Let’s just be honest, the Need for Speed franchise has gotten a bit stale as of late. The series was beginning to feel like Madden, it seemed like you were getting one of the previous games from the series with a few new features and content. Typically that came in the form of new models of sports cars and some shiny new graphical techniques. Need for Speed: Shift has broken that mold and created a new foundation that EA will most likely build upon until there is no room to build anymore. The huge change in gameplay? Realism.
Though part of the fun of my previous favorite NFS game, Need For Speed: Most Wanted was the ridiculously over the top driving action, Need for Speed: Shift contains at least as much action if not, more. True, the action may not be the same as in that previous title, but in more of a SPEED TV’s GT kind of way. Gone are the driving off of platforms only to fall 50 feet and land your car full speed to evade police and make shortcuts. Cars don’t fly in Need for Speed: Shift, though you most likely will see a few wrecks that would make someone who gets shot out of a canon for a living cringe.
Also, gone are the ridiculous power slides and full 360 turns while maintaining top speed. Apparently in the new NFS universe the laws of physics apply somewhat. Need for Speed: Shift is the first game I have played that conveys the feeling of weight transfer in a vehicle. This is achieved by the camera movements in the cockpit view and the blurred screen that shortly follows to simulate disorientation. These subtle camera movements are impressive as they simulate the driver moving in the seat from side to side or the lunge forward as the weight transfers from the rear suspension to the front during a head on collision. No other game does this on the level Need for Speed: Shift does right now. Just having that cockpit immersion, while seemingly ridiculous or distracting at times, is note worthy.
Though the game can be played from tradition hood views and behind the car views, you really are missing out if you don’t experience the cockpit view. While race games have modeled the outside of vehicles for many years now the individual interiors of cars is something that began with current gen systems. Need for Speed: Shift models every car interior from the drivers seat to the dash board, and passenger seat all the way down to stereo and gauges, all of which work by the way. In some vehicles you may even find yourself using these dashboard gauges instead Heads Up Display. For the racing vets you’ll probably just rely on the sound of the motor but it’s still cool to see.
The motors sound incredible, with the sound being great, period. Well maybe not the music but who really expects that anyway. From the tires squealing to the suspension bottoming out, this game is aurally immersive. More impressive than the individual sounds are the way the whole cacophony of them come together to create a sense of violence and struggle between maintaining speed and control. All this sucks you that much deeper into the experience and exhilaration of being a race car driver.
Need for Speed: Shift is a bit loose as far as handling goes and does allow a somewhat arcade driving style to work with all the assists on, but its understandable that the developer had a desire to make the game more accessible. If anything this allows a player to grow with Need for Speed: Shift and perhaps begin cutting the assists back as they progress through the game. There’s plenty of time to improve as well.
Need for Speed: Shift throws you right into a race to gauge your skill and then even recommends driving assists. From there you start out as usual in a mildly spirited machine and race in the first of several tiers of racing events to lead you to the big leagues so to speak, the NFS World Tour. Races have a nice bit of variety too from ‘run what ya brung’ to drifting events, car rivalries, nemesis challenges, and closed class races. The difficulty of opponents does seem to ramp up as things go along but the AI has a remarkably human feel to it. Opponents make mistakes, crash into each other, and even drive off the track at random moments. It’s nice to actually play a racer where the AI isn’t perfect, where that guy you been chasing and can’t catch may actually mess up.
Need for Speed: Shift is easily the most fun I’ve had playing a racing game in a couple of years. The upgrades and tuning provides that aspect that the tinkerers and car fanatics always enjoy. The races are both unpredictable and frenetic, while feeling more rewarding and skillful than any NFS title has been to date. Whether you’re a fan of the NFS series or Gran Turismo you will be able to appreciate what Need for Speed: Shift does. Big props to Slightly Mad Studios for taking over the game and breathing some new life into the dated franchise.
