Need For Speed series has become a licensed multi-headed, occasionally
glancing in the direction of the street racing and tuning, at other
times toward the arcade racing, then trying luck on the side of the
"simulation" with Need For Speed: Shift. The first episode of this
series managed to straighten the speed of Electronic Arts saga when many
gave it a lost cause. Slightly Mad Studios did even before the success
of Criterion with Hot Pursuit. The change in the philosophy of the
series was indeed remarkable and served for the company would realize
that something was not quite work in series of famous ride. Need for
Speed Shift was an attractive racing game, precise and serious, based on
the simulation but always taking player’s fun into account.
Formed in part by former developers of the highly realistic GTR , the
studio chose to put its experience to the benefit of a simulation as
reaching out to the spectacular precision. Of course Need for Speed
Shift 2: Unleashed will fight to defend the same philosophy that got the
success: race where simulation and arcade come together, where only
matter to reach the first place but to do and know you have to master
our vehicle, and where others are more aesthetic aspects in the
background. Need for Speed Shift 2 will give more importance to quality
than quantity in terms of content, providing an accurate representation
of the appearance and operation of the most elite racing cars of the
moment.
One of the strengths of Shift’s first name is definitely in this desire
immersion which has pushed developers to design a cockpit view only.
With this second installment, Slightly Mad wanted the experience even
more fascinating than the player and his avatar in a relationship even
more physical than before. We thus find the famous blur reducing the
driver’s field of vision when at full speed or abrupt camera movements
symbolizing a passenger hit from all sides in a collision with another
car. The brand has even increased, thus demonstrating the unwavering
commitment to realism displayed by the developers. Shift 2 Unleashed
offers a breathtaking view right inside the driver’s helmet. The goal is
to faithfully recreate the physical sensations felt during a race. The
body trembles depending turning, twirling his hands between wheel and
gear, helmet vibrates under the violent acceleration and braking, the
breath is cut and the time seems to stop during a collision. The record
is quite impressive! We feel that the game benefits from the expertise
of the studio that built the project around an impressive new graphics
engine.
In NFS: Shift 2 Unleashed, the premise is simple: get a car, modify and
domical until you get to win races, then grab another vehicle and starts
better. Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed will be a tribute to the
player as the result of a Carrerra depends solely on their driving
skills and knowledge you have of the track. This realistic racing
simulation will become more apparent when driving at night, one of the
great innovations of this game, and we’ll do it without any help or
reference provided visibility or tell us where to go or when braking.
The demands and the depth of Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed will
reach its zenith in the nighttime racing, which will be difficult to see
the runway, lighted only by the lights of our car.
Also, if we use the camera located within the driver’s helmet realism
and immersion of the races will increase significantly. With this
first-person perspective and a seat with pedals, gearbox and steering
wheel, the experience of driving a car prepared for Carrerra closely
resembles reality. We assure you that with this configuration, which we
were able to demonstrate during the presentation event at the EA
Showcase in London, you feel every bump, hit and we do behind the wheel
skid. Part of the success with the camera in first person would be in
the minor movements that mimic the reaction of the pilot’s head to the G
force cornering, braking and accelerations.
Although we have not had time to get in contact with another car,
Slightly Mad promised that each impact would have an effect on the
flight but also the appearance of the fireball. Similarly, the circuits
will deteriorate throughout the race, which will cause the player to
change his driving style to the runway condition, especially now that
the night circuits are emerging. Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed
integrate highly detailed models of racing cars, drivers and circuits
that exist in reality. May not reach the amount of content they have
other titles in the genre such as Froze Motorsport or Gran Turismo but
that’s how I have wanted to Slightly Mad Studios to devote more time to
refine and polish the game.
Instead of continuing to add more cars, racing, tracks, drivers and
variants, the study preferred to improve the interface and the content
they already had, since an excess of elements could unbalance the
gameplay section title. People in the study believed that racing games
that include content are difficult to enjoy and you do not need so much
content for the player to have fun. Moreover, in their opinion, would
not be possible to achieve a satisfactory level of detail when copying
the sensations in the conduct of each vehicle. Note that there will be a
priori a big hundred, some of them with just a "night version". As a
bonus, for the pickiest of you, the settings will of course be done on
your car to improve its performance in the race, as it will be possible
to activate or not the driver aids, just to make the any more palatable
for beginners. In a few laps on the circuit made of Shanghai, driving us
moreover appeared more dynamic than the first episode. It has also
undoubtedly played a fine, accentuating the simulation side of the
track. Still, we do not yet know how our competitors will react; the AI
is one questionable aspect of precedent.
When we buy a new car will have to spend time training with him to get
familiar with its response to amass victories simply not spend money on
more powerful vehicles. Electronic Arts as the editing options for each
car will be almost endless and offer the possibility to switch from such
important elements as the engine to other more specific as the
suspension or body shape. Unlike other games of the genre, Need for
Speed Shift 2: Unleashed will have to think carefully about how to
optimize our vehicle because its behavior will be very different
depending on the changes that we have done.
As for the visual aspect Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed will remain
faithful to the original style with improvements in the representation
of accidents and a sense of speed most successful. They will also be
noticeable changes in climate: wet races, the possibility that dazzle on
sunny days thanks to more precise lighting or nighttime races already
mentioned. However, the most important development of Need for Speed
Shift 2: Unleashed is the integration of Autolog system (similar to Need
for Speed: Hot Pursuit) that allow us to share with our friends photos,
videos and results in the game. It is also possible to choose the
player you want to face if it is connected. Every win or lose we get our
profile will be added to a user as Electronic Arts has called "Social
Network Competition." Slightly Mad Studios also said that the vehicle
physics and AI competitors are more successful than in Need for Speed:
Shift to accommodate the size desired simulation by Electronic Arts.
Conclusion:
The U.S. giant will release their new racing game in the first quarter
of 2011. Like its predecessor, the title will try to seduce aspiring
pilots with a driving "simulation." With the sharing principle,
interaction with Facebook and Twitter are also provided so you can show
off the eyes of the world your accomplishments. Need for Speed Shift 2:
Unleashed promises to be a tough game and very challenging but also fun,
with more than 100 tracks, improved artificial intelligence, climate
change, the damage system and gameplay. Sort of pop-ups appear elsewhere
on the screen to indicate that a player has beaten your score on a
particular circuit. The Autolog thus ensures a kind of permanent
competition and further extends the life of a title which already looks
very comprehensive. The entire signals are that Need for Speed Shift 2:
Unleashed will turn out to be a must-have title for simulation fans.
Game is scheduled in the first quarter of 2011 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
and PC.
