Review
October 6, 2009

Need for Speed: Shift (PC Version)
You Could Spend More, But Why?

by Chuck "PFunk" Bellows

Introduction

Nine years is a very long time to wait for anything. We’ve started, waged, and ended entire armed conflicts in less time. Popular television series’ have been canceled after shorter runs. Hollywood marriages have ended quicker and if Britney Spears is any indication, so have restraining orders on drugged-out, formerly cute teen pop starlets.

But in this current entertainment ecosystem that subdivides and spawns faster than cultures of salmonella on a warm tuna-fish sandwich and creates the kind of digital bio-diversity that gives rise to Daikatana and Derek Smart kicking the crap out of vending machines, it’s a RIDICULOUSLY long time to wait, especially for a feature you’ve already tried once, but apparently forgot how to do.

Like a proper driving model. And they even had outside help.

I speak of EA’s newest offering in the ever-ubiquitous Need For Speed lineup. In this case, Shift.

It’s Been a While…

NFS: Shift marks a return, of some sort, to a long-lost and forgotten time. A time of hoarding 9mm ammo, canned goods, bottled water, and the VHS version of Escape From New York. The year was 2000, and we all hadn’t died, got our financial records destroyed by a computer network meltdown and it was the last time we saw Carrot Top without wondering if the guy was just going to spontaneously explode from steroid use.

It was also the last time EA trusted us behind the wheel of a car and not in a permanent "chase plane" mode, viewing the fun from afar. Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed was the very last title in the series to offer not only a cockpit view, but also a very convincing physics model that perfectly represented what it was like to lose traction, coupled with excellent force feedback response that truly felt like you were driving a car. Such realistic features were banished, though, in future NFS titles, replaced by NERF cars, open-world driving (as long as you didn’t want to go anywhere), and drowned out in the sound of backwards baseball cap-wearing, sag-busting, pimp-slapping, yo-bitch-get-out-tha-way rap music.

It’s Like Dating a Hot Chick That Treats You Like Crap

First, let’s talk about what I do like and get that out of the way fast. First of all, it’s pretty. Really pretty. Disgustingly pretty. The graphics are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It should be mentioned that they are nothing like what my video card has seen, either. The car external models and the cockpit interior are absolutely stunning in quality. They also stutter unaccountably in the worst places. Like when you’re turning, or accelerating, or anywhere there’s smoke.

I have a pretty solid machine, it’s not a monster, but it runs things like FSX at Ultra settings and full anti-aliasing pretty well without looking like a slide show, but it was completely unprepared for this encounter. All this eye candy comes at a price. The motion blur gets a little annoying, but one thing I did appreciate was the complete loss of visual cues when you impact something at an extremely high rate of speed.

Motion Blur

I Finally Didn’t Want to Claw My Ears Out

The sound is also a stellar rendering of the sweet music of a well-tuned V-8 clearing her throat and chewing asphalt halfway across the EU. When you mash down on the accelerator of the classic Toyota Skyline, the brobdingnagian roar that emanates from my Bose PC speakers shakes everything on my desk, my wife’s desk, my son’s toy shelf, and loosens the fillings of my elderly neighbor's teeth. The sound quality is truly high-definition caliber.

The music is now befitting of the title it means to represent, of course, so did the soundtracks of all the previous NFS series, but it was a representation I could have done without. The musical score fits the game perfectly, adding to the ambience and sophisticated atmosphere we’d expect from a game dealing with serious motorsport content.

Then it all goes to hell.

It’s A Bit Like Eating Chinese Food

It’s obvious this is a console port. It wasn’t until a few days ago that the first patch acknowledged that PC users have the benefit of this wonderful little gadget known as a mouse. Until then, it was, and to a certain extent still is, a nightmare of having to navigate through pre-programmed video and control setups until you find one that sort of fits you.

"Quick" and "Advanced" Tuning

Once you have the control scheme and visual tweaks you like, it’s time to dive into the meat of the game, the single-player career mode. This is not a bad thing in and of itself. The game attempts to track your actions and determine the type of driver you are, your racing style, if you will.

During races, you are awarded "drivers points" toward two styles, Precision and Aggression, depending on how you choose to drive. Execute perfect turns, clean passes, and stick to the racing line (like most of us try to do regardless) and you’re "known" as more of a precision driver. Tap fenders, block opponents, intentionally smash into competitors, punch judges and nail racing groupies without calling them in the morning, and you’re more of an Aggressive driver.

I’m not sure how I like a system that rewards points for maniacal behavior, especially since that REALLY pisses us off when we see people do that online.

The races themselves are anemic. Two-lap affairs against anywhere from 8 to 12 opponents in what has to be the most perfect seasonal weather conditions anywhere in the world. You earn points toward your driver profile, but you also earn "driving stars" for various podium finishes and whatever heroic actions you manage to pull off during the race. These stars are what unlocks racing tiers, cars, upgrades, and eventually gets you into the "World Championship" or some other such named cornball crap. This is in stark contrast to other racing titles that simply let you jump in a car and then grip it and rip it. I REALLY hate unlocking. It stands to offer so much, but then makes you settle for so little.

Quick Race

There is also the unbelievably silly placement of drifting events. It’s as if the development team said, “We really want you to concentrate on realistic driving and keeping a correct racing line and tire grip…until now.” That had to be an American addition.

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