Shift 2: Unleashed review

after a large number need for speed sections, with one central theme tune was a few years back with Electronic Arts Need for Speed: Undercover. This was a nice game, but still not quite what fans wanted. Therefore, the publishing giant switched Slightly Mad Studios in a different kind of racing game Need for Speed, within the family and Need for Speed ​​Shift was born. In between Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit appeared, which is a very good success, even when it comes to review scores.


The greater was the surprise when it emerged that so Slightly Mad Studios in the meantime was busy with a sequel to Need for Speed: SHIFT. Shift 2: Unleashed also comes earlier than usual, because Need for Speed ​​games are usually played for the autumn. Enquiries showed, however, that Electronic Arts Need for Speed ​​franchise within the two families to create the realistic racers such as the Shift and the games are arcade racers, where the rest is subject. A nice idea and may work well if the quality remains high.

Some time back we have been here with Need for Speed ​​Shift 2: Unleashed can play and we were quite overwhelmed by the quality. Anyway, so you're not there yet, because it is of course, the final game. These we have now set out to try and we can see both new and familiar elements back. One of the main innovations is that the system Autolog Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit has been included. This is essentially the same, but why does there have to find new things.


If you are connected to the Internet, then all your stats Autolog online sharing and your friends can see this example and your fastest lap time trying to improve. This creates a great competition between the tendency to feel and perform more replay also massively. That is not the only thing Autolog does, because in terms of statistics, an enormous amount kept. This is again in contrast to the career mode. Because in addition you must win races you can also leveling.

This level is done by points. The higher your position after finish, the more points you get. You also get points for making the perfect line and perfect corners. All this is saved and will be shared via the Autolog feature. So your friends can go on many more fronts to try to defeat what it most make somewhat larger. On the other hand, Autolog again contributing to the leveling, because if you know a friend again playing a fast lap or any other aspect, you get points again.


These points run in this way naturally up quickly and the higher your level is, the more races you can do. These races vary from circuit races with opponents again, to the breaking of a track record and drift sessions. As you progress, you also get access to more and better cars, which are all individually adjustable, both the inner and appearance, and your ultimate goal is to be the best driver. Terms of structure, this career mode compared to the previous section, not much changed, but the fact remains that it is rich enough that you dozens of hours to entertain them.

Besides a career mode we find more options in the game, but they are all quite common and let it for what it is. In that respect, there is little innovation to be seen, the Autlog after then. The innovation in this game lies mainly in the details. So once you get the cockpit view at your disposal and this angle lets you race from the perspective of the driver. In fact, you can see the contours of the helmet in the picture and your in-game head will respond to racing. So if there comes a corner, then turns the head and at high speed you will notice that the distance between your head and the forward considerably larger.


They are subtle details, but does show the image of a real good driver and that's just extremely cool. Add to this the audio is very strong, the engine sound is raw and growling, what a good sound system the better it sounds and racing to a wonderful experience. This is not the only thing that contributes, because what is also striking is the enormous sense of speed. If you're a bit of pace and a city race, which is packed with attractions that you will notice incredibly fast. That combined with the cockpit view and provides an excellent audio experience with a vengeance on.

The racing itself is in the beginning getting used to, because the cars have to drive it a little differently than usual. In the previous section, there was much criticism of the gezwabber of the cars on the tracks, which is now considerably less, what the control is beneficial. Yet we have seen now and then some strange movements of cars passing by and this can sometimes annoying. You can solve it by manually setup your car to adjust, but here you somewhat understand it. It is certainly an improvement and that is a bonus anyway.


Another point that stood out, especially after all the fuss about the AI ​​in the other racers, including Gran Turismo 5, is that the AI ​​Shift 2: Unleashed is very strong. Other drivers do not drive a land line, but deviate real. So it happened frequently that I could push them into the gravel, because they were hindering me in my racing line, or that the opponent without even once touching. This applies to every other driver on the circuit and it makes racing much more realistic and furthermore a lot more fun.

What is one aspect that can cause some frustration is that if you make a large coconut, leaving all your images. Logically, of course, because you get dazed, but also act as a soft touch your hands out in difficult situations and that can pretty disadvantage. In a blow this is of course obvious and fits well with the realism that we expect a game like this, also knows the game now features more damage as a whole some visually stronger. We should say that the game graphics are generally not very strong. It's certainly not ugly, but beautiful otherwise brilliant.


Another new visual aspect is the possibility to race at night. The circuits are in darkness and you will very well have to look at how the runway and of course what the competition is doing. This is sometimes incredibly difficult, but the downside is that it is very intense and then we refer to the previously discussed issues relating to the cockpit view, the audio and of course the sense of speed. Well, it is clear, the game is essentially mostly stayed true to the previous section, but now knows a lot forward innovation and that makes us very happy.

Need for Speed ​​Shift 2: Unleashed after Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit another game, which just very well put together. Most negative points from the previous part are eliminated or less present. The game features plenty of innovation and may take place between all the other great racers on earth like Gran Turismo 5 and Forza 3. The game is so good that it has the fun may be even better than Gran Turismo 5. The downsides are that the game contains disturbing, but do not outweigh the positives and thus we can conclude that EA and Slightly Mad Studios deliver a great racer.