Review
Developed by EA's Slightly Mad Studios, "Need for Speed - Shift" is the 15th game in the long lasting racing franchise. It is also an important milestone in the Need for Speed history, as it is the first game focused more on simulation racing then on arcade racing like previous ones. Featuring 72 fully licensed cars and 18 circuits, the game is a long leap ahead from previous ones, having an improved design and excellent graphics. The cockpit view was reintroduced in the game, adding a reality feeling similar with Gran Turismo. In order to offer a pleasant game play it begins with a test leap, and based on the player performance it recommends the proper difficulty setting. Beside arcade and sim elements, NFS contains also RPG elements, having a well defined and designed leveling system. Each race awards points based on how player drove during it. Also taking over other cars awards aggression points. Both unlock in-game rewards and cars. The leveling system cap is 50 and after this there is no more points gaining. The traditional career mode is also present, but is not very long. It revolves around competing with different champions and brings player stars and in-game money. As all modern games there is also an online component, with 2 main types of racing. The first one is an 8-players classic race, won by the one that finishes first. The second one called Driver Duel is a 2-players car impressive and fun chasing competition. Overall Need For Speed Shift is a great comeback of the franchise, solving all the problems that plagued previous games, like low frame rate, poor environment and repetitive game play. The developer includes on the site also a free demo, please check our download link to get it.
Recommended system requirements: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz or AMD 64 X2 2 GHz, 2GB of RAM (3GB for Vista), Graphic card with 512MB of RAM, support for Pixel Shader 3 (PCI-Ex), Sound Card compatible with DirectX 9.0c, 10GB free hard disk space, Windows XP SP3, or Vista SP1, 8x DVD drive. |
