Full throttle

For those keeping score, EA’s Need for Speed series has been through a lot of different iterations over the past few years, with varying degrees of success.

 

Somewhere along the way the developers got too caught up in making NFS a cross between Driver and Burnout, leaving recent installments a mess of open-world driving and ludicrous, not to mention completely unnecessary, storyline.

 

Well, I’ve got some good news, racing fans. NFS: Shift isn’t just a reboot. It’s exactly the kind of retooling the franchise has desperately needed for a long time—one that refocuses your driving from operating in a staid street racing environment to ascending the pro circuit.

While the significant reconstitution and narrative stripping-down seen in Shift are absolutely welcome, the game has also been tuned towards the simulation end of things, while maintaining enough of an arcade edge so as to not completely alienate fans.

 

That doesn’t mean you should expect Shift to compete with the likes of Forza or Gran Turismo in terms of realism, however. Sliding through curves, physics and crashes have all been tweaked to give both seasoned and novice drivers a heady, realistic-yet-fun, pedal-to-the-metal experience.

 

Shift‘s versatility isn’t just confined to its amalgamation of simulation and arcade elements, either. One of the sweetest aspects of the game is career mode’s experience point system.

 

Essentially, Shift tracks what kind of driver you are by measuring any aggressive and technical maneuvers you perform on the track. No matter how you drive, the game intuitively awards you experience points that unlock new events, tracks, cars and upgrade kits.

 

But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Shift‘s best feature: its pure, unadulterated and visceral sense of speed. There’s a lot of racers that elicit a certain amount of panic when you pass the 200 mph mark (and Shift does this particularly well) but here, even the slightest shift of the track or nudge of the steering wheel at a high speed can be disastrous if you don’t release the throttle and ease into your move.

 

What this means is that Shift demands to be played from the excellent driver’s cockpit view—the sheer exhilaration of flying down a straightaway throws you into a complete, gut-wrenching-speed high and must be seen to be believed.

Bottom line: buckle up, because Shift is right up there with DiRT 2 as one of the best racers released in recent memory.