This game is a terrible attempt at being a Forza-esque game. If you can even make it run on your PC, you are greeted with poor framerates on a DX-9.0c game. I'm running a 955BE and an HD4890 and get 30-50fps with some goodies turned off. Physics are terrible, the AI has the ability to not oversteer, you as the player are not so lucky. EA support is non-existent on their forums. Playability issues are the main problem, but the moderators have suddenly disappeared when SHIFT came out... wonder why? If you need a racing game now, get Dirt 2 for xbox360 or ps3. I'd avoid this game at all costs.… Expand

Boring. I played it for 4h and I haven't played ever since. What else can I say?

Well been looking forward to this game for a while now and to tell ya the truth... totally disappointed, the handling of these cars in this game is nothing short of crap, not fun and not worth purchasing. It would seem the highlights of EA's franchise is underground 2 which, ok wasn't THAT realistic compared to simbins games (gtr 1+2, gt legends and RACE) or to codemasters grid, but it was fun to play, gave you a fair amount of a challenge and didn't pretend to be anything that it wasn't, a true simulator. OK the graphics might be pretty but that's the only thing good i can say about it and to be honest when your immersed in a game you kinda forget all the sparkling polygons flying by because your concentrating and having fun. So my advice would be leave this drissmal game on the shelf, save 15 or 20 quid and go buy GRID, Dirt or a simbim game, i guess the next racing game to look forward to is codemasters f1 2009 game, and unlike EA, codemasters don't continually let you down.… Expand

You cannot be serious? Why is this game getting high ratings? Graphically, this game is sound. A few glitches here and there, but otherwise visually stunning: and that's where the good stuff ends. The cars handle like shopping trolleys whether you're using a steering wheel or a gamepad, whether you have all the assists on or off, it's makes absolutely zero difference to whether your car handles like it's supposed to. I am constantly wrestling with every car, some may say this is how a simulation is supposed to be... all lies. a simulation is supposed to be realistic. This game however, is not; even as an arcade racer, it just isn't fun to play. If there was ever a case where the high-profile reviewers were allured by EA, this is it. Shocking game, if you want to buy a decent racing game until F1 2010 comes out, may I suggest Grid, GTR2 or Dirt.… Expand

I gave 1 for graphics... it work good as expected. When I'd launch NFSS first time and run the first 2 laps I though Im just so bad and i dont understand physics of that game. After that i tryed to finish first race... it was impossible. car spinning around like twister! turning was terrible.. like online with ping 450-600. I was frustrated by cut scens taking ages to start race every restart. finaly i decide to quit. and what happed? THERE IS NO QUIT IN MENU DURING FIRST RACE !!!!!!!!!!!! that is just unforgivable. Need for Speed SHIFT is actualy WORST race game i've ever played.… Expand

I was really looking forward to this, the nfs franchise moving forward in what i thought was the correct way, although i do miss the old ones (cop chases in particular) This game is pretty bad. It try's to be semi realistic, yes maybe the cockpits are kind of there, however, the handling of the cars is rediculous. utterly brainless. The graphics are too. Lots of nice flashy rubbish, which doesnt represent anything close to even semi realism. Its all very tacky. oh so tacky.. its even tackier than the underground series. It feels more like a meeting in a car park with your suped up corsa than any other nfs game. The controls are also really really bad... I tried and failed to get any kind of feeling of the cars with my logitech g25. The sensitivity is all over the place, and the same goes with the deadzone, no matter how hard i try to mess around with the settings, its either way too sensitive or i not at all.. Some of the reviews ive read are laughable, 9.0's and 80%+ haha, it almost makes me wonder if they are paying the magazines/reviewers to give it an obviously fake score... This was the nail in the coffin for nfs. once an amazing cop chasing/robber chasing thrill ride, to a local meet up at tesco's car park with a few chavs, who have the brainpower of 0. what a joke....(although the gfx are nice :P ).… Expand

