my Need for Speed Shift review

Ok guys heres my Need for Speed Shift review



The game is a EA product developed by Slightly Mad Studios and they have done a very good job in bringing you a great combination of racing sim together with an arcade racer.

Note this game is not a street racer but instead brings your racing back to the track where you have a variable of events to participate and develop your driving skills in including races, head to head, time trials’, drifting, manufactures events etc.





Also note I’m playing the game using the Windows 360 controller and love it, if you can, id highly recommend using a controller for this game, the vibration effects are top class and bring a whole different aspect to the game play.

The gaming options available are career, quickrace, and online and all three of them add to your stats and star collection.

In the career mode you start off taking a drive around the track and based on your performance you are given recommended settings which you can adjust to your liking, after that you are introduced to the goal of the game which is to make it to the NFS world tour in order to make it you have to progress through tiers earning stars which accumulate and eventually unlock more events as well as higher tiers.

The gameplay is fantastic giving one a real feeling for driving at high speeds especially if using the Driver POV (point of view) which is a fantastic in cab view in which to race, of course the other views are also available but I highly recommend using the driver POV.



I really like the different feeling one gets depending on the different situations like breaking you really get the feel of the heaviness of the car as it responds to the breaking, likewise when at high speed the game does a fantastic job of making one feel like they are at the threshold of the machine,



but perhaps the most enjoyable of them all is when you crash, the vision blurs or blacks out and gives one a real sense of loss, The game offers up damage to the cars and depending on one’s difficulty settings they can affect the performance of the car.





Cars can be brought by earning money through varying aspects of the game as well as money one earns driver points based on either precision or aggression aspects of ones driving, these also can allow one to earn stars which is a nice feature as it keeps one in the game even when you are not leading the race, this is for me when the arcade aspects of the game kick in, things are flashing up on the screen as one completes the various goals of the race for example: clean sectors, racing lines, trading paint etc.

As well as that you have an option to have a arrowed line on the track showing you the perfect racing line, when you may be going to fast etc I personally prefer it turned off but it’s nice to have the option especially if you are new to racing games, the are other newbie options like breaking assistance etc.

As you buy cars they are stored in your garage and from there you will be able to access stats of the cars, sell them and also have the ability to upgrade, The car customization options include cosmetics as well as performance mods, affecting aspects such as alignment, aerodynamics, tires, brakes, differential, and gears, Nitrous will also be an option for tuning, although may not be as complex as some racing sims does enough to keep on happy. There are a total of 72 fully licensed cars available.

I really enjoy the tracks and they vary a lot giving one a wide range of racing experiences in total there are 18 tracks.

I have to bring up one of the only faults I have found with the game and that is the drifting events…….they are a nightmare, I don’t like drifting events in the first place and NFS shift does nothing to want to make me change my mind, the handling is a nightmare and I haven’t cleared one event yet, personally I avoid drifting at all costs and would much rather force an egg up my nose than participate in these events.

Online mode has a variety of options but due to my connection I haven’t tried them out yet, and there is also support for Lan races with the first patch update.

The sound effects are top class with a real feel given to all aspects be it the engine, gear changes and the various other elements of any given race and as always the EA music sound track is also very good with a total of 24 odd tracks.

There is also playback modes, photo mode replays etc

Well all and all I rate this game it does the sim side of car racing very well with a great DPOV option, and it adds it well to the arcade side of the game leaving one feeling like just one more race before bed……

I give this game a solid 8/10 and think it is a good option for both beginners and experienced alike.

System Requirements: OS: MS windows Xp SP2 or Vista, CPU: intel core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz or faster, AMD X2 3600+ or faster, Ram: XP: 1gb Vista: 1.5gb, Disc Drive: 8x speed or faster, Hard Drive: at least 6gb free space, Video: Directx- version 9.0c compatible 256mb video card with pixel shader 3.0 and Nvidia Geforce 7800 or better ATI Radeon X1800 or better, Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card, multiplayer requires one disc per PC and a 512khps or faster connection.

Im playing the game with the notebook in my sig and get very good FPS (min 50) at max settings and native resolution with Vsync off.
well thats it folks a short review to give you a taste of the game hope it was helpful and feel free to ask any questions.

