3.5 / 5 Stars on PCSX2
3 / 5 Stars on PS2
It is my opinion that the PS2 version is actually THE best version of the game. I have played the PSP, DS, Wii and Xbox 360 versions of this game and the PS2 version is overall the best way to play undercover. If you liked Most Wanted and Carbon you'll like this. The car list is the biggest compared to Most Wanted and Carbon (in terms of the PS2 iterations of these games) and features most the customization options from both of those games here.
The best way to play this is on the PS2 emulator PCSX2 as it will uncap it to 60fps, you can play around with FX shaders, saturation colors and you have the ability to upscale it as high as 5k resolution (granted you have the pc specs to do so).
Now for my ranting points:
* Since I'm talking about the PS2 version, it's no surprise that the graphics aren't the best looking. However, for a PS2 racing game released in the tail end of the consoles cycle in 2008, It could look much much worse. One big thing I can give to the PS2 version in terms of visuals is that unlike the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions it doesn't have that awful orange hue bloom effect everywhere. It gets in the way and makes it hard to see.
* The cops aren't as great as the previous games, they are very easy to lose at times. The only time it gets intense is at the last 2 heat levels.
* Parts of the map are actually directly copied and pasted from Most Wanted and Carbon, just with a somewhat different look and textures. Lazily done, but it is serviceable.
* Races can feel way too easy at times or way too hard. There is a difficultly setting, but they didn't bother playtesting this before release to balance the game properly.
* The FPS can drop 10ish frames and get messy with lots of cars on the screen. This is especially apparent when your in a high heat level police chase.
* Story is really forgettable, but we don't play NFS games for the story lets be honest. Its all about the cars, customization and racing.
* The soundtrack isn't great. The choices in tracks here could've been much better suited to the themes. I say there's only 6 actually good tracks on here, I got annoyed after a while and just turned it off.
To sum it up:
If you like racing games with a no nonsense approach to gameplay and great customization features, this is the game for you. This game doesn't add anything new to the NFS series and It doesn't have the best game engine performance. This is the equivalent of a decent cheeseburger, It's nothing special.