Need For Speed Shift Review - Xbox 360

8.5

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 9
Audio: 9
Multiplayer: 8
Innovation: 5

Introduction

The last time we looked at Need For Speed, the series was really looking tired and run down. Urban street racing was looking a bit passe after too many yearly outings, the Fast and Furious fad had long passed, and frankly everything was becoming quite boring in Need For Speed Undercover. While the attempt at a Hollywood style storyline was worth a short, in most ways it came up decidedly trite and B-grade. The racing was nothing special either, very arcade-like and indistinguishable between models, and the racing was short, and ultimately repetitive.

When most had written off the series a while ago, Electronic Arts has surprised us this year, and totally thrown out everything that has gone before in the quest to revamp the series. With very little leadup promotion, they've gone with an entirely new development team, revamped everything around more simulation based track racing, and a cracker of a racing game is the result.

Gameplay

NFS Shift offers a more traditional track-based racing game. No longer does everything take place in a free-roaming street mode. This time you start off by choosing from your more traditional race menus to purchase a car, upgrade it, and select which distinct race you want to enter. You start off with only a small bank account, but as you progress and level up, you collect more and more funds to purchase more exciting cars.

To begin with, you start by tackling fairly standard races where you have to finish in first place out of a field of categorised opponents. NFS has always spiced things up a bit with its racing, and there are a lot of great variations on offer in Shift. One of the biggest problems with your more standard 'simulator' and what can get boring is that it's pretty much race after race. While there are plenty of these traditional races, there are many different ones thrown in. All of these modes sound somewhat simple, but during the game they help mix things up very well, and none of them seems to be a weak link here.

Race is your standard racing against a field of varied opponents in the aim in finishing the race in first place.

Time Attack has you racing against each other on the same track to score the best lap time. While it sounds a little dull at first, the facility to win without necessarily coming first, or to try and knock others players off gives it some variety.

Driver Duel  has you racing against two tightly matched cars, against an opponent with their own unique driving style. You must first beat them by remaining in front for an entire lap. The next race you must come from behind to beat them, and finally if the results of the first two races are tied, you start neck and neck in the decider.

Drift is a somewhat controversial inclusion in what now is closer to a simulator, but is done pretty well, and has ...