Jump to content
SAU Community

Need For Speed Shift

Magic

By Magic,
in PC & Games Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

Magic Experienced

Magic

Posted
Posted

Ripped from IGN..

Need for Speed Shift Hands-on

EA races back to the starting line with a suped-up and ultra-tuned ride.

by Chris Roper

US, March 4, 2009 - EA's Need for Speed franchise has been a little, shall we say, "lackluster" as of late. The series has had trouble finding its footing, and short development times have kept it from being the engaging thrill rides of years past.

Thankfully, that looks to be completely changing with Need for Speed Shift. As someone who has reviewed the past couple NFS releases and who is also a big fan of everything from Burnout to Gran Turismo, I can say that I was not only pleasantly surprised by what I saw of Shift, but I'm also now very excited to get my hands on the full release later this year.

One of the biggest reasons that I'm sold on this year's game is that it doesn't focus on some crazy storyline or the latest in open world technology, but rather the pure driving experience. Rather than handling Shift internally, EA reached out to Slightly Mad Studios, the guys behind the GTR series on the PC (a critically acclaimed franchise to be sure). The results look to have paid off nicely.

need-for-speed-shift-20090303051539606-000.jpg

The cockpit view looks fantastic thus far.

While EA wasn't letting a lot of details about customization, online play or even how the career modes works get out, it did let me get my hands on six different cars across two tracks. Said cars included a Lotus Elise 111R, Shelby Terelingua, Audi RS4, Corvette Z06, Porsche 911 GT2 and a Pagani Zonda F, while the two tracks were Brands Hatch and a course simply titled London.

As I mentioned, the game is about the driving experience. While you can of course play in a handful of third-person views or from the bumper-cam, the game is designed with the cockpit view in mind (which I'm personally always a big fan of). When you're sitting at the starting line and waiting for the lights to drop, your car will jolt from side to side as you pump the gas. Your engine lets out a fierce bark every time you touch the pedal, and you can see your driver's fingers adjust their grip on the steering wheel.

Once the race starts proper and you slam the gas pedal to the floor, everything is turned up to 11 before the knob breaks off. Your engine quickly becomes deafeningly loud, drowning out anything outside of the car and helping to sell the fact that you've got a barely-tamed powerhouse of an engine with perhaps only inches of leather, stuffing and frame between you and it. As the car pushes the speedometer clockwise, the camera pulls back slightly to instill the act of being thrown into your seat. Slam on the brakes and the opposite happens as your view thrusts forward towards the dashboard.

Coming into contact with something solid takes this to the next level, however. The camera practically bounces off the steering wheel, the whole screen becomes blurred for a second or so and, if the crash is bad enough, it looks like you're even blinded with a flash of light for a split-second. It's dizzying and disorienting, but wholly awesome.

need-for-speed-shift-20090303051514825-000.jpg

The game looks and runs great, even at this early state.

As for the feel of the vehicles, I'd put the game somewhere around the level of PGR in terms of realism, though it's admittedly been a while since I've played PGR so that might not be a perfect match. Regardless, it's certainly a far more realistic experience than pretty much any previous game in the franchise, and for my money, more fun to drive as well. To be sure, while it's not as demanding as Gran Turismo, you'll still need a fine touch on the accelerator, knowledge of whatever track you're on and, most of all, a large amount of respect for whatever vehicle you're in.

NFS Shift looks great right now, though I was playing the PC build (with an Xbox 360 controller) as opposed to the PS3 or 360 versions. Regardless, it looked great and ran silky-smooth, which is especially notable since the build I played was a few months old, putting it close to a year out from what the actual shipping code will be. As I mentioned, I can't wait to play the finished release later this year, but I'm sure I'll get a few more spins behind the wheel before then, so stay tuned. This is, thankfully, one the racers to watch this year.

need-for-speed-shift-20090303031219545_640w.jpg

need-for-speed-shift-20090303031215092_640w.jpg

need-for-speed-shift-20090130034404072_640w.jpg

need-for-speed-shift-20090303031230561_640w.jpg

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/259745-need-for-speed-shift/
Share on other sites
Gazzilla Experienced

Gazzilla

Posted
Posted

looks like they may be finally getting a clue again. the folks that Made the GTR series will really bring the Need for speed series back in to the limelight. I gave up on NFS yonks ago coz the cars just felt totally uncoordinated to drive.

