The Need For Speed franchise has attracted a growing number of critics over the years, not least EA itself, which has restructured its development of the games and split them between two development studios. This means that each studio needs to create just one game every two years, as opposed to the annual treadmill the series has been fighting for some time.

The effects of this strategic move should, in theory, begin to be felt with Need For Speed: Undercover, the latest addition to the series that - in spite of the aforementioned criticism - seems to be drawn like a magnet to the number one spot in the charts year after year.

And with some good reason. Need For Speed games have always managed to deliver reliable arcade racing, even if the innovations are in much lower supply. But sadly, this isn't the full-on improvement that fans have been waiting for.

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The idea with Undercover, as the title suggests, is that you are an undercover cop, given freedom to explore the game world, who must ultimately bring down an illegal gang of street racers. To do that you must become one of them, and this signals an emphasis on some of the big police chases that Need For Speed racing is best known for. Bless 'em, because they're as much fun as they always were.

And yet this is a fairly low denominator racer. While you can customise your car, and while you're free to travel around the city, you can accelerate your way around with little regard for things like brakes or slowing down too much.

That's entertaining enough, and it does mean it's the kind of game you progress through really quite quickly, but it dampens the challenge somewhat. The new Highway Battles are straightforward but enjoyable enough, while the races are easy fun, but again don't really stretch the player much.

The real problem is that much of this we've seen before, and there's an argument that some facets of Need For Speed's evolution are down to correcting earlier faults rather than adding anything radical. And, bluntly, in pure gameplay terms there's not much extra going on here that you need to be bothered about. If anything it's a play-safe outing from EA. Technically it also seems to lack a little polish, which doesn't matter much but is surprising given the trademark glitz of its publisher.

Need For Speed Undercover, however, will inevitably live near the top of the charts for some time and continue to solidify the franchise's position as the top grossing arcade racer. But for a while now it's been off its peak, and Burnout Paradise - warts and all - is surely the better choice.

Predictable, enjoyable but really in need of a fresh spark, this is Need For Speed in second gear.