![]() ![]() Developer Slightly Mad Studios managed to design a cockpit view that very nearly mimics the experience one would have in a vehicle simulator, sans hydraulics. So you can take it as high praise when I say that my finger has rarely graced the view toggle since my initial lap around the test track. Cockpit cams have always seemed obtrusive to me, generally lacking in function - an unwelcome and superfluous step on the way to more agreeable angles. Until Shift, I had never quite understood the obsession. Quiz serious sim enthusiasts about must-have features for a racing game and a cockpit camera angle will likely top off more lists than one would expect. And this intensity is, to my surprise, best transmitted via a brilliantly constructed cockpit camera. Shift? It requires your inner rodeo rider to keep super-cars just barely under control in a sea of aggressive opponents. Project Gotham asks for style over substance and a quick e-brake finger. ![]() If you're the type whose subconscious bean-counter insists that Shift doesn't include enough automotive toys to play with, try to temper that impulse with the knowledge that this is undoubtedly the fastest and most dangerous-feeling sim yet produced.ĭifferent racing games demand different roles: In the Forza series you play the learned Zen master, exploiting curves with a calm derived from hours of exposure to tracks. If you're a number-munching automotive aficionado with a penchant for judging games the way an accountant judges a financial portfolio, know that this is a racing game dedicated to the act of racing rather than the actors, more intent on refining the experience of driving rather than celebrating car culture with scads of vehicles. By that metric, Need for Speed: Shift is one of the best racing games I've ever played. But after firing up Shift for a few more laps, I came up with a better argument: The point of a racing game is to present auto racing in such a way as to make it thrilling to anyone that bothers to play, be they grease monkey or Luddite. "What's the point?" I was stupefied and annoyed and immediately replied that the point of a racing game is to race, much like the point of a shooter is to shoot and the point of a puzzle game is to solve. A racer-hating friend of mine asked a characteristically contrarian question while I was extolling the virtues of Need for Speed: Shift to him via instant messenger: "Who cares," he asked. ![]()
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