A week with Need For Speed: SHIFT (PC Review)

EA’s Need For Speed has been “reinventing” itself since NFS: Underground. Cashing in on the ricer/tuner craze laid down by The Fast and The Furious franchise, NFS drastically changed the theme and setting of the series. First was the obvious and controversial change of car line-up. Then came the ‘open’ world of Underground (something I really welcomed, I’ve always like the scenery of NFS and would like to get a more relaxed eyeful of it. And before all this Microsoft’s Midtown Madness was one my fave racing games.) When Most Wanted came along I was very excited because it came with a refreshing change of feel – a less ricer-centered line-up and the beloved return of the Police Hot Pursuit force. Then it was Carbon and it brought little new. ProStreet had very nice environments but was stuck in between the realm of arcade and simulation, with bad results. EA went back to the Most Wanted formula with Undercover but it was already apparent that they were running out of ideas.

Now EA is diversifying the franchise instead of doing a one-fits-all approach. With World Online doing the MMO thing and NFS: Nitro going for the informal, Mario Kart audience, Need For Speed: Shift finishes what ProStreet has started and ups the ante.

You start with your ‘team’ evaluating you so you can be given a recommendation of difficulty and realism level. You then race a borrowed E96 M3 and win a corresponding amount of money from your finishing position. You start out your actual career with a basic ‘Tier 1’ car (there are 4 car tiers). You race in different events like drift and time trials to earn stars and money, which are indicative of the race results. More stars gets you into higher tier events. As you race you also earn points based on either your level of precision or aggression. Doing clean laps and overtakes and following the visual race line (a la Forza 2) earns you precision points while bumping and taking out opponents will earn you aggression points. These points accumulate to race your driver level. Higher driver levels can mean sponsorship money or new paint and vinyl unlocks.

Shift is developed by Slightly Mad Studios, the same brilliant minds behind the GTR franchise. I’ve a copy of GTR2 and its a very well thought out simulator - hardcore and realistic. As I’ve started to play Shift, it’s apparent the the basic core of the game operates much like GTR, including the rather challenging keyboard controls (I gave away my bloody wheel.) As this is a simulator, one just cannot have a binary “on” or “off” approach to control, everything is very logarithmic in feel and response. If one is getting this game, a wheel is a good investment.

As for the driving dynamics, it is very spot on when the realism is turned all the way up. If one wants less of a handful of an experience, Shift includes driver aids that were transplanted from GTR. I’ve played Gran Turismo (2, 4 and 5: Prologue) on PlayStations and emulators and Shift can hold a candle to them. My only gripe with the drivers aids is the traction control: it seems that turning it on increases the adhesiveness of the tires and track and doesn’t to what TCs actually do: reduce engine speed or apply selective braking.

If one is to compare Shift with the big games like Forza and Gran Turismo, its biggest weakness would be its rather miserly and confused car collection. If NFS is going to have a limited selection of cars, the NFS team should’ve made sure it was a though-out compromise. Some of the “new” cars date back from Hot Pursuit 2 and the Underground series. Some of the models aren’t even of the highest specification and some of the models aren’t even in the right tiers. Here’s a bullet-point list trivial* grievances:

• The BMW 135i coupe isn’t in M-Sport trim (a great car anyways, a nice little sleeper that tricks and shames bigger cars in real life)
• The new VW Scirocco is on the game but not the current Mk6 Golf GTI (were stuck with the mumsy-looking, MW-era Mk5)
• Why the Audi TT 3.2 and not the epic TT RS?
• Same goes for the Corvette. Even Gran Turismo: PSP has the almighty ZR1!
• If NFS used the Focus RS and the Megane R22 instead of the Focus ST and Megane RS, I would’ve had the chance to do a Top Gear face-off between them :(
• The Murcielago is on its last legs. NFS should celebrate having Lamborghini with the SuperVeloce… would’ve surely kicked the “Tier 4” Reventon’s stealth ass.
• The Dodge Challenger is the oldest of the new wave of retro-tastic American muscle cars (both the Camaro SS and the Mustang GT500 are featured), yet Shift only has the concept version.
• The Nordschleife features an advert about the new Audi R8 V10. Shift only has the RS4-engined R8 V8.
• Again, the Nordschleife has a prominent Opel Performance Center (OPC) Race Camp board beside the start/finish line... and no Blitzes to drive! I love that Shift has the Escort Cosworth, why not the Lotus-Opel Omega or the new Insignia OPC?
• The Nissan GT-R and the GT-R V-Spec are both in Tier 3 and the Lexus LF-A (Concept) is in the higher Tier 4. The V-Spec would’ve done much better than the LF-A in Tier 4.
• The torque-y V8 noise is world-beatin’ epic but why the older Mercedes SL65?
• The Koenigsegg CCX is a hard beast to handle. Why not learn from Top Gear’s lesson and used the one with the greatly helpful rear spoiler+handling package? If not why not use the even more beastly CCXR?
• If Shift can readily do left-hand drive models like the GT-R and the Aston N400, why won’t they dump the USDM Civic Si in favor of the more hardcore JDM Type R? Or make the consumer choose and pit the Japanese, American and European Civics against each other? :D

*Yes, I’m definitely nitpicking. I’ve been spoiled by Polyphony and Turn 10. Here’s the official car list of Shift.

