Need for Speed Shift

Need for Speed Shift

The boy racer is attempting to grow up. This year it’s being sensibly silly, which is rather charming actually.

Need for Speed, when it first appeared 15 years ago, was never about the nitros or go-faster stripes. It was about driving real-life luxury cars brilliantly well, betting the ownership papers on the race, being king of the road. Naturally such silly behaviour will attract the attention of the police, conveniently providing Need for Speed with a bit of spice – pushing hesitant drivers to go for broke.

All credit to the series for embracing Tuner culture, and taking on the likes of Rockstar Games’ Midnight Club at its own game and coming out on top. But the open world treatment is now being handled much better by Midnight Club these days. Driving like a madman is taken care of very well by Burnout. Hence Need for Speed Shift is EA taking the series back to its roots. And it’s about time.

EA is aiming to remind us of NFS seniority with Shift. It’s less Fast and Furious, more Top Gear; expensive shoes not limited edition sneakers. In games like Forza and Gran Turismo the emphasis is on the cars, but with Need for Speed Shift the hook is the thrill of the race… and that you’re doing this with very expensive sets of wheels. Part of this thrill is the sheer physicality involved, hence we see the driver behind the wheel being shaken to his bones as the Gs take their toll.

What NFS does best is create a fun atmosphere, full of encouragement with the promise of slightly goofy glamour. EA wrote the modern book on reward-based challenge, and in Shift this manifests as a tier system based on driver skill. Stars are awarded based on driving performance, cleverly monitoring your cornering ability, the manner in which you overtake – including nudging other cars off the road!

The more stars you have the further you progress through the ranks with chance to win insane real-world automobiles. You also earn money to upgrade the cars, giving players opportunity to settle behind a familiar dashboard every once in a while.

We already know that Shift has stormed the charts, in at Number One. And so despite offering fewer pound-for-pound features than Forza on Xbox or Gran Turismo on PlayStation 3 (when it gets here), there’s clearly plenty of fans for whom the particular flavour offered by NFS – and how important it is to be good at this particular game – still counts.

4 out of 5