andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Fans of the Need for Speed franchise may have to wait until fall to get Need for Speed SHIFT, EA’s latest entry in the 15 year franchise.  But they may rejoice with the knowledge that the BMW M3 GT2 will be featured on the cover of the newest game.  EA had the game on showcase at E3 this week, where gamers got their hands on it for the first time.

Players will have 65 cars to choose from.   The game boasts a diverse selection ranging from the classic 1972 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R to the exotic 2007 Lamborghini Reventón.  The tracks will include newly designed circuits and actual locations like the legendary 20km Nordschleife in Nürburg, Germany.

NFS fans should already know what to expect.  “Need for Speed SHIFT is about the intense power and emotion of being behind the wheel,” said Patrick Soderlund, senior vice president, EA Games Europe.  The game is being developed for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC by Slightly Mad Studios in London, England.  EA’s Bright Light Studio is developing a version for the PSP.  Need for Speed SHIFT ships on September 22, 2009 in North America.

When you think of the Need for Speed franchise, two things should come to mind – besides needs and speed. Fast cars and intense races are what make this Black Box developed, EA published series successful, and unfortunately the latest PSP port of Need for Speed ProStreet fails to meet these criteria.

Different from past Need for Speed titles, ProStreet doesn’t have the usual traffic, police or other real world distractions. It’s just straight up professional driving on closed tracks. ProStreet feels like it tries to take the best of street racing with pimped out street cars, and mix it with professional racing. I think it would have worked well if the PSP port didn’t have such hard-hitting problems. READ MORE »

Need for speed: Most Wanted is the instalment that we?ve been waiting for. It combines the greatest elements we?ve come to know and love, the huge environment that you can roam and explore, an assortment of cars that ranges from something that you might have in your driveway to something you might never have in your driveway, and the long arm of the law.

With the two previous instalments, which were underground and its sequel, I was thrilled to find that the automobiles to choose from were not European supercars like Lamborghinis and Ferraris but regular cars like Hondas and Nissans. I always thought that while there are plenty of racers out there that offer incredibly beautiful and incredibly fast supercars, it?s a welcome change to play a game in which I could tear up the streets in a car that I could realistically picture myself in.

Mind you, if you prefer supercars when it comes to racers then NFS: Most Wanted still has you covered. There are plenty of Aston Martins, Porshces, and Lamborghinis to choose from.

The main one player mode has really come along way and a ton of FMVs help get the ball rolling. You start off with a stylish, tricked-out BMW and unfortunately for the sake of the game?s story, your arch-rival, Razor rigs your car so that you loose an all-or-nothing race. Supermodel Josie Maran plays the role of your best friend ? wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

Several FMVs later Josie gets you back on track and gives you a choice of three very basic cars, e.g. Chevys and four-door sedans, alas it?s up to you to rise up the ranks, become champ and get your car back.

A welcome improvement to the series is a new feature called Speedbreaker. I thought I was getting sick of bullet-time getting incorporated into just about every video game but this is the best use of it I?ve seen in a racer. After hitting the assigned button, everything slows right down and this allows you an opportunity to tighten that turn, maybe squeeze into that shortcut or even cross lanes under an eighteen wheeler.

In a nutshell, if you?ve played NFS: Underground 2 you?re getting a very similar game. Although I?ve painted a lovely picture of this title so far, I assure you I have my fair share of criticisms. I?ve played just about every NFS game since the beginning and every title that came to the Gamecube. Alas, I have no idea why the developers never decide to stick with the same control scheme for a series of games on the same system! Every now and then I don?t mind dusting off NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 but it gets really annoying when all of a sudden the button that is nitrous in the newer title, used to be emergency brake in the previous one, and camera-toggle in the version before that. This could have been easily fixed had one of the NINE control schemes in NFS: Most Wanted matched the ones of previous titles, or a button configuration option.

I?m certain I mentioned in a previous column that I always look forward to the music tracks in NFS titles but this is certainly not the case with NFS: Most Wanted. For starters, when was the last time that you saw someone driving by in a tricked-out Mazda RX-8 pumping heavy metal? Yet, there are plenty of Korn-like tracks and not enough of the music that you would hear coming out of a race car – I?m talking about electronic dance of course. Don?t get me wrong though, rock has its place in video games, Twisted Metal comes to mind.

Overall this game feels like the fast and the furious movies. This was obviously the motivation with the two predecessors but with the newly added threat of getting busted by the police, the intensity is taken to new heights.

To me, NFS is the series that made me respect its developer, Electronic Arts the most. Every time a new one comes out I?ve always been positive that they?ll run out of ideas and that sooner or later it will feel like I?m buying just another racer, but no, EA has always come through on top.