EA Need for Speed: Shift

No more Mr. Indestructo?

Some of the early Need for Speed games were about as realistic as other early console games, like Mario. You could drive around, sending other cars flying out of the way, snapping trees at their base with no real penalties for your poor driving. Those arcade-style race games are a lot of fun, but aren't you ready for something a little more realistic? It might be a little harder, but a race game with penalties for crashing and physics that resemble those on earth can be a lot more rewarding and a lot more fun. Once you master the subtle nuances of racing, you'll really feel like you're driving a world-class automobile, instead of piloting a tank with a Nissan skin. It's time to move on to a sim racer.

In the driver's seat

With you every step of the way, Need for Speed has just the driving game you're looking for. NFS: SHIFT is the latest addition to the tremendously popular series, bringing a true simulation racer with a fun feel to the market. Sure, there are other sim racers out there, and they may have some features better than NFS, like more tracks, or more foreign car brands you can't pronounce. But, SHIFT wins where it really counts: the driving. After all, how authentic is a driving simulator that puts you outside of your car watching, or with a view out of only the windshield? That's not what you see when you drive! And what about the crashes? Sure, some of them show damage to your car. Some of the newer games even show damage to the right part of the car, or offer impaired driving from crashes. But when you crash on those games, where's the drama? Anyone who's ever lived through a real car crash can tell you that during a crash, it's not a simple matter of watching the environment spin around you, or just seeing the car you hit really close. It's an intense experience, with sights, sounds, and feelings you can't get in other "realistic" race games. When it comes to recreating the driver's experience, Need for Speed: SHIFT is the racer you can't miss.

It's all a matter of perspective

When playing other simulation racing games, chances are you have several view options. There will be one or two bird's-eye views and probably a "driver view" complete with a giant, clear window and a rectangle representing your rear-view mirror. Have you ever driven a real car from that view? Of course not! Where are the gauges, the beams, the stereo? They're in NFS: SHIFT — that's where. Unlike other race games that say you get a driver's perspective, SHIFT lets you actually see what the driver does. You get a speedometer, a tachometer, a gear shifter, an authentic mirror, and all the other small touches that make a car a car. But not only do you get to see what a car really looks like from the front left seat, you get lifelike animations for steering, shifting, head movements, G-force, and more for your driver. And the developers at Slightly Mad Studios made sure that every car in the game had its interior faithfully recreated right down to the color of the gauges and shape of the console. It's the closest you can get to driving a supercar without the keys to one.

It's enough to make you flinch

We already explained how Need for Speed: SHIFT offers the most driverlike experience of any racing game on the market. But part of racing is trading paint, which can sometimes lead to much larger accidents. The crashes that everyone watches races for are just as much a part of the driving experience as long straightaways and tight turns. So, in SHIFT, the crashes were given special attention, so that you actually want to avoid crashes, unlike most games where they're simply standard practice. When a crash does occur, your vision is blurred, you can hear the impact with glass shattering and metal bending, and you'll even notice a gasp from the driver right before impact. It's not like other racers, where you hit a wall, re-align yourself then take off again without a second thought. In this NFS game, you'll experience the crash (minus the real-life side effects like whiplash and injuries) for a whole new experience. It will definitely make you think twice about your in-game strategy, leading to a higher level of caution. It's so jarring it may even lead you to drive like an old lady in real life. And one thing's for sure: there's no reason parents could blame this video game for kids causing real-world mayhem with no fear of consequences.

You want a spoiler on a Scion?

Customization has been a staple of many Need for Speed games, and is a standard practice in most sim racers. NFS: SHIFT definitely includes customization, but it's not just putting fuzzy dice on your mirror and pin-striping the sides. Sure, you still could add flames to your Camaro if you want to, but the options you have to tune your ride in SHIFT are more comprehensive than any NFS game yet. You can tune everything from looks (interior or body) to performance with numerous different parts upgrades. But once you've got your car set up, you can fine-tune the parts on it for specific tracks to give it a stiffer suspension, longer gears, and a lot more. In Need for Speed: SHIFT, the only things that can prevent you from creating the car of your dreams are a lack of creativity and the ability to win enough money from races for the right upgrades. While you may never get the chance to personalize a Bugatti Veyron in real life, you can in NFS: SHIFT.

