EA has done a great job of promoting NFS Shift. The NFS series has been disappointing for quite some time in my opinion so the fact that I was seriously considering buying it is a testament to that. That being said I’m also a cheap ass gamer so based on the info I had on Shift and the look of it what I really wanted to know was – how does it compare to Grid?
My first clue to the outcome of this comparison was no Shift demo release on XBLA or PSN prior to game release and then they released a PC Demo but still no console demos? So I set out to find out what EA was hiding and downloaded the demo and hooked up my 360 controller to give it a fair shot.
First impressions were decent, I took the M3 around the first track and tested the rest of the cars and tracks in the demo. The first thing I noticed is the departure from the last few NFS titles and a look and feel that seemed to strive for the realism of Forza with some style elements of its own and a balance between sim racing and arcade racing. Since I only played the demo I can’t offer full details on the tuning options etc. but based on my impressions it can’t compete with Forza in realism or looks and the best balance between sim and arcade racing I’ve played is Grid.
Overall NFS is a solid racer and a step in the right direction for the series but in my opinion fun-factor was sacrificed for realism and if you’re an enthusiast and you want a racing simulator chances are you will go with Forza 3. If you are looking for a great balance of realism, style, and fun Grid is a better choice hands down. If you’re not familiar with Grid and are considering NFS Shift – save yourself some money and buy Grid or wait for Grid II.
In my opinion no racer out there has managed to find a better balance of fun and realism than Grid – the physics are challenging but not frustrating, the game looks phenomenal, and the cars feel exactly as they should – its just that simple. If you’re in the market for a new racing game – give Grid a look, you can get it for about $10-$20 these days depending on new/used status.
I’m not enjoying this Demo very much. Could be my lack of skill driving with the keyboard though. I really need some other input device for these PC/Console crossover titles. For some reason, I feel dirty for typing that.