Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed has launched on the other side of the pond. While it might be irksome that the American market receives the game before South Africa, it does have its advantages – such as a chance to check out the reviews before succumbing to launch day impulse buying.
Shift 2 Unleashed marks the 17th title in the Need for Speed franchise and it was developed by Slighty Mas studios, a developer boasting some prime South African talent. The title positions itself as an authentic racing sim that will still appeal to fans of the NFS arcade racing roots. The game boasts a number of improvements over its predecessor. Realistic car crash physics, touches such as track debris cracking windshields, better AI, detailed and realistic cars and tracks, a new ‘helmet cam’ that mimics real life driving motions, improved lighting and revamped night driving mode.
Shift 2 Unleashed features 145 cars from 37 manufacturers and 36 racing tracks on which players can compete in various modes such as drifting, retro car racing, muscle car racing, endurance racing and circuit racing. The NFS Autolog system which was introduced with the Hot Pursuit reboot has been included in Shift 2 Unleashed, providing gamers with online competitive incentive to best the performance posted by their friends.
Is it any good? Let’s see what the review aggregations are saying. Scores accurate at the time of publication.
The game is clearly achieving a solid 85 percent average score across all platforms, which is quite respectable and indicates that it has likely hit all the right notes among the racing game fans and critics. Below with have gathered some abridged opinions from reputable review websites to flesh out these ratings.
Game Informer – 8.5
“Shift 2 defines the franchise in a way that the first one didn’t. Although the cars can feel like they swivel on a center axis, the racing is pretty good, and the overall experience gets a boost from the graphics and the erratic nature of the AI racers. It doesn’t blow by the competition, but by improving its lap times, Shift 2 is on its way.”
PC Gamer UK – 81
“Shift 2’s sheer weight of stuff – from mud-ring circuits in a VW Golf to Bugatti duels at the Nurburgring – gives it a deep bag of appeal. There’s an array of fiddly details for car geeks to poke at, and a range of control-difficulty settings that allow you to tailor races to your ability. The only downside to such a complete package is that it demands so many hours of acclimatisation before the cars start to make sense.”
Eurogamer – 8/10
“As an update to the previous SHIFT title, Unleashed is a significant draft forward. While the driving itself retains the boisterous character of its predecessor, there’s been a considerable tightening of focus in the experience system, which makes every race feel meaningful whether you win or lose. Many will consider the game a third place to Forza and Gran Turismo’s slicker, more exacting odes to motor racing, but in terms of its social features, SHIFT 2 leads the pack, even if Autolog really is a debt owed to the Need for Speed heritage it is so eager to pull away from.”
Video Gamer – 9
“There’s an argument that racing games are becoming stagnant. With this generation of console, graphics and car handling are reaching a plateau, and innovation needs to come from elsewhere. To my mind, Autolog is doing more for the genre than anything else right now, and other developers are going to have to conjure up something similar to remain on equal footing with EA. Shift 2 is technically very impressive, but like Hot Pursuit, it’s the social features surrounding the game that define it as an experience. If you’re a serious fan of the genre, know that Shift 2 does several things better than anything else on the market right now, which makes it an essential purchase.”
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