Aside from ProStreet, Shift is also similar to Porsche Unleashed (best Need for Speed, ever.) Along with Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5, Shift brings back the in-car view. I’m very pleased with how Slightly Mad Studios have transitioned their GTR technology onto Shift and increased the level of attention to detail. One can see fully functioning odometers, the G-Meter of the GT-R, the oil pressure gauge of the 370Z and the wood-topped gear lever of the Carrera GT. It even gets better as there is a virtual driver that simulates the rigors of full-throttle driving. Your periphery diffuses into a blur as you ‘focus’ on the ever increasing speeds. You can see him (or her?) slam on the accelerator and react to the collisions and extreme forces of longitudinal and lateral gravity as you accelerate and decelerate. Your virtual vision blurs and even turns into black-and-white when you careen of to a tire wall.

I have some reserves about the collisions though. As Shift doesn’t adopt a full-on impact physics systems the cars can’t completely disintegrate (you can turn on ‘actual’ damage though. Impacts will reduce your cars performance for the rest of the race until you total it.) Despite the spectacular graphics of Shift, the suspension of disbelief ends when you see the a clump of cars crashing about. It’s very uncanny. Aside from that, the 2 other problems I have about the animation are the gear changes: the paddles and the gears shift a moment before the hands actually actuate them; the other niggling oversight is that the extraneous elements of some of the cars don’t work.**

** Like the retractable rear spoilers/brakes of the SLR, Veyron and TT.

One element of the game that I can’t put a flaw into is the audio. By default (except for drift sessions) the in-game music is disabled. As Shift focuses on driving, the audio grabs your ears with an aural assault of whirring superchargers, whining turbochargers and the extremely satisfying blip when downshifting, among many things. The audio is so good that engine noise is a factor I take into account when buying a new virtual car!

It’s two biggest downfalls unknowingly affect each other and, in my opinion, nearly destroys the “driving experience” of Shift. Because Shift allows aggressive driving and rewards it, the otherwise unremarkable A.I. can be overly aggressive too. The A.I. doesn’t form a robotic line like it does in the previous installments of Gran Turismo, but they don’t drive defensively too. They will plow right through you and they won’t respect your racing line. This makes the rather packed starting sequence in a race very frustrating. Even as you try to go with the flow, A.I. opponents will shunt you off the track, even in parts of the track where the road is perfectly straight and can sufficiently wide to accommodate two cars! In some tracks, especially the ones with limited width and variable speed corners like the Nordschliefe, London and Laguna Seca, I am forced to restart the race multiple times. It’s fine when it happens once, or even twice (hey, I watch Formula One and NASCAR), but with Shift having aggressive driving as a core of its gameplay, it’s really frustrating.

All in all, I recommend Need For Speed: Shift for the PC racers out there as Shift strikes a good balance between realism and accessibility***. It’s a bit more casual and a lot more multiplayer-friendly than games like GTR or TOCA and there’s a lot more “car” going on than games like Burnout or Blur. EA should definitely keep this up and commend Slightly Mad Studios for their work. EA should stop constantly changing their strategy and stick with this formula. All Shift needs right now is a lot more polish and a lot more cars.

***Maybe a bit too “accessible”: the Endurance races are too short, there are no Race Weekends and the there’s no Formula D type multi-car drifts.

Pros:

• Near photo-realistic graphics at reasonable system requirements. (See my specs here and here.)
• Excellent cockpit view adds to the immersion.
• Unparalleled audio effects.
• Need For Speed goes back to its core. None of the cheesy story line.
• Veritably accurate driving physics that can be turned down with helpful assists.

Cons:

• Hair-pullingly, aggravating, demolition derby A.I.
• Limited car and track selection.
• Limited options regarding race types.
• Flawed “tier” system. I would’ve preferred power-to-weight ratio quotas like GT’s horsepower limits.
• Promotion of bad driving in a supposedly track-oriented game.

Overall:

3.5/5

If only Forza or GT had PC versions. Nonetheless, Shift deserves a sequel.