Need for Speed: SHIFT

Developer: Slightly Mad Studios
Publisher: Pub: Electronic Arts
Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: $59.99

“This ain’t your father’s Forza 2” is what I had to keep reminding myself as I prepared to play through Need for Speed: Shift for the first time. I went into playing with the highest of expectations because of all the previews leading up to the release. It was supposed to be “ground-breaking” and take the Need for Speed franchise to new heights. When the game first loads, you’re held hostage and immediately taken through a race that will gauge your driving style and set the game up based on how you perform. This is where your Player Profile is created for your Career Mode. If you’re not doing Career Mode, then you will still play hostage for at least 10 minutes. It’s clever and intrusive at the same time but I found it cool because it’s like showing up to the track expecting a lesson and getting thrown right into the car.

NFS: Shift uses an Event System where a number of races are grouped into a single event. If you win all of the races, you win the event raking in some coin and a bunch of upgrades for your fleet of cars. Drivers are required to complete various in-race tasks that will earn them “stars”. If you earn the required amount of stars in the race and finish 3rd or better, you can advance to the next stage of the Event. Finishing 1st earns you more money and better perks. This will also increase your Driver Level and allow you to advance to harder Tiers where more tracks and vehicles are unlocked. The game really focuses on the “in cockpit” driving view in this release and I’d recommend trying to run all of your races from it. This view truly adds to the experience and will leave you feeling helpless a lot of times but especially when you spin out and you’re waiting to be t-boned by other drivers.

Graphics are NFS: Shift’s strongest point. The crashes and car damage is spot on and camera affects during those crashes are very vivid easily disorientating drivers. You’re driving so fast most of the time making it difficult to really enjoy the surroundings at most of the race tracks. There are extras that stand out and will earn your appreciation though. At one point, the TV helicopter covering one of my races flew over casting a shadow on the track. The shadow looked like another car was passing me and it caused me to lose control spinning out at about 160mph. The cars are physically well modeled, but sadly, most of the weight classes drive the same and you never really feel any uniqueness between them until you get up to the 500+ HP vehicles. They’re all fun to drive and this doesn’t take away from game play at all.

In the games defense, it will constantly be compared to the Forza franchise. I’m going to keep it real. NFS: Shift is a watered down version of the Forza franchise. That’s neither a good thing nor a bad thing because in my opinion it’s not really a Need for Speed game either. When I think of NFS, I think of driving with a real purpose by out running the cops or other street racing opponents in wide open terrain. While the game looks amazing from a graphics standpoint, it still lacks a lot of detail that would make it a true racing title. Although it was promised that this game would have these elements, I really don’t see them.