This is the worst racing game I've have ever come across. It's a complete and utter mess. There is a massive stickied complaint thread over at EA: Shift Technical forum from those using AMD hardware. Issues are but not limited to stutter, microstutter (with single video card with high FPS), pausing, warping, and lower then expected frame rates regardless of resolution with reduced IQ settings. Some tracks simply crash/loop or have black sky boxes. Other reported server input lag or the game simply doesn't work at all. The majority of complaints seem to come from those with Radeon video cards and/or using AMD CPUs. Some nvidia users are not immune to this but they are the exception not the rule. Some believe that the issue is the use of CPU physx. PC Game Hardware states that physx is used in this game for low level calculation, etc. As for the actual game play the AI is horrendous. They play as if you are online against users who are playing a racing game for the 1st time. That's the best description I can provide you. You have AI rammers, AI who slow down for no reason, will block you from passing, etc. There is an unnatural oversteer to cars that are upgraded. Or the car would unnaturally slide around mild corners at lower speeds. The tuning aspect of this game isn't working properly were under/over steer sliders may have been switched. Also some reported having to restart a race more then once to get their tuned settings to work with that vehicle. I can go on and on about this game but it's obvious wasn't ready to be released. The only truth to this game is that it has a higher poly count then Grid. This is using the original released version using the 1st patch.… Expand

What the hell is this garbage you see the ads on tv and wow it looks amazing you read the reviews on IGN and gamespot (until now i respected their reviews) and your thinking finally a good NFS since underground 1 & 2. when in reality you sit down to play, admitably the graphics are very pretty but sadly that's where it ends. As soon as you hit 60MPH it feels like somebody has replaced your suspension with pogo sticks the cars cant even drive in a straight line without losing control. This has to be one of the worst driving games on handling and physics since the PS1 days and i have played loads of Driving games since then. If you want a Sim get Race07 GTR or Forza if you want Arcade get GRID until something else comes along that honestly is better. All i can say is roll on forza 3 good times to come :) avoid this EA lack of creativity garbage EA big boys are killing the industry by eating up all the little boys they are killing the imagination that came from the numerous small guys that used to be out there how long are we the consumer going to put up with this and this trend that has been happening since the beginning of this decade. slightly mad studios is about the most appropriate name i could come up for the developers you have to be mad if you think this absolute s**t is going to compete with Forza, Grid, Colin Mcrae and dare i say the evil PS3 Gran Turismo (lol) all these titles leave you standing eating their brake dust if you had any sense of decency you should call in a product recall redevelop this tripe and refund all the mugs like myself that believed the paid of reviewers and the well presented ad campaigns. (i did give it a fair attempt of 2 days of frustration i cant take no more after upgrading my RX8 to max spec it still handles like a robin reliant with two fat ladies sat in the back).… Expand

This game is a complete fail. If you are looking for a solid sim racer, this is not it. It is not realistic at all, graphics are cheap, control and feeling is horrible. This game is not worth your money, don't believe the critics and avoid this game. I'm giving this game a 1 just because it ran flawlessly on a GTX 280, 4GB DDR2, Q9550 4Ghz, 19x10 res, and every setting at almost max. And even then, the graphics are still cheap and fake.… Expand

Seriously anyone who gave this game a high score works for EA and is simply uploading good reviews. Why is there no one who says the game is alright but needs to improve in certain areas? because its a huge propaganda campaign: 1. get all the reviewers and, well, employees to say how great this game is. 2. Watch as it sells millions of copies. 3. Laugh as you go to the bank! Seriously don't buy this game and when you read a good review of this game don't believe it, what have I got to gain by saying its a bad game when actually it's a good game? it is the worst game ever!!!… Expand

Game runs smoothly on my core i7 and 4850, that wasn't a problem for me. What is a problem is that every single car feels like it's a stick of butter flying around on the track. It is impossible to drive any of these cars. There is no reason to not have default keyboard controls setup properly for a playable game.

Poorly optimised, flashy graphics, shitty "revolutionary" physics engine (you run your car into a wall at 200 MPH and all that happens is your fender falls off) 2008's GRID beats the crap out of this game in every way, except shiny cockpit effects and graphics... WAY overrated.

Overly generic racing game with sub-par handling and controls, boring career progression, AI that doesn't function on the same rule set as the player, the list goes on. The game looks good though and a lot of people seem to be basing their entire decision on whether or not this is a good game on the graphics. One thing must be noted, approx 40% of the races in career mode do not use your car that you customise throughout the game. Overall, a very disappointing game.… Expand

