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Need for Speed SHIFT

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5.1 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 22 critic reviews
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Based on 167 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Slightly Mad Studios - Black Box - Patrick Soderlund

Genre(s): Racing, Driving

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: September 15, 2009

Summary

Need for Speed SHIFT brings a true driver's experience to some of the world's most iconic racing tracks, including the storied Brand's Hatch in the UK. The game also features the largest roster of high-performance cars in Need for Speed history including race cars such as the Pagani Zonda F, Porsche 911 GT2 and Lotus Elise. Players are thrust into the loud, intense, and athletic experience of racing a car from the driver's perspective through the combination of perception based G-forces, the hyper reality of the cockpit view, and the all-new brutally disorienting crash dynamic. Need for Speed SHIFT features an accurate, accessible physics-based driving model that allows you to feel every impact, every change of track surface and every last bit of grip as you push yourself to the edge. [Electronic Arts]

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

IGN

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.

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Multiplayer.it

No longer a classic need for speed game, EA made a true shift, a u-turn, developing a great game, with stunning visuals, and a lot of cars and tracks. The nightly undercover challenges are gone, but the new mechanics, borrowed from games such Forza or GT work well in conveying a great driving feeling.

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Total Video Games

It's both a genre leading racing sim and a mass market EA game at the same time, which is a particularly difficult balancing act to pull off. Shift is easily the best driving game so far this year and will certainly be in amongst the likes of Forza 3 (and possibly GT5, if it emerges) when the brake dust from 2009 settles.

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Cynamite

Go, NfS! I had serious doubts about this one, but it delivers like a Porsche.

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PC Gamer UK

An excellent balancing act between arcade racing and simulated driving, with shudderingly fast cars. [Dec 2009, p.102]

GameStar

An impressive comeback of the Need for Speed series. The game shows the touch of the experienced team that created the GTR series. It's a clear recommendation for fans of racing game despite of some balancing problems and long loading times.

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Computer Games Online RO

It doesn’t matter that there are some technical issues, it doesn’t matter that the Carreer mode could have been better or the handling model should have worked better at default options: the main thing here is that the game is fun.

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Play Magazine

SHIFT will disappoint those looking for Maggie Q and cop chases, but racing sim fans, looking for a solid alternative to Forza and the like, should buckle-up for Need for Speed’s new ride.

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Cheat Code Central

Need for Speed: Shift is a great reboot for the NFS franchise.

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PC Zone UK

A highly enjoyable racing game with a lot of polish and it's good to see the franchise try a little harder. [Dec 2009, p.66]

InsideGamer.nl

Need for Speed: Shift has found the right direction once again. The race feeling with the most cars is fantastic and the game looks great. There is enough to do and the experience system invites the player to do races more than once.

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1UP

Because multiplayer puts all the focus back on just racing, online could be Shift's strongest suit.

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GamingXP

With Need for Speed: Shift you will get pure racing action with an incredible kind of feeling. You can’t imagine it!

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Gamers.at

SHIFT doesn't offer anything ground-breakingly new (despite the awesome Cockpit-View), but doesn't do anything important wrong either. So if you are longing for a solid Racing-Simulation with good graphics: go get it! But keep in mind that Forza3, Race On and GT5 are already on the horizon.

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AtomicGamer

Need for Speed: Shift fills an interesting niche for a gamer looking for a light-hearted action racer masquerading as something serious.

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Boomtown

On the whole though the racing action is very good, with a strong range of cars, attractive visuals and an international approach to motorsport that doesn't seem false or forced.

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VideoGamer

Need For Speed: Shift is a brilliant new start for the franchise and has clearly been built by a team that loves racing.

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Absolute Games

Shift plays to the gallery perhaps even more often than GRID. But when 16 glossy black Lamborghini Reventions, not yet spread along the track, are trying to squeeze into a narrow S-curve, high speed blurring the view, mixing dust with sun rays, and the driver is looking at the road from the incredibly detailed inside of a car… At this moment, you forget that crashes are unrealistic and that race will be over in just a few minutes. And let the theorists decide whether it is NFS or not.

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PC PowerPlay

More fun than the entire French air force crashing into a firework factory. [Dec 2009, p.62]

Level7.nu

For starters, this is not the Need for Speed of yore. Shift represents a true attempt from EA to create an authentic racing experience, a successful attempt that brings the Need for Speed name out of the shadows and into our racing hearts. Shift is meant to be experienced from the cockpit view where the rattling of your head at collisions and the blurring of your vision at high speeds work together to immerse the player in the experience. Neither the career mode nor the online mode are especially varied and the appeal of the game is limited to those with an affection for realistic racing experiences. Nevertheless, Need for Speed: Shift is a return to form for the franchise.

