Need for Speed Unbound vs Need for Speed Undercover
Need for Speed Unbound is an open-world racing game from Criterion Games (2022) while Need for Speed Undercover is an open-world racing game from EA Black Box (2008).
Quick answer: Need for Speed Undercover rates higher, 6.5 to 5.9 on the GamingPickz Score.
What each one is
Need for Speed Unbound is filed under Open-World and Racing. In contrast, Need for Speed Undercover under Open-World and Racing.
Race to the top, definitely don’t flop. Outsmart the cops, and enter weekly qualifiers for The Grand: the ultimate street race. Pack your garage with precision-tuned, custom rides, and light up the streets with your style.
You never thought it would turn out like this. An all-out chase where you're the hunted. And the hunter. Now you must get behind the wheel and risk everything to infiltrate a ruthless international crime syndicate and take them down.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
In Lakeshore City, the player (female player voiced by Elizabeth Grullon, male player voiced by Ian Nelson ) and their friend and partner Jasmine/Yaz (portrayed by Ashleigh LaThrop) refurbish an old junker car in their mechanic shop owned by their mentor Rydell (Dwayne Barnes). After winning a couple of street races, Yaz has a disagreement with Rydell over a car and grows tired of being stuck in the same job daily, and wishes to do something better. She… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Need for Speed Unbound received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions, while the PC version received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . During the 26th Annual D. I. (Wikipedia)
Plot
Maggie Q portrayed the character of Chase Linh, the game's main antagonist towards the end of the story. Setting The game's story and events take place in the fictional region of the Tri-City Bay, mainly during the daytime between sunrise and sunset. The region consists of four boroughs - Palm Harbor, a downtown city district; Port Crescent, an industrial port that also houses a naval base; Gold Coast Mountains, a mountainous region of observatories and… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Reception of Undercover was mixed. There were complaints about the game's easy difficulty, repetitiveness, and poor texture maintenance. The IGN review went as far as recommending the game's rivals such as Rockstar Games ' Midnight Club: Los Angeles and EA's own Burnout Paradise . (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Need for Speed Unbound | Need for Speed Undercover | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 5.9/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Steam rating | Mixed (60%, 60,177) | Mostly Positive (75%, 8,006) |
| Critic aggregate | 73/100 | 65/100 |
| Price | $69.99 | Not listed |
| Install size | 50 GB | — |
| Steam Deck | unsupported | playable |
| Released | 2022 | 2008 |
| Developer | Criterion Games | EA Black Box |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Need for Speed Unbound vs Need for Speed Undercover, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Need for Speed UnboundOpen-world racing gameNeed for Speed UndercoverOpen-world racing gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Need for Speed UnboundRacing, Open World, ActionNeed for Speed UndercoverRacing, Open World, ActionThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Need for Speed UnboundScore 5.9 · 60% on Steam · 73 criticNeed for Speed Undercover ✓Score 6.5 · 75% on Steam · 65 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Need for Speed Unbound60,177 reviews · 19 add-ons · 50 GBNeed for Speed Undercover8,006 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Need for Speed Unbound$69.99Need for Speed UndercoverNot listedRead live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Need for Speed UnboundUnsupportedNeed for Speed Undercover ✓PlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Need for Speed Undercover takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueNeed for Speed Unbound and Need for Speed Undercover on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Need for Speed Undercover (GamingPickz Score 6.5)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Need for Speed Undercover (playable)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Need for Speed Unbound (60,177 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
RacingMultiplayerOpen WorldActionDrivingSingleplayerControllerArcade
Where they differ
Character CustomizationCombat RacingCasualSportsAtmosphericAdventure
Automobile SimStory RichGreat SoundtrackClassic
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Need for Speed Unbound is relaxed, easy to pick up. Need for Speed Undercover is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Need for Speed Unbound | Need for Speed Undercover | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | 128 MB |
| Minimum CPU | — | Intel Pentium® 4 |
| Minimum RAM | — | — |
| Install size | 50 GB | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Need for Speed Unbound · Need for Speed Undercover.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 6 accessibility features for Need for Speed Unbound and 1 for Need for Speed Undercover. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Need for Speed Unbound and Need for Speed Undercover in scope?
Need for Speed Unbound has drawn 60,177 Steam reviews, ships 19 add-ons and installs in 50 GB. Need for Speed Undercover has drawn 8,006 Steam reviews.
Is Need for Speed Unbound or Need for Speed Undercover better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Need for Speed Undercover rates higher (6.5 to 5.9). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Need for Speed Unbound or Need for Speed Undercover?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Need for Speed Unbound or Need for Speed Undercover?
Need for Speed Undercover rates higher, 6.5 to 5.9 on the GamingPickz Score. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.