Need for Speed: Shift Hands On

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:59 am

Agreed with the posters above. We don't need another "sim" racer (which won't be as simmy as Forza/GT/Race Pro, not to mention the PC sims). NFS should be about open road, chasing (or being chased) by the cops.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:09 am

Those seeking an arcadish game have little to worry about:

http://www.virtualr.net/need-for-speed- ... impressed/

It's Need For Speed. It's an EA game. It's not going to be a sim.

Take care,
PK

vinny-b · Post by **vinny-b** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:11 pm

pk500 wrote:Those seeking an arcadish game have little to worry about:

http://www.virtualr.net/need-for-speed- ... impressed/

It's Need For Speed. It's an EA game. It's not going to be a sim.

Take care,
PK

unfortunately. Not able to disagree.

_

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 2:10 pm

I have not interest in Shift, but HFS: Nitro looks really fun. It's for the Wii, and loks to be more of what I'm looking for. A fun racing game with cops & character.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 2:57 pm

matthewk wrote:I have not interest in Shift, but HFS: Nitro looks really fun. It's for the Wii, and loks to be more of what I'm looking for. A fun racing game with cops & character.

Didn't know about this one at all, Matt. Shows how removed I've become from the console world.

Thanks for the tip! My boys would love this. Looks like fun for me, too. iRacing more than satisfies my sim racing jones, so it would be fun to just let it rip with an arcadish romp like this game.

Take care,
PK

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:01 pm

Don't count Shift out yet. As skeptical as I have been about this game, the impressions being put out from people who have played it are incredibly positive. It's true that people should be skeptical of anything from EA posing as anything remotely close to a sim, but the people on the development team have a fine pedigree. It would be pretty cool if the game is actually really good and on par or better than some of the other good 360 racers.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:06 am

www.virtualr.net is posting that there is No Need for Speed Shift demo before the full release, and possibly no demo at all. This all sounds similar to the debacle that was Race Pro.

Even though EA announced in spring that a demo of Need for Speed Shift will be available this summer, it looks like that the demo version isn’t exactly just around the corner.

EA has released the following statement, answering the many community requests for a playable Shift demo to accompany all the preview material:

“In the last few weeks we’ve received a lot of messages and forum posts about a demo so we’re currently looking into the feasibility of releasing a demo for SHIFT. We are committed to releasing the best Need for Speed game so we kept the entire team working on the game to make sure we release a really great experience.

We’re really proud of what the guys at SMS and Black Box have created and we can’t wait to get the game in your hands.”

Without reading too much into this message, it pretty much states that EA isn’t even sure if they will ever release a demo and certainly not before Shift hits the shelves on September 15th/17th.

This is bad news especially for the sim racing community as many were counting on the demo to make up their mind whether or not Shift is realistic enough to justify the purchase. With no demo coming in due time, we have to rely on all the preview videos, the newest of which you can find below.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:13 pm

NFS: Shift review is up. Nice score

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/102/1023577p1.html

"All of that is great, but pales in comparison to what happens when you get behind the wheel of a car. And let me just say that you should get behind the wheel and not race from a third-person camera because the cockpit view is what makes NFS Shift stand out from the extremely competitive racing genre and come into its own. Slightly Mad has created an extraordinarily good cockpit view for the game, one that makes you feel like you're actually in the seat of a horsepower-bleeding supercar."

"This exceptional cockpit view extends to the game's sense of speed. When you're doing 150mph, you know it. When you're doing 200+mph, you'll get scared. "

Closing Comments:

Need for Speed Shift is a glorious return to greatness (and even excellence) for EA's seminal racing franchise. Slightly Mad Studios has delivered a driving experience that, while not completely accurate in terms of its simulation aspects, is practically dead-on in terms of what it's like to race around some of the world's best racing circuits. The career mode could (and should) have been a little better, but the act of driving is basically phenomenal.

