E3 09: Need For Speed SHIFT Trailer and Impressions
The latest trailer for the latest game in the Need for Speed franchise, Need for Speed SHIFT, was released this week at E3. The game being developed by Slightly Mad Studios, is a ’shift’ from the Need for Speed games that you know and love. EA marketing boss Keith Munro told Eurogamer,
The urban underground was a manifestation of style in some past Need for Speed games for sure, but Shift focuses less on these style cues and more on mirroring the driver experience, that athleticism of being in a wickedly-intense race, and what it really feels like to be behind the wheel
The goal of Need for Speed: SHIFT was to be much more like Gran Turismo, to move away from the exagerated driving and try to become as real as possible. One of the major features of the game according to the official description and a representative at E3 is the first-person cockpit view,
Players are thrust into the heart of the action with immersive and exciting features including a stunningly realistic first-person cockpit view camera and an all-new crash mechanic, providing an unrivaled sensation of the speed and feeling of racing a car on the extreme edge of control.
Slightly Mad Studios did not do a bad job with this game, it works well, but it just isn’t Need for Speed. And for my money I would rather buy a game like Project Gotham Racing, Forza, or Gran Turismo. There is a point where a game can become too real. In Need for Speed: SHIFT, when you crash, depending on the severity of the crash a few things will happen. If you are in a light crash your view will turn black and white, and if it is a larger crash your vision will become blurry. This is just annoying and makes it difficult to recover from a crash. Now this wont be a problem for players that are good, but for those casual gamers that just like to go as fast as they can and bump into other cars and walls this game will not be fun.
Again this is not a bad game, it just is not the game that is going to revamp the Need for Speed franchise.
June 4th, 2009 at 5:35 am
“The goal of Need for Speed: SHIFT was to be much more like Gran Turismo, to move away from the exagerated driving and try to become as real as possible.”
er i thought GT was an under-exagerated realistic sim?
July 21st, 2009 at 7:46 am
This game is going to be completely shocking. We have had enough of bloody chilled back, circuit set out racing.
.Grid
.GT
.EPF
.NFS: Prostreet
We want street racing again. Most wanted was the best need for speed. Rated by my company and friends. The camera positioning oin this game is absolutely ridiculous. You can’t hit a fly without the camera going nuts!
I have brought every nfs since the very start. Pre ordering Prostreet was a mistake!
Nice one nfs, you screwed up for the second time.
September 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
The game is not about realism, its about feel. Also, Project Gothem and GT and Forza are completely different games. PR is almost the same game but NFS:S takes that formula and runs with it. If anything, it is Grid without a desaturated color scheme and with more of an emphasis on track racing… to its mother fucking roots.
Seriously, NFS didnt start out as a bullshit street racing game. It was about the driving experience. This game is going back to that. I think you should give it a chance and play it before you cry wolf.