After a long silence from EA on the Need for Speed™ franchise, they have finally announced the next game of the series. Need for Speed™ Undercover

After the last Need for Speed™ game - Pro Street - came out, it left me disappointed and bored. I missed the high speed police chases and live action story. The menu’s seemed confusing and the game took forever to load. I found myself shelving the game early on.

Need for Speed™ Undercover takes the brand back to its brilliance with, as they call it, “intense action racing.” You will be sent undercover, racing through speedways, dodging cops and chasing rivals.

“Need for Speed Undercover puts you at the centre of a big-budget Hollywood movie with all of the drama, action and dazzling chase scenes, right on your gaming console. The unique Heroic Driving Engine will give you ultimate control over the hottest cars and push you to use every ounce of skill to outrun the law and take down criminal adversaries,” said Executive Producer Bill Harrison.

I think the twist is brilliant. EA was said to have moved towards Pro Street because it didn’t want to promote illegal driving. Now you are essentially the good guy, undercover as a street racer.

The new ‘Heroic Driving Engine’ is being shown off as, “a unique technology that generates incredible high-performance moves at 180 miles per hour during breathtaking highway battles.” We will see about that, but if it’s true I can’t wait.

The game is set for a November launch which means we should all be racing away on Christmas day around the Tri-City Bay Area. It seems Burnout: Paradise has set some new standards that Need for Speed™ will be following. The city’s open-world environment is said to feature over 80 miles of road, including an enormous highway system. Damage has also been brought back, along with our favourite cars including the Audi R8, BMW M6 and Lexus IS-F.

The game is being launched on almost every platform: Xbox 360®, PLAYSTATION®3, Wii™, PlayStation®2, Nintendo DS™, PSP®, PC and mobile.