Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed is an
example of the art of compromise. It's basic structure and approach takes
most of its inspiration from the likes of Gran Turismo and Forza
Motorsport, but the actual racing is more tuned to the casual audience.
The game's forgiving controls and predictable AI make the races very
simple to run and its overall difficulty isn't nearly as hard as it could
have been and definitely much easier than the first Shift title. This new
balance makes the game feel more accessible, but comes with the trade-off
that makes the game less challenging and shallower in terms of difficulty.
The selection of vehicles is quite impressive and worth the effort. You'll
find a variety of manufacturers such as Lotus, Chevy and Aston Martin to
name a few. Each make is represented by several vehicles in the game, and
its roster is decent, but by no means in the same class as its more
ambitious rivals. Likewise, the selection of licensed tracks is realistic
enough, but many of the courses, such as Japan's Suzuka have been featured
in many other racing games before, making the game feel slightly old in
this aspect.
As you might expect from an EA title,
Shift 2 is fairly straightforward in terms of presentation and its
straightforward structure eliminates any possibility of confusion. Players
begin their career mode at the bottom of the rung, and begin by learning
the ropes with a low-end production model. While there are some fun
moments early on, these introductory levels become tedious in a hurry. You
feel like you're stuck in first gear as you race these slow motion races
against opponents. As you win races, you'll earn money that you can spend
to upgrade your basic. The garage allows you to choose parts for the
exhaust, drive-train, engine and, other elements. These performance
upgrades allow you to win races easily and make progress to more advanced
classes and courses. Career mode allows you to gradually move up to more
advanced levels. Players can also customize their vehicles with a variety
of paint jobs, rims and vinyls to give their vehicles a unique look. They
don't add much to your performance but allow you to stand out, which is
particularly important during online races. The races range from all-out
battles on open-road circuits through city streets, to racing on
traditional race tracks. Players will face off in both day and night races
with different opponents. There's quite a variety in these courses and
this gives the game plenty of depth.
Your path to unlocking additional
vehicles is straightforward. You begin racing the lower class vehicles,
but you can quickly advance to more advanced stages by winning races. Each
driver level consists of several sub-tournaments which consist of
different events. As you win these events, you'll be able to unlock
additional stages and can race more advanced vehicle classes. Your driver
level is the main indicator of your progress and can be increased with XP
Points. These can be won by winning races, finishing in the top three, or
performing other in-race requirements such as performing a clean lap,
leading for a period or mastering corners. Most of these tasks are fairly
straightforward, making it easy to quickly accumulate the XP to move on to
the more challenging sections. You earn money and XP at the same time, so
it's not as complicated as it seems. Additional rewards, such as
additional vehicles, unlockable decals, and paints can be earned by
completing sets of races within each class, so it pays to go back and earn
podium positions.
Once you get on the track, Shift 2
Unleashed brings a mix of arcade and sim elements to the forefront. The
control interface is fairly simple, you steer with the analog stick while
the shift buttons handle acceleration and braking. Controlling your
vehicle is somewhat dicey in the early going, thanks to the largely wonky
controls that plague the lower-end vehicles. You'll find yourself
fishtailing and skidding around the track wildly if you aren't careful,
but after you've mastered the shallow learning curve, things get a little
easier. Racing against computer controlled opponents isn't too terribly
difficult since they usually run in predictable lines that make them easy
to overtake. Obviously, the more you learn the tracks, the better you'll
do, so it pays to go through a practice lap in most cases, which allows
you to trim a few seconds off your lap. The onscreen HUD also helps
things, allowing you to anticipate tight corners and brake well in
advance. Most of the events in the game are straight-up racers, but there
are a few time-attack modes scattered around where your objective is to
beat the best time. Shift 2 also includes a couple of special events where
you can race in some high-end cars to earn extra points and experience.
There are also several bonus races that let you win vehicles you race,
which can increase your garage in a hurry. This adds some variety to the
racing events you can play, and the lack of tedious license modes that
plague other sim racers makes Shift 2 Unleashed more accessible than some
of the other racing titles on the market.
Unlike
most other sim racing titles, collisions inflict a high price, and serious
accidents can cripple your performance. Avoiding contact with other
vehicles also helps, since unlike the bumper-car physics in other games,
these can also significantly affect performance. Once your car is damaged,
you'll definitely notice a large drop in your ability to steer and other
indicator, which means you can't play it like an arcade game. On the other
hand, going off the track is allowed in more instances in this second
installment, unlike the first Shift title which was unforgiving of players
who attempted to use this strategy. The game's physics are fairly decent
and like the rest of Shift 2, straddle the line of realism and arcade
approaches. There are definitely moments of high drama where you'll find
yourself speeding along at breathtaking rates, while other sections of
courses require more skill to navigate through. While the solo game is
interesting and can be a time-consuming challenge, what really sets Shift
2 apart is EA's now-signature Autolog feature. Combining social-network
with online competitive play, this new feature allows you to communicate
with friends, try to beat their best times on your collective racing wall,
and race them competitively in special recommended races. Its fairly easy
to set up and use this feature and it definitely adds a new dimension to
the online experience in ways many older titles don't attempt. It adds to
the game's replay value somewhat and its smooth implementation and slick
interface makes it work in smoothly with the rest of the game to make for
a coherent experience. Between the offline and internet content, there's
definitely plenty of different races to beat, but there isn't quite as
much depth as found in some other racing titles - but who needs a thousand
different cars to have fun.
In the grand scheme of things, Shift 2
Unleashes isn't a bad game, but one that doesn't really go far enough in
either direction to provide a truly satisfying experience. The visuals are
very good, though not as detailed as GT5, but more realistic than
something like Hot Pursuit. The car models are nicely detailed and each
vehicles looks and feels authentic in terms of visual fidelity and
control. The game allows you to choose from several different approaches,
and these offer some surprisingly action-packed views, particularly the
in-cockpit camera angles. Its action-oriented approach means there is
significant damage and more dramatic crashes than in other sim-oriented
racing titles. Shift 2's track renderings are also above average and the
real tracks and city locations have been faithfully recreated. One of the
more interesting aspects of the game is its use of both day and night
races. You can definitely see a higher level of detail in the daylight
races, but the night driving events offer a different set of challenges,
since the darkness curtails your field of vision, which adds to the
challenge. Most of the game's visuals are fairly consistent, though the
street cars suffer in comparison to the race cars, which seem to be more
detailed and realistic. Its racing aesthetics were generally highly
polished and made for a solidly entertaining and realistic driving
experience. While NFS: Shift 2 isn't the deepest racing title
ever made, it delivers its fair share of thrilling action and exciting
finishes. There’s enough variety and fun in its solo content to satisfy
casual players. Delve deeper into its extensive online modes and Shift 2's
expansive online features add plenty of extra excitement. Add this to its
already solid package, and you have a game that should entertain and
challenge players for at least a few spins
around the track.
- Michael Palisano
