Need for Speed: Underground 2 Gets Unreal Engine 5 Demo

We are one step closer to getting a full Need for Speed: Underground 2 remake in Unreal Engine 5 thanks to a project from passionate fans.

Need for Speed: Underground 2 Looks Amazing in UE5

Need for Speed: Underground 2 is by far one of the most popular racing games of all time. However, this year it will turn 21 years old and finally be able to drink (laugh at Americans, my fellow Europeans). Despite the game being great, many fans have wanted some remake or other type of visual upgrade.

While rumors of the original devs of Need for Speed: Underground 2 making a remake of the game have been here and there, some fans took things into their own hands. YouTube’s ‘2Unreal5Underground’ has been working on a remake of NFSU 2 in Unreal Engine 5 and they recently released a playable demo. It has already received quite some attention from other YouTubers and fans.

It should be noted that this remake is made more or less by just a single guy, so don’t expect anything super extraordinary. The NFSU2 Unreal Engine 5 will not look as good as a next-gen NFS game. Despite that, the visual upgrade compared to the original game is absolutely astonishing. When it rains, you can see individual droplets of water hit the ground, the colors are much more intense, the textures blend well, and even the menus feel a bit sharper and snappy.

The mechanics and general gameplay feel of Need for Speed: Underground 2 have also been kept as they should be. The camera moves as it should, and cars slide through corners like they should. Even the original engine noises are included in the game.

What Can You Do In the Game Currently?

Despite the Need for Speed: Underground 2 looking great in Unreal Engine 5, the remake is still in its public beta, so expect some bugs if you play it. Also, there still isn’t a lot to actually do in the game, as there is no campaign still. For now, players can just explore the city and free roam and also customize all the cars in the game. YouTuber RPGGameplay made a short video about the game and also explained how to install the beta:

Some players have reported small visual glitches, such as some vinyls looking a bit off because they are low-textured compared to the base texture of the car. Despite that, the developers seem pretty transparent about their work and have opened channels for bug reports on their Discord server. Speaking of which, if you want to try out the NFSU2 remake, you have to download it from said server.

Need for Speed: Underground 2 will remain one of the best not just NFS titles, but racing games of all time, and the Unreal Engine 5 remake will prolong that reign. However, there’s still quite a bit of time before the devs release the full game, so in the meantime, you may want to play the original. We’ve previously gone over discussing if NFS: underground 2 still holds up 20 years later, so if you’re still unsure if you want to play the original title, why not head over to the article to help you decide?