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BMW M3 GT2 Shifts onto Cover of NFS SHIFT

David Barmak — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:55:18 +0000

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.

Game Review: Need for Speed ProStreet

Josh Salem — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:33:27 +0000

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.

While ProStreet tries to stay true to its console and PC counterparts, there just isn’t enough of anything on the PSP to compare. Instead of the massive amount of customization and fine tuning we have gotten used to and enjoyed in the past, this version only has a few options, like having a number on your car, hub caps, and window options for the visual aspect and engine, chassis, handling, induction and nitrous for performance. There are a few modes of play in Need for Speed ProStreet to select from, but again, they are extremely limited in this PSP version. As with most other EA titles, there are EA extras, but in this case you will only find a FAQ and credits for the game. The game has an EA media centre, which allows you to customize your music experience (for which I find the included tracks in this title repetitive and uninspiring), watch videos you unlock, or another FAQ about how to use the media centre. My NFS includes records, options and game data. Quick play mode includes Grip mode and Speed mode, each having different types of racing options within. Next is the ever important career mode in which the majority of your play time will be involved, here you buy cars, customize them, and race in events to make more money, and get more cars. Within the career mode, you can choose your difficulty level by selecting weekend warrior (easy, where your ‘Driver Intuition’ controls you on the best path automatically), adrenaline junkie (medium, where the ‘Driver Intuition only shows you the best path and gives you a boost), and speed king (expert, same as adrenaline junkie but harder). In Career mode, you can also race maps you unlocked to test out cars and check out your career stats. There is also a multiplayer mode, which is available in both ad hoc and infrastructure for LAN or online play. The online play mode is pretty decent, you race against whoever you want anywhere in the world… if you can find anyone else playing online, pick any car you want (whether you own it in career mode or not) and race away.

The game plays very oddly, the controls feel a little too arcade like and even then at some points it seems a little odd, with the turning especially. At one point I could be making a right turn and everything would be going fine, then all of a sudden it will straighten out or turn too hard. The controls are simple in the sense that you have gas, brakes, E-brakes, look behind, turn, nitrous, camera change (for which there are only three views, all poor angles), and a special button called Driver Intuition. As you drive, your intuition builds up. Then when you push the button, a big green (or red if your going too fast around a turn) pathway shows itself and basically tells you that’s where you should be driving, it also gives you a boost of speed, and in weekend racer difficulty, drives automatically for you. Something the game didn’t tell me before playing though is that driver’s intuition will turn itself on and off without warning whenever it feels it should. I would be making a right turn, minding my own business when BAM, driver intuition turns itself on in the middle of a turn, making me hit a wall, then turns itself off in the middle of that same turn, making me hit another wall. It also doesn’t help that this driver intuition is very bright and big, obstructing the track. The loading times are a bit long but still fairly acceptable. There are about a dozen tracks from all over the world and 32 cars to choose from, which, while not Gran Turismo-esqe, is a decent size for a portable port.

Graphically, the game looks decent for a PSP title, not the best, but definitely not the worst, especially for a racing game. The car models look unrealistic, but at the same time, professional enough that you get the feeling some millionaires somewhere in the world are actually racing these cars just for fun. While car damage is shown during races (and you get billed for repairs after each race in career mode), I have yet to see damage actually slow the car down or a car actually stop working. The visible damage does little besides take away some cash. The tracks themselves hurt to look at. The tracks are varied in their turns and locations. From the fairly straight Autobahn in Germany, to the monstrous looking Mondello Park in Ireland, there is enough variety here to entertain most racers. That being said however, the roads are dull and gray, signs are everywhere, and there is blur out the whazoo. I understand adding blur to a game to give it a sense of speed, and when using nitrous or tailing behind a car, the blur becomes super blur to such a point that it’s hard to see where you’re supposed to be driving. Next thing you know you’re hitting a wall at 200 km/h and you get a dent near your tire that doesn’t seem to do much but run you 50 bucks after the race.

The soundtrack is customizable, but the included songs all sound alike and off for this type of game. Beyond that you have the generic driving sounds of engines revving, tires screeching and nitrous expelling. Nothing new, nothing great.

In the end, if you only have a PSP and must have every Need for Speed title out there, you might as well pick up this one. Otherwise, get it for a console or PC. While not all bad, Need for Speed ProStreet suffers in a number of areas: mixed graphics, bland sound, frustrating game play, weak customization and not enough speed, for which we have the need.

Graphics: 3.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 3.0 / 5.0
Sound 2.5 / 5.0
Replay value 3.5 / 5.0

Gaming Column: Need for Speed

andPOP Staff — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 23:21:03 +0000

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.