A brand new Need For Speed game has been released, and this one takes the player in an entirely new direction.

Throughout the lifespan of the Need For Speed games, they have varied what type of racing it is, some with more success than others. If you remember Need For Speed: ProStreet, this was where you took part in street races to become the king of the streets, however, this type of game didn’t prove to be so successful. Their next game, Need For Speed: Undercover featured a more open world where you would drive around the city and pick up races at traffic lights, very similar to Burnout Paradise. I personally liked that game, although some would disagree.

Now, with the latest game, Need For Speed: Shift, they have taken it to yet another new direction, but this time they have some tough competition. The style of the game is based on more professional racing this time and on professional tracks such as Silverstone. EA have aimed right at the top with this game, competing against the top guns such as Forza and Gran Turismo, but can it actually put up a good fight?

As this is EA’s first attempt at this type of racing game, I did wonder whether it would be up to standards, but fortunately, it is. The start of the game did make me wonder whether this game comes with a multiplayer because when you first load it up, you only have two options, ‘Career’ and ‘Options’, but once you start your racing career, you can then go further into the menu where you will find the ‘Multiplayer’ option.

I must say that I do like the way you begin your racing career. You start off with an explanation of how you progress within the career, by winning races you gain stars and experience points, as you get more stars, you unlock different Tiers of cars and races. After completing Tier 4, you unlock the final series to win the championship. Pretty simple really.

One thing that the game tracks throughout your entire career is your style of racing. The first thing it does in the career is gets you to race around a track, it then uses that race to judge what type of racer you are based on how you turn corners as well as a number of other factors. After this race, your driving settings are changed to suit your driving skill, for example, if you are not so skilled, the game will include automatic braking and make your car more stable around the corners, however, if you are thought of as a skilled driver, you will get none of this. All the settings can be changed to your liking at any time in the game.

In terms of your race winnings, like I said, you receive experience points and money. The amount of money you get is based on what Tier you’re racing in plus what position you get in the race. The reason for the money is so that you can save up for new cars, or upgrades for your current car. However, the money isn’t too important if you’re willing to splash some real cash because just like in Undercover, you can use Microsoft Points, or the Playstation equivalent, to buy the in-game items.

As for experience, the amount you receive is all down to what you do in the race. In every race, you can earn up to 6 stars, 3 of which are awarded for your race position, however, the other stars are awarded for doing objectives in the race. These objectives are generally based on your experience points because in each race you are awarded experience points for doing various things such as overtaking, knocking opponents off the track, or just following the racing line. Different things you do will earn you different numbers of experience, for example, a clean overtake where you don’t hit the other driver will earn you less points compared to if you were to do a dirty overtake where you knock the driver but still overtake.

All these points you earn in the race are displayed at the top of the screen while you’re racing, then at the end of the race they are added to your total experience points that help you level up.

Unlocking each Tier of the career is very simple really, all you have to do is reach a certain number of stars. The reason why it’s so simple is because there are just so many races. Each Tier will unlock you more and more, but as you get further through the career, you only have to complete a few races in that Tier before you can move onto the next. I assume the only reason for including so many races is so that you can earn more money so that you can eventually purchase the top cars such as the Bugatti Veyron or the Zonda.

One thing I’ve noticed about this game, which only matters for Xbox 360 players, is that there are very few achievements to get. Overall there are 29, however, they are quite simple to get, all you would have to do is complete the career. There is an achievement for reaching each Tier, which will earn you atleast 100 gamerscore, then the rest are made up from reaching various levels and completing in-race objectives. Quite simple really.

The graphics side of the game is pretty good. I think the car graphics are on the same sort of level as the recent Dirt 2 game, however, although the graphics are good, I think I will be more impressed with the likes of Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5 when they are released.

One thing I don’t think the other top guns will be able to compete with is the collision effects. The guys over at EA have clearly spent alot of time making the collision effects realistic, for example, hitting the side of the track at speed will make the screen go grey, the harder you hit, the more grey and longer lasting the screen will go. However, if it is a mega fast collision with another driver, the screen goes grey and your vision blurs, making it harder to drive on, therefore you try and avoid any unnecessary collisions.

Summary

Although this is a great game from EA, plus a good first attempt at this type of racing game, I do think that Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5 will be more impressive. If EA were to stick with this type of game for the next Need For Speed, I think they could improve it and become a serious competitor in the racing genre.

If you’re a fan of racing games, you should like this one, however, if you are choosing between Need For Speed: Shift, Forza 3 or Gran Turismo 5, I’d hold off and wait for one of the others.

Good Points = Nice graphics, wide range of available races, powerful cars, amazing collision effects.

Bad Points = Could have a wider range of cars.

I give this game a 8/10.

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