First SHIFT Review: 9.0 From IGN

[Bojan]

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.

Read the whole review

[driverx15]

all i can say is WOW. i expected them to rip on the need for speed series again, but they actually gave it a positive attitude.

[Zotic+]

W W they made agood for once ( i know theyve made other good games) it looks really good, actually it scored higher then dirt 2. im probably gonna get this game as soon as possible.

now for a demo...

[arabnight]

wow someone gave nfs something higer then a 7? lol it looks great and from what ing is saying it feels great. i wish they threw a demo to make me feel great ha.

[zedex]

yeah a demo would be great

and I'm more surprised on how positive IGN was... I was starting to get used to their negativeness
looking forward to it!

[DMNBT]

Well, that's a very nice score. I'm not liking how the drift mode sounds though.

[2furio]

Eeehh, IGN is very inconsistent with their NFS reviews and I don't really follow them. Gamespot provides much better reviews and from a viewpoint that I can relate to. For example, IGN gave NFS: U2 a 9 also and to be honest, the game wasn't that great, while they have NFS: UC a 5 and I thought it was a pretty entertaining game. Gamespot on the other hand gave NFS: UC a 7 which was a much more realistic score and one that actually summed up the game nicely. So, I will wait for Gamespot's review and score for Shift before I draw any conclusions on the game.

[Danyutz]

According to IGN, it looks like EA has finally understood that the next NFS is either a pure success or the fall of the franchise. Still, we'll have to wait until the game releases.

[Zero260]

Well I'm impressed.

No mention of the customization or tuning aspects, though... Hmm.

[Danyutz]

They already been covered by bojan. They are a bit short, but that's ok

[Summ]

Nice review, though I'm getting a bit tired of cockpit camera and the head movements being presented like something totally new. Granted, they are the best thing since sliced bread, but decent games have had those since the dark ages! GTR, GTR2, GT Legends, GTR Evolution, Live For Speed, even another one I forgot the name of, also based on the ISIS engine, possibly iRacing as well (haven't tried it). We're talking games that are 6 years old, and I'm sure there have been many games featuring these things before them as well. Stop making it look like NFS Shift reinvented the wheel!

The sounds bit is interesting. Many games have decent sounds, few have excellent sounds. Looks like Shift is one of the latter, though the richness of the sounds doesn't justify the lack of road dirt against the under carriage and the omission of wind effects. Has anyone here been in a car on a highway at around 150-180 km/h? At those velocities the engine sounds get halfway drowned by the noise of the wind.

I'm intrigued about the handling model. No doubt they have eased up on the controls for all the pad/keyboard users, but hopefully that has not come at the expense of the wheel drivers.

[Trapez]

You'll find mainstays like Laguna Seca, Willow Springs and Nurbergring

WTF is NurbErgring?? Nürburgring u journalist ignorant Maybe u should also write Lugena Saca? Geeeez

Anywayz I guess I might actually buy this game, tho I really would like to play demo first. Forza 3 still in first place on my MUST HAVE list.

Has anyone here been in a car on a highway at around 150-180 km/h? At those velocities the engine sounds get halfway drowned by the noise of the wind.

I was doing around 225km/h and all I could here was tireroll and wind. But I guess that in race cars there are no sound isolations in car so you could actually here engine very well from the inside.

[kostis1993]

Glad IGN said something positive about the series...

[Summ]

I was doing around 225km/h and all I could here was tireroll and wind. But I guess that in race cars there are no sound isolations in car so you could actually here engine very well from the inside.

True that, but ignoring wind altogether is bad, imo. GT5 is the only game I've come across, which really implements wind sounds in a realistic way - it really adds to the immersion. It's a pity that Shift doesn't seem to have it as well.

[elie8]

Finally IGN gave NFS What it deserves all the way long !!!! A well deserved 9/10 to SMS !!!! Good work guys ... 3 Days Until I get my hands on the game ... I CAN'T WAIT !!!!

[oumysoft]

I've seen a few videos of GT5, and for some reason im not too impressed (then again I was never a GT fan from the start, never found the games a realistic as they claim), sure the graphics are beautiful and highly detailed and you have a rediculous amout of cars but the environments around it seem stale and downright BORING, even in the city tracks, its just TOO clean. I fealt (again from the vids) that need for speed shift offers way more in terms of gameplay and the sensation and theres alot more to look at even if it doesnt exist in real life.

I believe that need for speed got the review if deserves and i congratulate sms for creating what I think would be a great game.

[KammyworldRacerGT4]

Coming from the website who had the unabashed audacity to slam UC and Sonic Unleashed with little to no reason... this is very strange.

[TRANSFORMER]

What can I say... I'm really impressed and I would like it more with an Carreer Story Mode like once in DTM "Race Driver" (Codemasters), it was the 1st real ToCa Game I really enjoed, but I think I will enjoy the 1st Pos Perspective Mode, too, because I have never driven a Car in a Cockpit Perspective... I want this time 2 try it out & to feel the Need 4 Speed!

[Hydro_PT]

9.0 from IGN... well it's actually a very positive review, specially when the last games weren't well received (I wonder why ).

Still, I won't get all excited about this... I haven't tried the game yet, and there aren't any other reviews out there either, so I will patiently wait for some more info.

HOWEVER...... I'm happy, really happy to see EA taking the NFS games seriously again. It was about time. If IGN gave the game a 9.0, it means that at least is way better than the last ones. It might not be as good as it should, or it even might be better than the number shows, but at least, it's a good game, and that's what I wanted. Congratulations EA and SMS (let's not forget about them).

I can't wait to try it out (demo or no demo) and this will be my "Game of the Month". At least my wallet is saying that...

[anhology]

9.0 this kind of rating was a long time ago in nfs history

[Nitrocide]

Awesome! Can't wait for shift now.

Clearly a Prostreet sequel though, in the video you can see AI characters from past games such as Nate Denver, Ivan Tarkovsky and Karol Monroe.

[TRANSFORMER]

^ I did not noticed! ^