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LEVEL (Czech Republic)

Forget the arcade with B-movie stars and “gangsta” driving this is real and realistic circuit racing. Shift can duel any of the speed-racing rivals with no fear. [Oct 2009]

PC Format

Tailor-made to please its boy-racer target audience, but if you want more sophistication in your racing go back to GRID. [Dec 2009, p.93]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.1 (out of 10) based on 167 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Rune S gave it a6:
Awesome graphics but thats about it. Driving the cars is like driving a car on scalectrix track.You get no input through the wheel.

claudio g gave it an8:
although it does not follow the same concept of the best version of need for speed - most wanted, NFS Shift believe is the best version presented in comparison to pro street and undercover, the career mode is excellent and it becomes even better when your skills increase, experience who will not be disappointed!

Peter TechGuy gave it a7:
Need for Speed: Shift is like a gateway drug to the world of hardcore simulations. With all driver aids on - easy opponents, automatic braking, traction control, no damage, driving line - the game's circuits can be navigated with one hand on the controller. Turn them off and it's totally different. Your opponents aggressively attack you. Take a corner at speed and you'll spin out. Crash at all and it's game over. Shift is the first racing game where I've wanted to drive using nothing but cockpit view. It's thrilling, peering over the steering wheel as the screen shakes slightly because of the speed, feeling like the car is just moments away from flight. It also seems authentic. Shift is an excellent balancing act between arcade racing and simulated driving, but there's danger when mixing styles that you end up satisfying neither group of fans. The hardcore get annoyed by all the whoosh-banging menus and lapses of detail. The common man gets intimidated by statistics and toe angles, that's why the user score is far lower than critic score. But Shift is the best attempt in a while at providing something that balances both, while providing a route for the unintiated into an imposing genre.

right there gave it a9:
just beat the game. was pretty good. 1st time i installed it i didn't have a gamepad so i gave up but later i bought a gamepad and installed again. i tweaked the controls to suit my style and had a good time. what i love about the game: -graphics are stunning overall, - the cockpit view is fabulous, i played like 90% from that view -the sound is great, you can really feel the engine and the tires shredding -the career mode is excellent, you get points for everything you do, from being precise to knocking opponents off the track -the ai is pretty good, i played it on medium most of the time and its a challenge. it will kick you out the track, it will block you, it will pressure you, sometimes it will make mistakes, overall its pretty good -i love that i don't have to win every single race, it feels more natural to me when sometimes i have to struggle for 4th or 5th place on a track i don't like that much. i am sick of games where you have to win every single race like you are schumacher, this game allows you to progress without being forced to win every single race -tracks are beautiful, some of them pretty tough, some of them a joy, good mixture of real and fictional tracks -good selection of cars and supercars now what i hated about it: -controls, you must tweak a lot before you can actually drive -physics are kind of shit, most of the time i feel like driving a soap, you either oversteer or understeer through the corners, from cockpit view though the feeling is less present, but its awkward how the cars behave sometimes -drift races, hate them, the good news is you can skip them -loading times are a pain in the ass overall i loved to play it on my gamepad, i love the mixture of sim and arcade. though i beat it I will keep it and have a few races once in a while. many compare it to grid but they are totally different. i loved drift at its time but now i prefer shift

Daryl C gave it an8:
People giving this game 0 - 3 scores, what did you expect this game to be? It's a NEED FOR SPEED game! Have you played the last 5 of them? Seen what they are? They're not Sim games and never will be as long as EA is publishing. However, this game is probably the most fun I've had with NFS since Underground 2. I enjoy the sim style mixed with arcade options. Playing this with anything less than an analog gamepad is just asking for a headache. You NEED analog shoulder buttons for gas and brake or you'll never drive properly in this game. Graphics are fantastic, and the sense of speed is great (although the blurring of the gauges is kinda funky). Sounds are top notch, if you have 5.1 speakers you'll want to crank them. Cars can be a bit touchy if you don't play with the control settings to find the setup you like, so make sure you spend a good half hour tweaking until you're happy. AI can be a little funny at times, been rear ended coming into a corner more than a few times, and the take certain corners really slow. Overall great mix of sim/arcade styles. Pick it up if you aren't a nutball who expects something this isn't.

Will X gave it a2:
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.

John C gave it a2:
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.

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Need for Speed SHIFT

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