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:37 pm

A 9.0/10 for a racer from IGN is not bad at all. Dirt 2 is utterly brilliant and only managed a score in the mid 8's. Not that IGN is the authority on racing games or anything, but this score is encouraging, especially when combined with the thoughts of people around the Net who have played this game at trade shows and in EA's studios. I think I will just get this game on release day when I get NHL 2K10, Mario and Luigi, and Scribblenauts. I real hurt being put on my wallet next week it seems.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:39 pm

Batman going back to gamefly to make room for this one. Racing game overload, and Forza 3 hasn't even hit yet!

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:36 pm

I am pretty sure that I will be favoring this one over Dirt 2. Time to sell some games.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:40 pm

I think Shift is truly going to be a great racer. Let's hope EA now does a proper NFS game like Hot Pursuit III.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:00 pm

Sure do wish they'd put out a demo...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:15 pm

Teal wrote:Sure do wish they'd put out a demo...

EA acknowledged a demo is not in the cards.

Take care,
PK

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:21 pm

Official Xbox Magazine now has a review up (9.0/10):

http://www.oxmonline.com/article/review ... peed-shift

Interesting review. The career mode keeps sounding cooler and cooler the more I read about it.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:41 pm

I know I am being nitpicky, but why did they have to go and put all that extra crap on the real life circuits? I watched a bunch of the HD track previews and the graphics are super nice, but Spa, Laguna, Road America are just covered with extra billboards right next to the track, amusement park rides, and all these structures that are not there in real life. Every video also looks like a complete drift fest. A DBR9 drifting past 5 cars through one turn just does not give me a good feeling. The sense of speed and cockpit views are pretty spectacular.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:38 pm

EA has changed course on the demo. A demo is in the works:

http://www.virtualr.net/need-for-speed- ... mo-coming/

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:48 pm

Sweeet

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:14 pm

Anybody getting this one? The videos look awesome. If I see it today when I go to get NHL I might not be able to resist.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:19 pm

ScoopBrady wrote:Anybody getting this one? The videos look awesome. If I see it today when I go to get NHL I might not be able to resist.

Getting my gamefly copy tomorrow. Will post impressions once I have some time with the game.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:21 pm

ScoopBrady wrote:Anybody getting this one? The videos look awesome. If I see it today when I go to get NHL I might not be able to resist.

I'm tempted by some of those videos too. My main concern is the amount of oversteer/drift that may be present in the game. From Eurogamer:

Where GRID offered light but precise and predictable handling with a satisfying, grippy bite to it, SHIFT is a wild, tempestuous beast, prone to nervous oversteer (and not just in rear-wheel-drive cars). Steering is twitchy, and even with traction and stability controls switched on, your car maintains a tenuous relationship with the road at best. This isn't the elegant, tactile and progressive sliding of a PGR, either: it's sudden, and quite scary.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/need- ... ift-review

You also have folks on Gamefaqs (yes, yes...I know) saying things like it should be called NFS:Drift.

So it sounds like a slippery version of GRID, maybe.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:37 pm

I'm looking forward to the demo but man I wish EA would just make NFS Hot Pursuit III and return the series to it's glory days.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 4:23 pm

toonarmy wrote:Official Xbox Magazine now has a review up (9.0/10):

http://www.oxmonline.com/article/review ... peed-shift

Interesting review. The career mode keeps sounding cooler and cooler the more I read about it.

that review makes it sound really good. XBM is usually pretty trustworthy too.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:48 pm

Aquarius wrote:The game is the real deal so far. The cockip view is the best I have ever seen in a racer. It's more immersive than PGR for example. I have been playing Dirt 2 the past week so I have been having a difficult time getting used to the handling. The audio is exceptional as well. Great engine sounds, tire screeches, etc. What I like about it is, is definitely more sim oriented than any Need For Speed before it, but it is not a hardcore sim. I would call it a simlite. The career looks like it's going to take a long time to get through. I haven't tried online yet. If you have any interest in racing games, you should pick this up.

How does it compare to GrID?