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The Need for Speed series has always been good old fashion, adrenaline fueled racing
game that teetered on the edge of fantastic and sometimes crossed over into the ridiculous.
But while the the core series found its niche, the series wanted to expand its horizons and
go into the simulation genre. While they took a step this way with Need for Speed Shift,
they now dropped the Need for Speed name and went all into simulation with Shift 2: Unleashed.
It is clear that this is an attempt to directly compete with the other big time racing games
such as Gran Turismo and Forza.
Like those other games, this offers tons of different cars, tracks and customizable parts.
The game has more than 150 cars from 37 manufacturers. These include notables such as BMW, Alfa Romeo,
Maserati, and Porsche among many others. There is a car for any taste and style. And tons
of tracks to race these on, taking you from London and Tokyo, to Dubai and Miami. All
the tracks and cars look great, with great detail to the tracks and even more detail
to the cars. Everything about the car is customizable. You can change out the engine, adjust the
suspension and even give it an entire body modification.
But all these are cars are not yours from the beginning. You need to have the level
rank to drive them and the money to afford them. You earn both of the these through competing
in the career mode. While it is nothing revolutionary, it doesn’t have to be and works great. This
does a good job at giving you more reason to enter events. You earn experience with
each race, but not for just coming in first. Other things like holding the race line, solid
passes and clean turns will all give you experience points, which will upgrade your level and
unlock more events.
While all this is great, it would be worthless if the racing is not worth it. And the racing
does not disappoint. This takes the system introduced in Need for Speed Shift, and improves
on it. This eliminates all arcade racing elements, and refines the racing. Everything feels tight,
and makes turns and passes easy to pull off. When you spin out, it is because you messed
up, and not the games fault. This allows for tense races that don’t feel cheap but rather
just a good challenge. While this game doesn’t offers as many cars
or is as deep as other simulation racing game, this is a great option for people who feel
overwhelmed by other racing games or just want a solid racing game.