are now dynamic weather effects such as rain and snow that can actually change in intensity over the course of a race. When you add all of these improvements onto an already great foundation, you end up with a very solid game in Project Gotham Racing 4.

Project Gotham Racing 4 has the modes we have come to expect from the series such as arcade and career and online. Career mode has been given a makeover and now seems more realistic as you have to choose race events or accept invitations for special events throughout a calendar year, and anything you don’t do now will have to be completed next year. Online play is just as deep as ever and a definite high point once you finish with career.

The gameplay is where PGR4 really shines. The objective is not just to win races, but to win stylishly by drifting around corners and doing other tricks. If the controls weren’t up to snuff, this ambitious idea would have never gotten off the ground, but PGR combines arcade-style accessibility and fun with simulation-style physics and handling to offer up something surprisingly deep and satisfying. Don’t misunderstand the “simulation” part – you aren’t ever going to spin out or lock up your brakes or anything – but it isn’t like you are gliding around on ice like in many “arcade” games either. It is a perfect balance that works amazingly well here.

The motorcycles add a fun twist to the experience because they use that same type of hybrid handling as the cars, so they are very easy to drive and fun to use. The difference with the motorcycles is that they accelerate much faster than the cars and generally don’t have to slow down quite as much as the cars through corners (assuming you take the right line through a corner), which makes them pretty tough to beat despite the fact that they aren’t usually faster in the straights.

And, finally, we have the weather effects. Rain will collect into puddles which make that particular part of track especially tricky, and snow will coat the track and make it absolutely treacherous. The weather is a nice addition and you basically have to re-learn how to drive in it, but I’m not sure if it makes the game any more fun. The whole point of PGR is to slide around anyway, so what does the weather really add other than frustration?

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