Cars are pretty much like women. No one is denying their complexity, but that's not what a man needs, isn't it? In fact, when we talk about cars, most of the time we call them "she". It's like giving life to an object you use daily. You also care about her, simply because you still need her tomorrow. It's like dealing with a woman. It's quite normal to envy someone for his woman, don't you think, especially when she is a very sexy Mazda Miata. You'd like to take her on a small adventure in a hotel room, but you just can't give up your Honda? No problem, money solves everything. Anything happened with the tires from your Toyota? We have plastic surgery. Some silicone should do it. Is your Celica getting older? Inject some silicone in her lips and you'll feel her perfect grip as you did the first time. Anything you do, anytime, anywhere, your car is your partner for better or for worse. The difference is she's not going nuts when you dump her for an upgrade. And now the weather forecast!

     We expect showers this evening, your first and last evening. Don't get me wrong. The action from NFS: U2 takes place only during the night. Practically, the dozens of races from the game cannot happen during one night, but for the sake of the game we think they can. The only lights you'll ever see are the city lights and believe me, they are amazing. With all the options turned on including over bright, light trails, light glow and motion blur, you'll get a cold weather effect. It's like freezing outside and, as you can see in the screenshots, it rains now and then, so I think it's the kind of weather that gets you in the mood for something stupid. You really feel like getting out there, searching for some fast-paced action. Don't worry; the rain won't do you any harm. The city will.
     The city is divided in five districts which are not all available right from the start. Each district is again divided into areas whose names you can see during the game. The main districts are City Core, Beacon Hill, Jackson Heights, Coal Harbor East and Coal Harbor West. The first one features an aggressive architecture, specific for the big cities in the USA, while Beacon Hill and Jackson Heights are more traditional as you'll see there mostly villas and old houses. The last two represent the industrialized areas of the city and as I expected, there's even a port with a railway station there. A special area is the airport, which is worth mentioning because you'll spend most of your time here if you fancy drag and URL (Underground Racing League) races. I haven't forgotten about the highways, but the reason you won't see them for a while is that your car has not enough HP under the hood.