Bump-and-go or clean pass?

While obviously the goal in the game is to win races, how you do that is really up to you. Will you choose to use a mix of precision and finesse to ease past the other drivers? Or is spinning them out more your style? Whatever combination you choose, you can have a lot of fun creating your own driving style. Trade paint by bumping a car out on a corner, then draft for a quick pass on a straightaway. As you drive, your style is analyzed, and you are rewarded for different maneuvers, helping to level up your driver. Will you be an aggressive driver or a precision driver? No matter what style you use, you'll be rewarded for good driving. When you level up, you unlock different rewards including new cars, a larger garage, and upgrades based on your style. So think about how you want to race before you barrel into another car.

What's on the lot?

NFS: SHIFT features 72 perfectly-rendered models of the world's best cars from many top manufacturers, hand-picked for the game. It's a great balance with a fair sampling from many automakers around the world. Here's the full list of cars by manufacturer:

• Aston Martin — DB9 coupe; Racing DBR9; V8 Vantage N400
• Audi — R8 4.2 FSI quattro; R8 LMS; RS4; S3; S4; TT Coupe 3.2 quattro
• BMW — 135i Coupe; M3 E36; M3 E46; M3 E92; M3 GT2; Z4 M Coupe
• Bugatti — Veyron 16.4
• Chevrolet — Camaro SS; Cobalt SS; Corvette Z06
• Dodge — Viper SRT10 (Coke Zero edition); Challenger Concept; Viper SRT10
• Ford — Mustang GT (Falken Tire Edition); Escort RS Cosworth; Focus ST; GT
• Honda — Civic Si; S2000
• Infinit — G35 (V35)
• Koenigsegg — CCX
• Lamborghini — Gallardo LP560-4; Murcielago LP640; Reventon
• Lexus — LF-A Concept
• Lotus — Elise 111R; Exige S
• Maserati — MC12 GT1
• Mazda — MX-5; RX-7; RX-8
• McLaren — F1
• Mercedes-Benz — SL65 AMG; SLR McLaren 722 Edition
• Mitsubishi — Lancer EVOLUTION; Lancer EVOLUTION IX MR-Edition
• Nissan — 200SX (S14); 240SX (S13); 350Z (Z33); 370Z (Z34); GT-R (R35); GT-R SpecV (R35); Silvia spec.R AERO (S15); Skyline 2000GT-R; Skyline GT-R (R34)
• Pagani — Zonda F; Zonda R
• Porsche — 911 GT2; 911 GT3 RSR; Carrera GT; Cayman S; Cayman S (Bonus Edition)
• Renault — Sport Megane R.S.
• Scion — tC
• SEAT — Leon CUPRA
• Shelby — Ford GT500; Terlingua Ford Mustang (Need for Speed Edition)
• Subaru — Impreza WRX STi
• Toyota — Corolla GTS (AE86)
• Volkswagen — Golf GTi; Scirocco.

Here, there, everywhere

Once you've picked which car you want to get behind the wheel of, it's time to decide where the best spot to burn rubber would be. The developers of Need for Speed Shift bring you 19 different tracks that can be raced in over 50 different ways. Some are carefully-rendered versions of real-world tracks, while others are developer-created. There's something for every driver's delight. Here's the full track list:

• Alpental
• Ambush Canyon
• Autopolis
• Brands Hatch
• Dakota
• Donington
• Ebisu
• Glendale
• Hazyview
• London
• Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
• Miytomi
• Nordschleife
• Road America
• Rustle Creek
• Silverstone Circuit
• Spa Francorchamps
• Tokyo
• Willow Springs

One more thing . . .

This game received a rating from ESRB (the board responsible for providing ratings for all video games sold in the U.S.) of "E" for Everyone. They think that anyone that can hold a controller can handle the game's content, but they did note that it had mild violence and mild suggestive themes, so if you're a parent it would still be a good idea to check the game out and make sure it's OK for your kid. After all, you should have the final say on what your kid watches. One thing, though: this is a game that can be played online. Only the offline play is rated. Since the game supports voice communication, parents should be very careful about letting their kids play online.