Oh, what a difference the racing line makes. For me having it around means that I have a reliable way of judging my own driving decisions. Its absence makes me feel lost in an ocean of driving possibilities out of which I am only extracted by the sickening sound of crumpling against another concrete barrier.It does not take more than 2 or 3 races, all of them probably accompanied by quite a few restarts, to see that Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed is a serious racing sum, the kind of game that can lead to controllers being thrown in frustration and to loud curse words being uttered in the general direction of the other racers.
Shift 2 Unleashed is well put together, with a nice catalog of cars on offer, some very well built tracks, good intelligence for the other drivers, full implementation of the Autolog feature that debuted in the rebooted Hot Pursuit, a lot of options when it comes to modding cars and tweaking settings and enough events to keep a gamer occupied for more than one month as long as daily racing time is at about 2 hours. The big issue that the new Need for Speed has is that it's difficult right from the start and that it might discourage more casual virtual drivers from spending too much time earning levels and discovering new events.
Gameplay
For anyone that knows the series, even if only by name, the concept behind Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed is pretty straightforward: player creates account, engages in racing, picks favorite car, tweaks performance, beats opponents, crashes hard, watches replay, gets creamed by superior opponents, learns new tricks, beats all computer opponents, shifts difficulty up.
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The experience in Shift 2 Unleashed is similar to other games in the simulation genre, but there are quite a few differences that stand out: the level of detail included in the simulation, the tough opponent Artificial Intelligence, the amount of tweaks that can be made to a car and the way each track is broken down into sections that can be mastered independently.
One of the best things that happens in the game is the first pre-race drive around, which allows the game to test the performance of the player, starting with whatever settings he wants, in order to then propose a better selection of options, better suited to the skills one has.
Then Shift 2 Unleashed throws the player in one of the most powerful and hard-to-guide cars in the game, on a pretty tough course, again testing the player on his skills while offering an attractive incentive for the future in the form of money to buy the first car in the proper game.
Despite being at the very beginning of the game, it's one of the toughest races of the whole Need for Speed and can be really frustrating for newcomers, especially if one is trying to win it outright. After doing quite badly a couple of times, I just let go of trying to win and just got through the race to get to the career progression. Going with the flow and learning to only get the minimum result for progression is a must for anyone who plans to spend a lot of time with the new Need for Speed.
The Artificial Intelligence in Shift 2 Unleashed is pretty capable, able to keep the line as long as the road is clear but also capable of fighting with the player for the best line and taking him out on gravel or on grass in order to slow him down. There are some issues when it comes to the city-based races, mainly because some of the stars involved a slow corner after a long straight and this can lead to multi car pileups that ruin the rest of the race.
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Of course, the game suffers from the long-running illness of all racing simulation: the race to first place. I found I was often restarting in the first half of the race to make sure I got as good a position as possible going into the most important corner sequence. Keeping the first position for the remainder of the event then became rather simple.
Shift 2 Unleashed emphasizes the need to mod the cars in order to win the toughest races. This can be a problem for those players who are not car enthusiasts, but the game has a solid system in place which shows what various modifications mean for the car, though taking the car out on a track is the only way to get a real feel for how things change after a few new, better parts are put in.
The best way to enjoy the game is by using a wheel and setting the realism settings high, only scaling them down if one event proves completely impossible. A controller appears to be the second best option and a keyboard is, unfortunately for pure PC gamers, the worst control method for Shift 2 Unleashed.
The game feels harsher than that of Gran Turismo 5 and all of the cars seem incredibly nervous, ready to spin out at the slightest provocation, but the constant danger is a good way of injecting some more adrenaline into each twist and turn.
A final warning: Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed is a tough game when striving for full realism. Make sure you are prepared for quite a few setbacks, otherwise first drop the difficulty and then the realism until you find a set of settings that feel comfortable and where three run-troughs for one race achieve the desired result.
Graphics and audio
Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed is quite the good-looking game, no matter the perspective the player chooses to drive from. The tracks are detailed, the information from the heads-up display blends well into the actual racing action, and the cars are all detailed, even though at times a little too many shining surfaces for my liking.
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The out-of-the-race presentation is also slick and engaging with the only real problem being that pre-race intro sequences cannot be skipped, which is a problem when retrying for that elusive number one position for the ninth time or more.
But, the bigger highlight of the presentation for Shift 2 Unleashed is the sound. The team has clearly taken a lot of care with making sure that all vehicles, from the entry level to the fastest, sound powerful, like racing machines ready to destroy the opposition. There are many cars in the game which players will probably never hear going 200 kph in real life, yet every sound in the game feels incredibly realistic and expands the immersion.
Conclusion
Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed makes it pretty clear that Electronic Arts is looking to split its premiere racing franchise into two very distinct lines, one dealing with the road-racing experience, complete with the concept of an open world and police chases, and another one that is more simulation focused and is more interested in the pilot's experience.
Shift 2 Unleashed very successfully fills the requirements of the second title and, following the success of the last Criterion made Hot Pursuit game, it's safe to say that Electronic Arts has a series which manages to cover all the bases of the driving game genre well.
The challenge will now be to think of the future of the Need for Speed series and see how both games can evolve and keep players interested in the long term, when the surprise of Autolog and good simulation mechanics begins to fade.
