Shift 2 Unleashed is well put together, with a nice catalog of cars on offer, some very well built tracks, good intelligence for the other drivers, full implementation of the Autolog feature that debuted in the rebooted Hot Pursuit, a lot of options when it comes to modding cars and tweaking settings and enough events to keep a gamer occupied for more than one month as long as daily racing time is at about 2 hours. It does not take more than 2 or 3 races, all of them probably accompanied by quite a few restarts, to see that Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed is a serious racing sum, the kind of game that can lead to controllers being thrown in frustration and to loud curse words being uttered in the general direction of the other racers.
Its absence makes me feel lost in an ocean of driving possibilities out of which I am only extracted by the sickening sound of crumpling against another concrete barrier. For me having it around means that I have a reliable way of judging my own driving decisions. If you don’t do all of these things you’ll either be too slow, or you’ll skid out, throwing your chances out of the window like last week's leftovers onto the compost heap.Oh, what a difference the racing line makes. You’ll have to hit the brakes and ease into the corners, you’ll need to keep a level accelerator through the apex and you’ll be required to push hard on the exit. When you’ve got the difficulty set up properly you’ll have to push for every single corner just to stay even with the competition. Keeping your cool in those long, breathless, by-a-nose races can be a real struggle sometimes, but it breeds a level of desperation that’s ultimately worthwhile and more-ish.Īnd you will struggle, because each race in Shift 2 is a vicious battle. The cars all handle as if they have real weight and momentum to them, so when you get going you can’t help but lean yourself into the arms of your chair as you tackle tight corners, or hold your breath as your back end swings a little bit too wide. It’s here, with the meatier cars, that Shift 2 really hits its stride - the engines blast through your speakers, the tracks and cars look amazing and you’re banking around corners with reckless abandon. In fact, it’s not very long at all until you’re getting the really interesting cars – we bagged a Lotus Exige early on, then a Lamborghini Gallardo and then a McLaren MP4. After your initial spin in the GTR you’re given a choice of ‘D Class Modern’ races Leon Cupras, Focus ST’s, Golf GTIs, etc fairly standard road cars with a bit of kick. Each level-up works towards getting you into more races, but also unlocks extra stuff for your cars. XP is rewarded after each race based on your performance, and, inevitably, XP means levels. It took about half an hour of races with intermittent tweaking to get our settings right and since then Shift 2 has been a constant, enjoyable challenge. We don’t want to come first without completely nailing a circuit, and we certainly don’t want to get a massive lead or be stuck at the back all the time.
Based on your performance here, Shift 2 takes a stab at picking a handling model: assisted braking on or off? Traction control? Stability control? Damage modelling? It’s a set of options that lets you tailor your experience and, with a bit of tweaking, you’ll get the game set up to suit your requirements.įor example, we want races to be authentic without being frustrating. It starts by shoving you into a Nissan GTR and asking you to do your best around a small track. The career mode is where you spend most of your time.
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