Need for Speed: Shift (Xbox 360) Review
The Need for Speed (NFS) franchise has been loosing sales for a couple of years now. EA realised this a couple of years ago when their normal sure fire holiday season hit failed to perform as expected. Rumours exploded on the internet that EA was to can the franchise but instead they split the production across three developers with the remit to make something new. The first title out of the gate is this years Need for Speed : Shift.
The premise of Shift is to move away from the arcadey style of previous NFS titles and move more towards simulation. So EA would appear to have the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo in it’s sights right? Well no, I think that is a common misconception. What they have shot for is that middle ground currently occupied by titles such as GRID And Project Gotham Racing. Very lofty aspirations for a franchise off it’s game and on the ropes.
Graphically Shift looks great. In comparison to the Forza 3 demo it pales slightly but the car models are still fantastic and the tracks whip buy with superlative smoothness. Each of the car models looks spot on and the replay modes capture the look and feel of watching super car racing on your favourite sports channel. Some of the track side objects and crowds look a bit janky in places but this mostly flys by at a ludicrous rate so makes little impact. The supposed ultra realistic cabin view with the head movement and wobble adds very little to the overall game but is a nice feature. I have never been a fan of the cockpit view so switched back to the behind vehicle view pretty quickly. That said this is probably one of the best realised cockpit views you can get. The tracks have been crafted with as much care and attention as the car models and provide a lush environment to race in.
The audio is on a suitable par with the graphical prowess of the title and the obligatory EA Trax listings feature. The overall audible level does not approach the mastery of titles like GRID or Dirt 2 but are great none the less. Plenty of roar from the powerful engines and the satisfyingly deep sounds of destruction when you pile your Bugatti into the barriers are 190Mph.
The main chunk of the game is taken up with the Shift Live World Tour mode. This is a progressive career mode that pits you against multiple adversaries across the world. Each race completed furnishes you with a star rating at the end. The star rating is based on your ability to achieve each races objectives. It is not simply a case of winning each race. You will be asked to hit a certain speed around a track by drifting the corners to max speed or you have to drive exactly to the racing line. It adds a good change of pace to the run of the mill race-and-go dynamic. All this leads in to your overall driver level. These increments to your driving skills allows you to unlock the 70+ cars available in the game.
Longevity is a concern to the title; completion can come very quickly for even the most average of drivers. The limited customisation, a previous main stay of recent NFS games, also impairs longevity. The multiplayer does add to the overall package but is really no more than an 8 player racer. Admittedly it all functions as you would expect it jack lacks any depth or reason to go back other than to have a quick race against friends.
The real concern here is the way the game plays. The driving controls are not exactly what you would expect. I don’t just mean in an NFS game I mean in a driving game in general. Much like the criticism I levelled at the PSP version the Xbox 360 version also seems to be weighted in the bottom at the centre of the car. Once again this makes things incredibly difficult in the drift portions of the game. The car just does not respond as you would expect it to during these drifts. The game also offers some seriously twitchy controls in regular driving that is not arcade nor simulation but some sort of bastard love-child of the two. NFS used to handle like an arcade, on rails, racer, loads of speed and shiny graphics. Forza and Gran Turismo go the ultra realistic route.
What shift needed to aim for was something like the light, twitchy, forgiving controls of GRID or Project Gotham. What they got was something else all together. The controls are not broken (although drifting comes close) but they do hamper the game significantly at times. As a series NFS has gone from arcade, to simulation, to arcade and now half way back to simulation. It has been a road full of some serious ups and down but this really seems to be pointing the franchise back towards pastures new. It certainly out performs any of the recent iterations of Need For Speed and must be applauded as the best NFS in a long time.
Final Thoughts:
Has EA nailed the next direction for the franchise… in a word; No. What they have made is made a good first stab at a racer that straddles the arcade/simulation divide. The graphics and sound are great, the overall package is well put together. The huge dent in the wing is the control system. If EA can come back in 12 to 18 months time with Shift 2 after spending a few months playing with GRID and Dirt 2 and seeing what makes them tick, we could have a serious contender. If you like your driving games and want a fast passed game to sit along side the more serious Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5 then this makes perfect sense.
User Score:
1 vote
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