Review: Need for Speed SHIFT

Need for Speed SHIFT
System: Xbox 360, PS3 (reviewed on), PSP, PC
MSRP: $39.99 - $59.99
Release Date: September 14th, 2009

Does EA release a racer that makes Gran Turismo and Forza take notes? Or do they release a steaming pile riddled with bugs and glitches? Let’s find out…

Graphics

Obviously, this is an EA game, and as such, one thing that EA continually excels at is making games with excellent graphics. The car models are represented well. If you want photo-realism, then go with Gran Turismo. The tracks are well done, and the liveries are nice, too (although, applying you own various liveries are frustrating and extremely time consuming, unlike Forza 2.). I did notice some very slight framerate drops in this game, but they were very short and very few in number.

The inside cockpit view is phenomenal! EA did a superb job in recreating the interior and the feeling of racing in a high-powered car. Getting hit and crashing, or just driving insanely fast, will cause the screen to get blurry and will disorient you, like in real life. Ever crashed a Porsche doing 130mph? One thing to note, is that it is usually impossible or very hard to see what lap you are on, the map or your lap time if your view is outside of the car.

- 17/20


Sound

The sound in Need for Speed SHIFT is excellent, too. The revving of the car’s engine, and the winding of the turbos sound life-like and even the backfire of the exhaust sounds great when you’re in the cockpit view. There is a soundtrack that is supposed to be pretty good; however, I almost never listened to it, because the cars sounded so great. Also, EA has muted the soundtrack for races to start with, but you can change this in the options menu, although, I wouldn’t.

- 18/20

Story

There is really no story in this game. There is a British guy that talks to you at the start of the races to let you know when it’s good to go and that you need to at least place in the race but that is really it. You don’t’ need a story or a reason to race.

- NA/NA


Gameplay

You start the game off test driving a BMW E92. Next, the game makes recommend settings for you, which you can change. Then you’re off racing in various events and series that range from races, drifting competitions, time attacks, Duels (one-on-one races where you can race with either car) and manufacturer events (you are given a car to race with). The cars don’t handle like their real-life counterpart 100%. They do have some unique feel to them; however, the weight and handling is a little off; especially, in the beginning with stock/slightly modified cars. Don’t pick a RWD car as your starter, it’s impossible to keep on the freaking road and I have no idea why EA made it so that a 160hp car is harder to control than a 400+hp car. After you get into higher tiered cars, the handling gets a lot better. I was rather annoyed with the game for the first 2 hours, though.

Also, the drifting in this game takes awhile to get use to. The cars don’t handle at all like they’re supposed to. Instead EA has made it so that your car is outfitted with the slickest, baldest tires ever conceived. It is insanely easy to spin out; thus, making the drifting an arcade like experience. I personally would like, for at least once, EA to make a racer that actually allowed you to use you normal car in a drift event with no extra stuff added. If I want to drift, I should have to drift on my own without these lame gimmicks that EA has added in every single drift mode to date.

One thing I really liked about this game is that it is very easy to make money. Even doing a quick race outside of the career mode will net you some money and driver points. You earn driver points by either driving aggressively or with precession which will allow you to unlock more races, cars, upgrades, etc.


The AI is great in this game, too. Yes, you will cause some pretty crazy crashes yourself, but so will the AI, which is just really cool to see (I think imo). It felt like the AI was a little bit more real in SHIFT than what I’ve experienced in Gran Turismo (1-5.P) and Forza (1-2). They will try and take you out and block you from passing. For the first time, I didn’t notice a “catch-up mode” either. I have actually lapped opponents before, but you are not going to blow the competition away all the time.

SHIFT is supposed to be a mixture of sim and arcade style racing. So, it’s hard to differentiate the two, sometimes. What I mean by this is that, running into the sand or hitting road cones will totally F your car up. Physics play no part whatsoever in these scenarios. Your car will bounce like a basketball in the sand and will practically stop dead in its tracks if you hit a road cone sitting in the apex of a corner. I guess these would work if EA was going for an arcade feel and not a sim feel; however, to me it’s a complete pain in the ass.

In the one-on-one races (Duel), there are a few matches that are completely glitched (this has been confirmed by various individuals, too). GT40 vs. Viper and Corvette vs. Porsche are the two I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter which car you pick, the AI blows you away and there is absolutely no possible way to keep up, much less catching and passing them.

- 13/20


Replayability

There is a nice selection of cars, reaching over 65 and a fair amount of tracks to race on. Need for Speed SHIFT offers online play, but no split screen play. This may make a few people upset, but just about everyone plays online now. You can also go back and race in any event that you have already completed. I wish that you could have more than 20 cars in your garage, though.

- 16/20

Conclusion

If you want something like Gran Turismo or Forza, then buy Gran Turismo or Forza. SHIFT is a decent racer that blends sim and arcade gameplay. However, it does have various bugs and glitches that lead me to believe that this game was definitely rushed. EA has stated that they are looking into the issues that many have encountered though. Hopefully a patch will fix the issues in this game, which will make it a much more enjoyable experience.

- 64/80 = 80