Jim two times more or less sums up this mish mash of a game...un skipable videos arghhhh!!!!!....stupid arcade style menus!! arghhhh... what is the point of going to all the trouble of trying to inject some realism into this game with gtr2 staff in its design team then give it dumb stupid menus with awkward retarded navigation!... And No option to quit the first race!...i got so fed up with the extreme unrealistic handling and stupid spinning ... And the pc requirements are very demanding so dont even bother unless you have an up to date top notch setup!.... i have given this a 2.....under the bonnet lies a nice game...but its spoilt by so many stupid restrictions and a daft points system which unlocks cars and tracks!...its a typical 12 yr olds wam bam race me mam type of stupid arcadey racer...it could have been so much more but in the end its not worth the frustration! How the meta score is so high i can only assume some back handers have gone on with the review sites!....still at least we get the chance to give our opinions thank god...avoid this game..it will only end in tears and frustration!… Expand

This is not only the worst NFS game ever, it is the worst racing simulation for a PC ever. It is simply appalling in every way. Even if they get to patching it, they surely have blown the Christmas season by letting this out in such a state. I'm returning mine and getting another copy of RFactor instead. Just mind-boggling how poor the final product turned out.

Inferior to GRID in every way. The single most important point in a racing game is the handling. In Shift it's horribly broken. Graphic effects are strange, at 60mph in cockpit view you'd think youre car is falling appart. KI is dumb, too.

A broad range of tracks, cars, challenges and upgrades make for a promising new title from EA. However, poorly executed physics and unrewarding gameplay dissapoint all round. The game has a very uneven learning curve where smaller races are far too easy and then become disproportionally more difficult with each progression through the game. If you're likely to be using the keyboard rather than a wheel, don't buy this game, buy GRID instead. The controls are so unforgiving that all the rear wheel drive cars (almost all of the top-end ones) are unusable because of uncontrolable oversteer round the gentlest of corners. If you do have a wheel, you still won't be impressed as the physics and car control are well below standard. The graphics are completely unremarkable and don't measure up to Gran Turismo 3 on a PS2. In particular, dissapearing objects and cars in the rear-view look rubbish. Despite being relatively large compared to other titles like GRID, the game feels poorly finished and generally unsatisfying. It just doesn't measure up.… Expand

ZERO... that's how many new ideas brought NFS Shift to this type of organised racing. A worthless copy of Codemasters' GRID, with an attempt at better graphics, but failed by making everything too shiny. The loading screens take way to much time, i'm sick of them. And gameplay is often interrupted by stupid cinematics. I spent more time watching those movies than playing the actual game. To conclude, i'll replay GRID any day, rather than spending money on this, or the last one, Pro Street... By the way, i consider Most Wanted and Carbon the best of the NFS series.… Expand

Awful game, no replays, unskippable cut scenes, cant quit the first race, wont alt+enter for win mode, very poor presentation, frame rate all over the place, etc, etc.. There is a good game in here, but everything surrounding the racing is sub par, and not up to what we expect in 2009.

It's bad even for Electronic-Arts-console-game standards. Bad optimization, lack of realism, I hope crisis will soon finish EA and his shareholders.

The 87 metascore doesn't make any sense, it seems like they just copied their reviews from their console section. Anyway, realistic? I dont think spinning out all the freaking time is realistic, these are proper cars so they should handle properly. It's too easy on the easier difficulties so im stuck at the harder ones. First bend, even if you enter it at 5 mp/h gets me spinning, and it doesnt stop spinning until I finish. Before EA tries to make a 'realistic' nfs again they should take a good look at games like GRID and DIRT.… Expand

Unplayable under ATI graphic cards: 25 fps with a 4870x2. Ridicolous. And ridicolous all the review on internet giving 9 to this piece of ...STAY AWAY!!

This game is absolute horse manure. When I heared there was a new Need for Speed game out I was quite excited, I was expecting an arcade style thriller similar to the likes of Underground one and two or carbon. When I actually played the game however I soon realised that this is a completely different game probably designed by a team that doesn't even know the makers of underground and carbon. The game itself is a poor atempt at a realistic racing simulator game. The whole engine is fataly flawed, the cars handel worse than any vehicle I have ever come across, the graphics seem like they are modern graphics pasted on to an outdated engine and the in game loading times are ridiculous especially when you think about what it is you're waiting for. A game that I generously gave a 4/10. It is unclear what style the design team were going for when creating this game and I suspect this game is the result of too many ideas with poor implementation. In summary I would recommend this game to no one, it is a waste of money and the Need for Speed franchise need to realise we dont want games like Shift or even pro street, we want games like underground or most wanted. If you are looking for a fun arcade racing classic go for Race Driver Grid (PC). If on the other hand you are looking for a realistic driving sim GTR2 Evolution (PC) is not great but alot better than this. On the other hand if you own an Xbox get Forza 2.… Expand

