For better or worse, the lack of a female celebrity plastered on the cover should be an instant warning to anyone expecting more of the same.
WHAT YOU’LL LIKE:
A Difficulty For Everyone
Shift offers multiple settings for players of all skill levels. On easy, the game basically plays itself thanks to steering and braking assists. On the other side of the spectrum, the game is strictly for the hardcore, requiring precise knowledge and tuning of the current vehicle, as well as a natural memory of the course it’s running on. The assists and AI difficulty can all be adjusted invidivdually, allowing players to create the perfect level of challenge and reward that suits them.
Challenges
There are a lot of extra little touches to keep you busy while racing such as completing bonus objectives, leveling up, and earning badges. This is a much-needed addition to the simulation racing formula and helps keep it all from becoming one giant endurance test. The game has incremental stat updates which let you know every time you’ve progressed towards a goal, and breaks down all the rewards you’ll receive.
WHAT YOU WON’T LIKE:
Boring Track Visuals
Again, Shift clearly set out to emulate Forza and even managed to pick up all of its flaws as well. Why do simulation racing games have to have uninspired visuals? We’ve seen these real-world tracks a million times in a million different games now, it’s time to do something new. Add some storm clouds or use a more robust color palette. If you want people to play your games for more than just a minute while waiting in line to buy something else at Gamestop, seriously, figure it out.
Unstable Cars
It’s not too long before you begin to unlock and upgrade some rather powerful vehicles, yet the game inexplicably can’t seem to handle this. Even when staying on the road, I found my car just completely out of my control, flipping over and spinning out and wobbling like I was driving down the side of an active volcano in the middle of an earthquake. One of the reasons I hated Forza 2 (as opposed to the infinitely superior Project Gotham) is because it gives you a bunch of exotic beasts and then forces you to hit the brakes every two seconds. This was kind of a deal breaker for me, pushing the game from “okay” to “let’s play something else”.
It’s Still Not Most Wanted
Why EA continues to screw with the Need For Speed series after nailing it with Most Wanted both baffles and frustrates me. Carbon and Undercover were not as great as Need For Speed’s first this-gen outing, but ProStreet was unarguably one of the biggest low points in the history of the franchise, and yet here we are again with what very well could have been called ProStreet 2.
RECOMMENDATION:
Need For Speed Shift isn’t all bad, but it’s kind of a combination of Forza and NFS Prostreet, neither one of which I really consider a good thing. It will certainly keep you busy for a while so it may be worth a purchase if you tried and tolerated the demo, otherwise stick with DiRT 2 or Forza 3 depending on your specific tastes.
September 30th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I completely agree, there’s something about the cars that just doesn’t feel right. Sure, Arcade handling is totally obvious, as is Simulation, but this is just something else…
September 30th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Prostreet was pretty bad. And man, even that commercial looks dull. The heart of the Need for Speed experience for me is racing in appealing environments. Prostreet ripped out my heart and stomped on it, and it looks like Shift might do the same. Meh, disappointing.
October 1st, 2009 at 11:03 pm
I haven’t tried it out yet, but I plan to. I like your Creative Title Headings.