 

Sounds cool! Thx for the review man

 

one thing though, it is another run of the mill gt4 like game

 

I wouldn't say run of the mill. It isn't mold breaking but the in cockpit view in this game sets it appart and immerses me more than any other race game has. I love that they did it too, it fits the franchise very well. Back in the original need for speeds, they had dashboard view too and I loved it. After games like the original gran turismo the dashboard view was pretty much non existent. Not many racers since have had a dashboard view and those that have it do not compare to shift's. The way your head jerks around, the way you can still see the road pretty well, The way you can just look around with the other analog, the way you focus and depth of field blurs your gauges as you go faster.

It is just done very well. Not groundbreaking but not a run of the mill gt4 clone either.

 

i agree mate its not run of the mill at all, gt4 is a pure sim this game takes elements from arcade and sim racers and does a great job combining them, and as MrPuff stated the cockpit view is exceptional, added to that the great job done with motion makes for a heart pounding experience, really enjoying it, its not GT or Forsa but i think rightfully has its own place in the racing sim platform.

 

In my opinion, the cockpit view shaking is a bit overdone, so is the motion blur. I think Dirt got it just right.

Also, I have frame rate issues on Nürburgring, even though all the other tracks run perfectly. In fact, Grid had the same issue on only Nürburgring, which was fixed when I upgraded from the T5450 to a T9500. The frame rate intermittently slows down to approximately half of its original (Vsync?).

But otherwise I agree, it's a great game, and the cars look fantastic.

 

How's it compare to GTR: Evolution, Forza, etc., the former of which is especially brutal with its accuracy in physX.

 

The cockpit view doesn't really fascinate me. Forza, Gotham Racing, GRiD and DiRT have all done it before, and a whole bunch of games will do it in the future.

My major gripe (aside from not being able to run the damn thing due to bugs) is the customization. It's slowly trickled down to a total preset where you just choose out of three options that you can't even customize.

Still a good game though.

 

Interesting, did you install the patch mate? I havent experienced any bugs to date, game runs smooth as silk with high FPS.
I havent played the above mentioned games so i cant directly comment, i like the amount of tuning/ customization in this game, as stated in the review its not as good as some sim games but it does enough to give the player a good level of control with regards to each car.

 

I guess you inspired me to do a review on another race title. I played NFSS and like it but found another game I like way better.

Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box

Between the two though these are my favorite racers to date. I admit I have a lot of other ones to try though. I am not a big SIM fan because I do not have the time to dedicate to really learning them and they just do not seem as fun.

Also you said you highly recommend a 360 controller, I agree controller > Keyboard but I highly recommend a proper force feedback racing wheel . The Logitech Momo is a great place to start. I got mine for $50 on ebay brand new and thats about the price of a wireless 360 controller + adapter.

Here is the momo in action, though I am a tier 1 noob and do it no justice.




<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XmMLgU5RMvc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='425' height='344'>

 

i was considering mentioning your set up in the review mate it looks fantastic, and i agree the force fed racing wheels are very good Ive only using one once and because of that couldnt recommend it in my review as Ive not used it in this game.
regarding burnout paradise ive played the psp version of the game and really enjoyed it, could t be classed as a sim though? it reminded me foremostly of the arch typical arcade racer.

 

defininitly burnout is not a sim

 

Great Review!
I am going to give this game a try.

 

how do you check the fps on this game?

 

I used FRAPS for fps and screenshots, xfire is what i usually use but it doesnt work in game with NFS shift.

 

Been playing alittle online with this game and its enjoyable with options for a quick matchup, and both ranked and unranked races. Although there have been times when ive found it difficult to find a spacific race NFS Shift does the online well enough to add to the gaming experience.

 

Hmm...Nice Review!! Going to try this out....thnx!!

 

I was VERY dissapointed when I first played the game and found myself on a track instead of a street... I think track racing is boring, street racing is way more exciting.

I should start reading reviews BEFORE I buy the games...

 

+ 1 Burnout Paradise is the best but gonna try this out anyway

 

Great review..
bought this for the 360 last month..haven't played it much yet though..
+ rep for the review!

 

How does it compare to the GTR games? Better? Worse? Same? LOL

 

I played Burnout Paradise on XBox 360 a copule of times and it was awesome... I wonder if the gameplay and performance would be the same on my laptop...

I got a 360 controller for Windows last night, so I got that right so far...

 

Umm....Well with my lappy I can play it at its max and by seeing ur laptop specs I cud tell that u can play it pretty smoothly too as there isn't a lot of difference between our laptops

 

Haha...I bought a 360 controller for this game but never got it cause I thought the demo sucked. Oh well, here's to hoping a better racer will come out on the PC.

 

I actually like the racing in this game, i just dont like the storyline/gameplay thing.