Exclusive preview, screens and interview for Need for Speed: Nitro

With Need for Speed: Shift settling in the charts nicely, EA has turned to the next Need for Speed game it has in the pits. Need for Speed: Nitro is the Wii and DS NFS game this year. It is not a conversion of Need for Speed: Shift – that’s strictly a next-gen experience. Instead they have opted for creating a NFS game from the ground up for the less powerful Wii, and have come up with a great arcade racer.

Issue 33 of PlayZine has a preview of Need for Speed: Nitro complete with exclusive screens and a developer interview. You can download the magazine for free now.

Issue 31 of P3Zine has our full review of Need for Speed: Shift in it. Download it for free!

The time is finally here; the embargo is lifted; the crowd is going wild. As long term readers will know, unlike some other quick reviews that have appeared online, we’ve been playing Need for Speed: Shift for months and had lots of time to get into it, get used to it, find out its quirks, and see what we like.

The first thing we might as well reveal is that we love it. It’s a return to form for the series, as you might have spotted from the Gold award in the image. Need for Speed: Shift is a very different game to earlier Need for Speed games, in a good way. We’re even prepared to say that this is best racer we’ve played so far this year.

Download Issue 31 of P3Zine now from the main website, and you can read the full 5 page review with all of our thoughts on the game. Enjoy. We did. We’ll be giving our verdict on the PC version next week in PCGZine.

… it gets a 9/10.

IGN US has run the world’s first review of Need For Speed: Shift, calling the game “a glorious return to greatness”, before plonking a big 9.0 down as the score. High praise indeed. Here’s a snippet:

“Slightly Mad Studios has delivered a driving experience that, while not completely accurate in terms of its simulation aspects, is practically dead-on in terms of what it’s like to race around some of the world’s best racing circuits.”

Check out the full review here.

IGN UK later followed it up with their own review, awarding the game an 8.7 and saying that “driving is an exceptionally visceral experience, with a sensation of sheer velocity that’s unparalleled in the genre.” Nice.

We’re still waiting for the general embargo to lift until we can post our five page review, but it will be featured in next month’s issue of P3Zine, out next Thursday, 17th September. You’ll probably want to give it a read…

Did you know that Need For Speed: Shift wasn’t always called Need For Speed: Shift? No? Well you do now. Instead, EA had initially planned to roll it out as a sequel to Need For Speed: ProStreet.

Shift’s Lead Designer, Andy Tudor explains:

“Yeah. It [Shift] actually started out as ProStreet 2.

“You’ll see the obvious references, like we’ve got the Tokyo track in there, albeit a bit more mature; there’s no balloons or anything like that. The thing with ProStreet was that they couldn’t go straight from street racing to a track racer – that would have annoyed a few people. So it was really the first stage of the transition, mixing courses with the street stuff, and this is where they [EA] always wanted it to go.”

We dare say the association with the ProStreet name wouldn’t have exactly been a big crowdpleaser either, Andy.

Check out the full article on the GamerZines website where Andy talks about EA’s suggestion that cop cars and nitrous should be included in Shift. Hint: he wasn’t a fan.

EA has released a lengthy Flash animation which straps you into the boots of a race driver as he does a lap of Brands Hatch.

The animation lets you upload a picture of yourself, which doesn’t appear to actually do anything other than have a lovely pitgirl ask you to sign your own photo (and if you don’t she’ll kiss you instead), while the name you enter appears on the side of your car. Get creative.

The last part of the video features Shift’s in-game graphics, but we’ve not quite figured out whether it’s controllable or not. We’re pretty sure it isn’t.

So it’s viral marketing, but it’s pretty neat nonetheless. And it’s managed to entertain us for the last half hour, which can’t be a bad thing, can it?

Check it out, here.

A few people have asked what visual differences are made to the cockpit after you upgrade your vehicle with the ‘Cockpit Upgrade’ option. So, rather than explain, we thought we’d show you.

Here are some before and after shots of the Ford Focus ST, Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and Porsche Cayman S, showing the car’s factory cockpit and the custom upgrade. Each car has been fully upgraded to Cockpit Upgrade Level Three which, as you can see from the shots, provides a custom steering wheel, custom seats and additional gauges. If you want a closer look, just click the images.

It’s worth bearing in mind that this upgrade is purely cosmetic and has no effect on your vehicle’s performance. And if you don’t like the look of it afterwards, you can always sell the upgrade and revert back to the original factory design.

Ford Focus ST – Before

Ford Focus ST – After

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 – Before

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 – After

Porsche Cayman S – Before

Porsche Cayman S – After

Much has been made of Need For Speed: Shift’s ‘Driver Experience’, which attempts to make the player feel just like they’re behind the wheel of a real racing car.

One of the ways in which the game achieves this is through the use of motion blur to simulate the effects of G-Force. As you can see in the screen above, upon reaching the higher speeds much of your display blurs out, including the cockpit, rear view mirror, your peripheral vision and other cars near to you, leaving only a small window completely in focus. EA reckon that this allows you to concentrate your attention on the track ahead and the whereabouts of rivals in the distance.

And when you’re racing along at 200km/h, that’s ultimately all that matters. Click the screens for a closer look.

In addition to simply levelling up your Driver Profile (see yesterday’s preview for more), Shift also features Badges, which are earned upon completing particular objectives throughout your career and similar in essence to Xbox 360 Achievements/PS3 Trophies.

There are hundreds of badges in the game, each split across four categories – Track, Race, Career and Online – and across into two types, Minor and Master. Each Minor Badge that you earn goes towards unlocking a Master Badge (of which there are 27 in total), which online rivals will be able to view from your Driver Profile page.

