Need for Speed: Shift

Title: Need for Speed: Shift

Platforms: PC, ps3, psp, xbox 360

Genre: Racing

Developer: EA

The Need for Speed series has been on and off throughout the years. I mean you had really good games like Hot Pursuit and horrible games like Pro Street. When you get a game company like this that keeps making on and off games you can never be too sure if their newest product is actually going to be good. Need For Speed Shift is one of those games.

Story: This game really doesn’t feature much of a story line. I mean it’s a racing game. But it does offer about 70 different cars and customization for them. There are some titles out there that offer a very small selection of cars to use in a game. This isn’t fun especially if you are the type of person that likes to unlock and keep working for them. Game playability is really limited if you have no unlockable content.

Game play: The focus in this game was “driving simulation.” As opposed to the other titles in the series which have been more arcade style. Honestly, if we want a driving simulation some of us can just step outside and go for a nice Sunday afternoon drive. Having a game play focus like this was one of the games greatest mistakes. Even though the game play is solid throughout, it is not always fun and can be boring at times. Since it is indeed a simulation standard road physics apply. You can just go 250mph speeding down the road, ramming into every car you see. Instead you have to go moderate speeds and if you try and ram into someone you usually spin out. This takes a lot away from how fun it is because it is so limited. But, at the same time it is something we have never seen before and can get fun if you work at it a little. Invite some friends over for this one. This game really changed what we know about racing games.

Other Elements: The Graphics in this game are amazing and some of the best we have seen in racing games. Every surface shines and it is all so clear. Presentation wise they actually did a good job of making it seem realistic. The game is best played through the driver’s seat view. You can look around in the seat of your car out your window to see the completion. You can even look up at the rear view mirror. Your limited view also adds to the fun of the game. The soundtrack is pretty standard to what we have come to expect with the NFS games. They are standard rock songs that are catchy, but you aren’t humming them at the end of the day.

Summary: NFS Shift is a mediocre game with good and bad elements. There is a lot of room for improvement here and I think that EA could have made a better product. But, if you invite a few of your friends over on the weekend you will have a good time with this game. I give it a 3/5