ESRB: E
Genre: Racing
Number of Players: 1 local, 2-8 online
Publisher: EA
Release Date: September 17, 2009
Available on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and PSP.

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Need For Speed is a hit franchise better known for it’s street racing-police chasing shenanigans, but EA’s new Need For Speed: Shift is a hair pin turn in a totally different direction! Fans will remember their last title, Need For Speed: Pro Street, concentrating on track racing with street cars; well Shift takes the franchise to the track once again. Instead of climbing a black list, you’ll be competing in a series of track races and climbing the Tiers to get to the “Need For Speed World Tour”.

So what’s new? Shift has found several ways to engage their fans with new cars (nearly 70), new tracks (over 15), several new race types, an insightful way of leveling up, and what the developers call “True Driver’s Experience”.

Starting off in the game, you are welcome to a pretty good selection of cars in the Tier 1 group. 22 to be exact! The best cars you’ll find in Tier 1 are the BMWs and Audis for their horse power, and ability to contend with cars in Tier 2 races. Tier 2 isn’t lacking either with a hefty selection of M Series BMWs, your choice of the EVO 9 and EVO 10, and a Lotus Elise (which is surprisingly slow even after the highest upgrades). Tier 3 and 4 is a smorgasbord of Porsche, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, and lots of exotic German and Italian luxury sports cars. The C6 Z06, Audi R8 TDI, and Nissan GT-R SpecV are some of the best in show for Tier 3. As for Tier 4, it’s a very close match up between the $1.2 million Bugatti Veyron, and the $1.1 million Pagani Zonda R. Both have maxed out acceleration and the Veyron has the upper hand in top speed, but it’s the Zonda that may take the cake of “best car in the game” with maxed out handling, great breaking, and a top speed that’s not lacking either. This series has arrived in a totally different class than it’s previous titles, and it definitely shows with the cars!

All cars are upgradeable through the game’s pre-set stage and body kits. These kits make your car faster, lighter, and more aerodynamic. On the upside having only one kit to chose from makes for easy and quick shopping for gamers unwilling to mess around in a virtual car parts store, but for others having no choice is a bad trade-off. Unfortunately, if you care about your car’s look, you will eventually have to make the choice of whether or not you want to throw a large wing or wide body kit on your car to make it better, or keep your car’s nice clean look. Adding on to the inconvenience, trying to see said body kits in the upgrades preview window may be a tad bit difficult with all the menu screens in front of your car. Good thing if you sell your car you’ll get all your money back (including upgrades) if you don’t like it!

As for tracks, you will be swerving around on some actual real world renditions, like Laguna Seca and Road America, as well as some that NFSS threw in of their own to test you, like downtown Tokyo, scenic London River, and insane Hazyview Eight! There’s 18 tracks with over 50 different renditions, making your selection seem endless! In Quick Race and online, you can even chose the time of day- dusk, dawn, or midday- for your track!

There’s several different race types in the game that can retain even the most ADD gamers’ attention! Surprisingly, you won’t even get to drive your own car in a great deal of them! For example, in the Manufacturer’s Competition every driver will be put in the exact same car; with an even playing field, it will take some skill to come in first. In Car Battles, you will get the choice of driving one of two rival cars and duke it out in a game of Leader and Follower. This race is best out of 3; in the first 2 races each driver will take turns starting in front. The driver that finishes first or takes a 5 second lead wins. If a winner isn’t determined by the second race, the third race will start the drivers side by side, the rules to winning the race are the same- cross the finish line first or gain a 5 second lead.

Though most race types are fun and engaging, there’s one that may send some controllers flying into the wall, and that one is Drifting! This is another race type that gives you a loner car to drive, but the car they give you seem to be tweaked to fly into walls at the tap of the joystick. Of course the directions are simple: insanely throw your car around a curb, use your handbrake to control speed, and whip your steering wheel in the opposite direction to control your angle! But, NO! The game says this is wrong, and insists on every slight movement sending your car in the opposite direction. Of course you can get used to these mechanics, but that’s if you haven’t already given up on trying. Yet and still, this one race type doesn’t detract from the other events like Time Attack and Eliminator races that keep the game challenging , yet enjoyable!

Don’t think NFS has gone completely soft. Though Shift has gone all simulator on us, the game doesn’t just shine the light on safe driving. Shift has a leveling system that rewards drivers for their Precision and Aggression. You’ll get points for staying on track, mastering corners, and politely passing other drivers as well as spinning your opponents out into the gravel! Everything you do on the track is reflected in your Driver Profile and reflected in your emblem that evolves as your level increases. This is a direct representation of your driving style, which will show to anyone you play online.

Every race has specific challenges to complete, similar to “milestones” in Need For Speed: Most Wanted; complete the objectives, and earn stars which help unlock higher Tiers for advancement of your career. These challenges keep the races fun, and keeps Shift from being just an ordinary, mundane racing simulator. Some of the stars are down right difficult to achieve, so there will be many-a-time gamers will go back to Tiers trying to acquire their long lost gold stamp of approval. Along with points, you will also earn badges, which are in game rewards for miscellaneous achievements around the track. After every level gained, up until Shift’s level 50 cap, you will earn sponsorship cash, unlock several goodies like cars, garage slots, and vinyls to customize your car; and get invited to higher tier events where you’ll be able to drive cars you can’t even afford yet!

The best feature on Need For Speed: Shift is what the developers call “True Driver’s Experience”. The developers at Slightly Mad Studios wanted to create a simulator that virtually makes the players feel like they’re in the seat of a race car going 150mph. From the moment you press the gas petal and take off in a race, the inside of your cockpit becomes blurry, creating a feeling of tunnel vision. The blur of scenes around the track as you accelerate give you the feeling of a race car driver being stuck to their seat from G-forces! Experienced best from the incredible inside-view, every bump and thud and ram is made even more intense when you crash! The moment your car smashes into an object, you’re immediately thrown into a daze, your breath gets heavy, your eyes can’t focus and the world around you is fuzzy until you regain your bearings and get back on track. Slightly Mad Studios definitely gave this new effect the right name! The “True Driver’s Experience” is what really puts this game on the map to be recognized as a racing simulator, and not just a racing game.

All that’s good, but how’s the game online? Multiplayer was surprisingly entertaining, and a much needed diversion when you get tired of playing AI. Unlike some games, Need For Speed: Shift’s matchmaking doesn’t differentiate between a player’s level, so you may wind up in a game lobby of players ranging from 11 to 50. With this game being so popular, for a good reason, it’s pretty easy joining and hosting matches; the game menu is simple and straight forward as well. There’s two modes in multiplayer, Versus and Driver Duel. You have access to the maps you’ve unlocked through Career mode, and the choices of racing, drifting, and even time attack in Versus. You aren’t earning stars during these races, but if you end up on the podium, you will earn cash! If you go to Driver Duel, you will be in a 1v1 match of Leader and Follower, but unlike Car Battles, you both will be driving the same randomly selected cars and working your way up several stages in a ladder to win the Championship. If you were worried about lag, rest assured that in most matches, it wasn’t even noticeable!

Overall the Need For Speed series has come a tremendous way by making this game! Need for Speed: Shift is both in-depth and fun for all levels of gamers, and has brought to the table a new and exciting experience that is unmatched by any other racing game out there! By reinventing themselves, but managing to keep to their roots, Need For Speed has created yet another favorite that fans and new comers alike will be playing for a long time!

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