  • 3 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      From there, it is really just test and assemble. Plug the adapter cables from the unit into the back of the screen, then the other side to the car harness. Don't forget all the other plugs too! Run the cables behind the unit and screw it back into place (4 screws) and you should now have 3 cables to run from the top screen to the android unit. I ran them along the DS of the other AV units in the gap between their backets and the console, and used some corrugated tubing on the sharp edges of the bracket so the wires were safe. Plug the centre console and lower screen in temporarily and turn the car to ACC, the AV should fire up as normal. Hold the back button for 3 sec and Android should appear on the top screen. You need to set the input to Aux for audio (more on that later). I put the unit under the AC duct in the centre console, with the wifi antenna on top of the AC duct near the shifter, the bluetooth antenna on the AC duct under the centre console The GPS unit on top of the DS to AC duct; they all seem to work OK there are are out of the way. Neat cable routing is a pain. For the drive recorder I mounted it near the rear view mirror and run the cable in the headlining, across the a pillar and then down the inside of the a pillar seal to the DS lower dash. From there it goes across and to one USB input for the unit. The second USB input is attached to the ECUtec OBD dongle and the 3rd goes to the USB bulkhead connected I added in the centre console. This is how the centre console looks "tidied" up Note I didn't install the provided speaker, didn't use the 2.5mm IPod in line or the piggyback loom for the Ipod or change any DIP switches; they seem to only be required if you need to use the Ipod input rather than the AUX input. That's it, install done, I'll follow up with a separate post on how the unit works, but in summary it retains all factory functions and inputs (so I still use my phone to the car for calls), reverse still works like factory etc.
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      Place the new daughterboard in the case and mount it using the 3 small black rivets provided, and reconnect the 3 factory ribbon cables to the new board Then, use the 3 piggyback cables from the daughterboard into the factory board on top (there are stand offs in the case to keep them apart. and remember to reconnect the antenna and rear cover fan wires. 1 screw to hold the motherboard in place. Before closing the case, make a hole in the sticker covering a hole in the case and run the cable for the android unit into the plug there. The video forgot this step, so did I, so will you probably. Then redo the 4 screws on back, 2 each top and bottom, 3 each side and put the 2 brackets back on.....all ready to go and not that tricky really.      
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      Onto the android unit. You need to remove the top screen because there is a daughterboard to put inside the case. Each side vent pops out from clips; start at the bottom and carefully remove upwards (use a trim remover tool to avoid breaking anything). Then the lower screen and controls come out, 4 screws, a couple of clips (including 3 flimsy ones at the top) and 3 plugs on the rear. Then the upper screen, 4 screws and a bunch of plugs and she is out. From there, remove the mounting brackets (2 screws each), 4 screws on the rear, 2 screws top and bottom and 3 screws holding in the small plates on each side. When you remove the back cover (tight fit), watch out for the power cable for the fan, I removed it so I could put the back aside. The mainboard is held in by 1 screw in the middle, 1 aerial at the top and 3 ribbon cables. If you've ever done any laptop stuff the ribbon cables are OK to work with, just pop up the retainer and they slide out. If you are not familiar just grab a 12 year old from an iphone factory, they will know how it works The case should now look like this:
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      Switching the console was tricky. First there were 6 screws to remove, and also the little adapter loom and its screws had to come out. Also don't forget to remove the 2 screws holding the central locking receiver. Then there are 4 clips on either side....these were very tight in this case and needed careful persuading with a long flat screw driver....some force required but not enough to break them...this was probably the fiddliest part of the whole job. In my case I needed both the wiring loom and the central locking receiver module to swap across to the new one. That was it for the console, so "assembly is the reverse of disassembly"
    • Duncan
      Duncan's V37.......race car?

      By Duncan · Posted

      But first....while I was there, I also swapped across the centre console box for the other style where the AV inputs don't intrude into the (very limited !) space.  Part# was 96926-4GA0A, 284H3-4GA0B, 284H3-4GA0A. (I've already swapped the top 12v socket for a USB bulkhead in this pic, it fit the hole without modification:) Comparison of the 2: Basically to do the console you need to remove the DS and PS side console trim (they slide up and back, held in by clips only) Then remove the back half of the console top trim with the cupholders, pops up, all clips again but be careful at the front as it is pretty flimsy. Then slide the shifter boot down, remove the spring clip, loose it forever somewhere in the car the pull the shift knob off. Remove the tiny plastic piece on DS near "P" and use something thin and long (most screwdrivers won't fit) to push down the interlock and put the shifter down in D for space. There is one screw at the front, then the shifter surround and ashtray lift up. There are 3 or 4 plugs underneath and it is off. Next is the rear cover of the centre console; you need to open the console lid, pop off the trim covering the lid hinge and undo the 2rd screw from the driver's side (the rest all need to come out later so you can do them all now and remove the lid) Then the rear cover unclips (6 clips), start at the top with a trim tool pulling backwards. Once it is off there are 2 screws facing rearwards to remove (need a short phillips for these) and you are done with the rear of the console. There are 4 plugs at the A/V box to unclip Then there are 2 screws at the front of the console, and 2 clips (pull up and back) and the console will come out.
×
×
  • Create New...