The media kept on telling us that this NFS was NFS back at it's best, that after a few dodgy (disgraceful efforts imo) releases the franchise was saved with Shift. Well, i'm not sure about who has been paying them to say this because NFS: Shift should have been called NFS: Alt+F4. Awful AI, dodgy handling at all levels, slow load times in places, and presentation that would easily induce an epileptic fit to those who don't even suffer from it. EA Games once again proving that they have eaten up so many decent developers that what comes out is a mish mash of good ideas with no substance. Maybe EA are finally reaping the ignorance that they have sewed over the past few years of bully tactics.… Expand

Having just tried the demo I have to say that I'm damned glad I didn't pre order this piece of junk. I thought this was supposed to be a return to the roots of NFS, well I hate to tell you this, but the original NFS kicks this thing into the dirt (and it was all down hill from NFS2). With a steering wheel, this thing has worse handling than my 18 year old Nissan Sunny, and that's clocked over 100K miles and so at least has an excuse for slightly naff and vague controls. The AI is a complete joke, every single one of them would get black flagged before managing two laps for their driving standards, it ends up as a crash fest throuhg being brake check on the EXIT to a corner, really realistic. All this has got going for it, is it looks nice, otherwise it would have got 0..... save your money and get Race On or if you want an arcade racer, there are plenty to go for (not my cup of tea), this half arsed concoction should have been strangled at birth.… Expand

It's rubbish! Frame rate is all over the place on an oc'd QX6700, 8800GTX SLI, 4Gb Ram. Feels choppy even when the frame rate is relatively high. Laggy controls too. Whatever your preferences about style of racer the various GTRs and Grid are technically in another league to this. I too am suspicious about the wildly varying review scores for this game - not only many review sites, but also in this user review section. Any employees of EA with us here?… Expand

the look of the game is great while the playability is very poor. The AI are like god drivers at times while the controls for the user seem very delayed resulting in alot of over and under steering.
maybe looking at the game play before the graphics is a better option.
this is all based on the PC version.

Well , only thing counting for this game is the graphics . Handling is useless, with the game assists on your never really in control .When you put them of the car is imposable to control. even when you put the steering sensitivity on 1% its still way to sensitive.And most of the reviewers like cockpit camera change but whats the use of it if you can only use it with a xbox remote. ITS A PC GAME !!!!… Expand

How did this game pass the testing phase? It's awful on every level. The graphics are dull and lifeless, the engine is old, the gameplay is static and repetitive but worst of all is the handling is akin to doing aerobics in cement. The NFS really dropped the ball on this one.

Simply awful game. Deserves a negative vote.

A polished turd, clearly made for consoles, with little respect shown to the PC. Has a capable engine deep within, which is severely dumbed down to appeal to the mediocre console masses. An obvious attempt by EA to maximize profits by trying to be a sim and an arcade racer in one with watered down results. They have made a lot of money with it, but it's one big sell out.

I don't think the game was as bad as some of the other before me seem to think, a bit too harsh. but the game is a disappointment. i liked the graphics, on par with Forza and Grand Turismo, but the comparisons stop there. handling and physics are really poor, especially on the supercars(which is why i bought the game in the first place). also, it looks like there is suppose to be a story line, but its extremely crappy. boss races(or rival races) don't have any meaning, unlike in previous nfs games. i personally think nfs need to go back to its roots, thats where they grew their fanbase. their gonna lose all of their support if they keep pumping out games like this.… Expand

This was a huge disappointment. The cars do not drive well; the AI drivers are terrible slowing down way too much at turns; and when you do inevitably hit another car, the collision physics is embarrassing. It is not a fun game to play at all. The cockpit view is unimpressive and the effects are forced. If you want to play a game with a great cockpit, try Dirt2.

