[Review] Need For Speed: Shift

Since NFS: Most Wanted, the franchise hasn’t seen any game that has been a major hit. With the widely different tastes of its followers, Electronic Arts (EA) decided to trifurcate the series into a simulation racer, an arcade racer and an online component.

Shift is the first of this new lot, where NFS is going back to its roots and giving sim racing one more try, undeterred by the calamity known as ProStreet. And surprisingly, they’ve almost pulled it off…

Need For Speed: Shift isn’t the wild ride that we have come to expect from the franchise. It’s an emperor trying out new clothes, while still trying to make the followers accept the change in garments.

Taken in the context of a game that is meant to build a franchise of simulation-based racing games, NFS: Shift is the perfect introductory point for arcade racing fans to get into this new groove. Race Driver: Grid was the only other game that made the transition as simple as this.