To give you an example, there are ten Minor Badges to be earned in the ‘Trading Paint’ badge category. Earn all ten and you’ll win yourself the Trading Paint Master Badge, which is then displayed on your profile page for all the world to see.

There are a variety of different badges to be earned, ranging from driving on every track in the game, racking up the mileage on particular cars, earning consecutive podium finishes, defeating rivals and so on. And if you want to collect them all you’ve certainly got your work cut out.

Here’s the full list of Master Badges and their descriptions:

Clean Race – Europe Tracks: Complete one race on each European track, placing 3rd or better – avoid car collisions and driving off track
Clean Race – Japan Tracks: Complete one race on each Japanese track, placing 3rd or better – avoid car collisions and driving off track
Clean Race – US Tracks: Complete one race on each US track, placing 3rd or better – avoid car collisions and driving off track
Europe Corner Master: Master all the corners on each European track – stick to racing line in marked corners with speed
Japan Corner Master: Master all the corners on each Japanese track – stick to racing line in marked corners with speed
US Corner Master: Master all the corners on each US track – stick to racing line in marked corners with speed
Trading Paint: Trade paint with opponents by hitting their car
Clean Overtake: Pass opponents without making any contact
Dirty Overtake: Make contact with your opponents as you force your way past them
Drafting: Draft opponent cars – get close enough to them to reduce wind drag on your car
Perfect Launch: Start the race at the perfect RPM, as indicated by the HUD’s gear indicator turning green.
Difficulty: Keep improving your skills – finish 1st on highest AI difficulty possible
Iron Man: Place on the podium in consecutive races
Star Collector: Earn all available stars in all Tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 events
Endurance: Finish 1st in every Endurance event
Series: Place 1st in overall series points in all Series events
Mixed Track: Place 1st in overall series points in all Mixed Track events
Defeat Rivals: Defeat all Career Rivals drivers in all Rival events
US Manufacturer Loyalty: Rack up the mileage on your US cars
JP Manufacturer Loyalty: Rack up the mileage on your Japanese cars
EU Manufacturer Loyalty: Rack up the mileage on your European cars
Online Domination: Place 3rd or better in Online events
Online Europe Champion: Finish 1st at each European track, in an Online Ranked Race or Time Attack event
Online Japan Champion: Finish 1st at each Japanese track, in an Online Ranked Race or Time Attack event
Online US Champion: Finish 1st at each US track, in an Online Ranked Race or Time Attack event
Online Drift Champion: Finish 1st at each drift track, in an Online Ranked Drift event
Driver Duel Championship: Battle to the top of the Online Driver Duel ladder – defend Championship against multiple challengers

UK video games retailer GAME has announced that they’ll be hosting an upcoming UK Championship for Need For Speed: Shift to find the country’s best virtual race driver.

Contestants will need to prove their worth by setting the fastest lap time on an undisclosed track, with the fastest racers progressing through to the Grand Final, held at Thorpe Park on Saturday 26th September. The winner will bag themselves a Nissan 350z sports car, which a quick Google search tells us is worth around £30,000. The runner up will win a NFS: Shift branded racing jacket and Need For Speed Scalextrix set.

And even if you’re not good enough to make it to the final, everyone who competes will walk away with a Need For Speed: Shift keyring and a certificate with their lap time.

The Championship will take place across 46 of GAME’s UK stores, kicking off in Tunbridge Wells next Friday, 28th August. For a complete list of all the stores hosting the event and the relevant dates, click here.

One of Shift’s most talked about features is its innovative Driver Profile system, a mechanic which tracks the player’s actions and helps shape their experience within the game’s Career mode.

The Driver Profile system is essentially a basic XP mechanic similar to what you may have seen in an RPG. As players race they are awarded points from two categories, Precision and Aggression, with the amount of each based on their on-track actions. You can be awarded points from a number of different areas. Drive cleanly by sticking to the racing line or making clean overtakes and you’ll earn Precision points. Alternatively, shunt cars off the track, block off opponents and generally drive aggressively and you’ll earn points for Aggression. You’ll also earn points from finishing the race, with the amount based on your final position.

As you earn points you’ll start to level up. There are 50 levels in total with each earning you bonus awards, including cash and car bonuses, special event invites, extra garage slots to store more cars, additional vinyls and other visual upgrades.

After the completion of each event a screen pops up showing you how many profile points you have earned within that race, plus a breakdown of the areas where you earned them:

If you level up, another screen will pop up showing you the rewards you have earned:

You can keep track of your overall progress from a separate Driver Profile menu, which displays your current level, earned badges, career wins and losses, and how many profile points you’ve earned so far. In addition, your profile is represented by an icon that evolves with each level you reach and your driving style, which online opponents can take a look at to tell which style of driver you are and roughly how much of Shift you’ve completed:

From a separate screen within the Driver Profile menu you can check out how many points are required to reach the next level, plus previews of the items you’ll be unlock upon reaching each of the fifty levels:

Another neat touch with the Driver Profile system is the way in which the game interacts with you when it comes to Invitational Events. When you’re given the chance to drive at these events, you’re presented with two race types from which to choose from, ie. Time Trial or race. Though both events appear to be selectable regardless of your overall driving style, the game suggests which one would be more suitable for you to compete in. For example, because we were a more precise driver, the game suggested that we chose to compete in the Time Trial event rather than a standard race.

So there’s a little inside look at NFS: Shift’s Driver Profile system. Tomorrow we’ll be taking a little look at some of the badges that can be earned over the course of the game.