Phil.... Gamespot was one of the two review sites to review the game right. (The other was Eurogamer.) The rest of the sites must have been paid off by EA. Seriously, this game doesn't deserve a 6, and it is a crime to rate it a 9! The sound is terrible! What the heck is the hype! The handling and physics could have been put into a game called "Gas Powered Shopping Carts!) and been awesome, but retarded. The cockpit of my vehicle in real life does not tremble and shake when I get to 60 mph, sorry. I don't get tunnel vision at 70 either. If you hit the nitrous in this game the engine revs up no matter what speed you are going! I was going 160mph in my 700hp Camaro 2010 and hit the nitrous and it fricken went from 6000rpm to rev limiter and the speed went up 2mph! Like it was on ice. What the **** EA! The handling model from Need For Speed underground would have been better than this!… Expand

Very choppy, and unplayable, on even a high end machine. Physics are sloppy and arcade like. Why would you want to see your wheel and hands in motion especially when you are using a wheel and can see your own???

Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Whoever wrote the physics engine for this game has obviously never driven a car above 12mph. The controls, even after careful adjustment and much trial, are atrocious. Either severe over or understeer, with no possible solution between. New in-cockpit view? Give me a break. Vision blurring as soon as the car breaks 100mph? I've never seen the gauges in my car fade to a fogged texture at speed. Feel every bump? Oh yeah. Every single one that's not there. The AI is pathetic, the driving sucks, the upgrades are the same bolt-on no-sense crap usually found in NFS games. The car stats are bar graphs. This game really is EA's attempt to make a Grid, and it's a miserable failure. If you're looking at this for your next driver, go get Grid.… Expand

This is not a game designed for a PC audience. Console control themes permeate the game too much and make it far too annoying to play. Bad physics, terrible control, not-quite-there visuals and a half-hearted attempt at intruding into the sim genre rather than staying closer to NFS's more arcade style roots makes for a dismal game. Bring back NFS 2 SE.

Ever feel like playing a racing game where the driver is mentally handicapped? Well here's your chance! Over-done camera movements. Imagine going 100kmh/60mph and violently shaking your head from side to side for no apparent reason. When was the last time you did that on a highway? Oh right, never. Terrible car physics. EVERY single car oversteers. No amount of tuning or suspension upgrades resolves this. Not to mention every little bump causes your car to hop. Only adding to the already bad camera. Very poor controls. The steering always feels delayed, like the driver never used a steering wheel before. Only redeeming qualities: Good sense of speed and in-car view. That's it.… Expand

Can i just say, that this game is absolutely awful. ive been a fan of need for speed since the glory days of hot pursuit, i enjoyed playin underground 1&2 over and over, after that tho, the nfs series just got worse and worse. i seen it advertise on the telly, this shift, and thought it looks good, granted its nice to look at, and has good graphics, but the game play is rubbish, the physics arent even there i dont think, there is no sense of control as soon as you hit high speed, it feels as tho your driving on ice. my computer is an alienware, with core i7 extreme processor, and a gtx295 graph card, and it still runs absoloutly shoking. this game is a waist of time and money, if i were you, get a 360 and wait for forza 3, for those who have played previous forza games, youll no its amazing and its generally brilliant.… Expand

"0" -very bad console port: all the menus are a pain and being able to use the mouse to select stuff would be so much easier. -it doesnt add anything new to the genre, apart from non-steering cars (reminds me of gta IV) -requests an even longer-than-usual "grind" through low-tier cars before you can unlock anything worth driving. -physics engine makes for fun times, because its a joke
i dont understand why they bothered to add vinyls and such when there is no way you can see them since there is no 3rd person camera, meaning driving different cars doesnt change the experience by much. all you'll notice is better speed, etc
ive been playing and loving NFS since porche unleashed. ive completed the careers for underground 1&2; most wanted, carbon, i liked them all, yet i uninstalled shift after 2 days.. -all the (terribly boring) cutscenes (for example before and after each race) cannot be skipped.
the critics who gave this an 83 mustve been either high or very well paid.… Expand

The game is hardly playable: feels like driving a soapbox car on a greasy road. Depending on the level you choose you either spend your time spinning for no apparent reason or the computer will control too much of your driving. Cars feel slow at 60mph and you may get some sense of speed at 120mph. However graphics are pleasing.

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Worst... NFS... EVER. I thought after Pro Street they couldn't sink any lower with the series but this must be what rock bottom is like. The handling is absolutely dreadful, this game is trying to position itself as a combination of GRID and sim racing and as a result fails at doing either one of those. Went into the closet after less then half an hour of playing...

El juego esta plagado de errores técnicos, y la jugabilidad es de las peores que he visto en un título de carreras. Simplemente malo, si lo tenían pensado para simulador de carreras, vayan urgentemente por otra vía.