Finally!

After two very mediocre and one borderline-okay title, EA has at long last managed to get their trademark racing series back on track.

This is not to say that 'Shift' is perfect, but it's a far cry better than 'Pro Street', 'Undercover' and even 'Carbon', coming in close behind 'Most Wanted' in my book.

Any review on the game can easily end right here: if you are a fan of the series, you will love this one. That's all you really need to know about 'Shift', but no self- respecting review can get away with just that — our task as reviewers are, after all, to inform. So here goes...

In its basic elements, 'Shift' is a racing game of two worlds: part arcade racer, part simulation. EA tried this once before with 'Pro Street' — and failed miserably. It was a wreck from start to finish, trying to be a game that could appeal to both types of racing gamers, but just belly-flopped in the no-man's-land in between.

In 'Shift', however, EA seems to have found the balance. It's at heart still a solid arcade racer, but with enough simulation parts to make the racing more interesting without becoming too technical and so drown out the fun.

At this point, a comparison with 'Project Gotham Racing 4' is inevitable: it has the same blend of arcade vs. simulation and even has the same look and feel. Of the two, however, I prefer 'Shift' as it can be taken just that little bit more seriously.

Which brings me to the most important element that EA nailed with 'Shift': not trying to be cool. The sub-culture thing worked in 'Most Wanted', but got lost in the glitz of 'Carbon', caused nausea in 'Pro Street' and just seemed dumb in 'Undercover'.

Developer Slightly Mad Studios finally got the message and did away with all of that. Which means no underground racer dudes waxing gangster, no hot female sidekick, and no hopping soundtrack.

Instead they focussed their attention on what makes a racing game great: an awesome driving experience that looks superb. And 'Shift', ladies and gentlemen, is all that.

It's as welcome as it is revitalising to a series that was practically dead in the water.

Talk to me about the looks...

Apart from the immensely impressive lighting effects of 'Most Wanted', no other 'Need for Speed' game has ever looked this amazing. Even the crowds look impressive. Hurtling at 250+ km/h down a lane of trees is a feast to behold, while the attention to detail — e.g. London sporting construction cranes across the city skyline as it is currently doing in real life — is superb.

The necessary in-game advertising is fortunately not too obtrusive either and sticks to the kind of products you'd expect at a racing event for the most part.

Then there's the damage model: don't expect your car to fall apart after crashing into a solid wall, but this is by far the most damage any 'Need for Speed' game has allowed. The damage model does more to impede your visual field of the track than actually impeding the handling of the car itself.

For example, after connecting with a wall, your screen washes out momentarily, leaving you disorientated and sometimes even having to guess which way is up. For a few seconds this can cause all sorts of mayhem, but once it has passed, you're good to go again. Of more permanent impact is the cracking and glazing out of your windscreen, which impedes your visual field of the track.

So it looks good, but how does it handle?

Very well, actually.

It's still very much an arcade racer (I could actually slam into the back of an opponent with a freaking Lamborghini and flip it into the air) but very punishing if you don't concentrate on what you're doing. Fortunately, 'Shift' isn't punishing in the frustrating way of 'Undercover' which loved to impede your driving by blocking you at every turn.

'Shift' also comes with driver assist tools, which are obviously nice to have but they're not always very accurate. At the start of the game you do a test round and the game suggests the driver assist tools that it thinks you should switch on, but you can drive without any of them if you like. Finding the right balance between what to keep and what to let go of, will result in a great driving experience.

There's enough variation in race modes to keep things interesting, while you can still pick cars from a great licensed line-up. As before you can pimp your ride, but the emphasis has moved away from bling and more onto actually improving your car. You're also consistently rewarded with ample money to keep upgrading your car and buy new ones.

On the online multiplayer front, 'Shift' features a unique mode known as Driver Duel. This mode sees all players start in low spec cars, but as you rope in the wins, you get to drive more powerful cars. But lose a race and you're back to driving your slow vehicle. It's all exciting stuff, but unfortunately there is no split-screen multiplayer.

Ultimately, 'Shift' could be deemed bland in its simplistic competence if it wasn't so much fun to play. Gone is the feeble attempt at being cool in a blinded quest for relevance. In its place we have a solid racer with no-nonsense gameplay that's a cracking good ride.

At long last, 'Need for Speed' is back.

8.8/10

Buy this game: PS3 | Xbox 360 | PC | PSP

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