The game encounters problems that aren't necessarily it's own fault. The driving is good, great even, the issue is that both Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5 are coming out around the corner, and with most people's opinions about Need For Speed soured by the last iteration, it'll be hard to convince them to go with Shift. That said, EA does a really good job. It's nice to see EA ditch the ridiculous story mode (IE: undercover cop looking to bust an illegal drug trade by infiltrating some illegal street racing club) in favor of what a racing game should be about: THE RACING.
The driving is the best I've seen EVER in the Need For Speed series. When I think of racing I think of closed circuits, high end cars, and lots of twists and turns, I don't think of pimped out import cars drifting around crazily in some open world city being chased by the cops, that's what 13 year olds think of racing. Pro Street attempted to get the feeling down but it ultimately felt like too much of a departure from the series while keeping the arcadey feel that the series had since Underground. The physics is realistic, keeping in mind there is a more casual mode that makes the game more accessible to players looking for a more arcadey experience. The professional mode is insane, and requires the use of pedals and a wheel to at all race well, the fine steering adjustments that need to be made can't just be made with an analog stick. While a steering wheel isn't necessary to use to enjoy the game, it really does help with the realism. The racing line, a line that shows the best/fastest line around the track does help a lot, and is especially useful to new players, it even shows when you should speed up, stay the course, or slow down.
Need for Speed Shift is out for the PS3, PSP, and 360
The graphics, as are all the Need For Speeds in the past, are awesome. The cars (there are 72 of them) are more detailed than in any other game I've seen previous, with full accuracy to the cockpit as their real life counterpart, right down to the pop-up nav screen. There is a third person view available, and it does make turning a LITTLE bit easier, however I kept finding myself going back to the cockpit view, it just adds that little bit of realism that keeps up the suspension of disbelief. There is full damage in the game, and while I found that you couldn't really see your own car's damage in cockpit view (unless you found a way to mess up the hood of you car, which you can do), however in the third person mode, the damage is really spectacular. It may not be as detailed as the damage in Dirt 2, but it is really good.
The audio is just as good, the rev of the engine sounds great in 5.1, and hearing the roar and feeling it through the sub woofer is a really cool experience. You'll hear the detailed bending of metal as you crash into another car, the squeel of the tires as you slam your brakes, and you'll hear the driver (yourself) take a short breath before crashing into a wall. Crashing into a barrier, other car, or wall will make your breath short and your heartbeat fast. You lose your vision for a bit as it goes from blurry to clear, and you can't hear anything except the beating sound of your heart. After you recover from the accident, everything is back to normal, but I do recommend intentionally crashing into a barrier at 100mph just to experience it, it is something that has been missing from many racing games that could have easily been done in previous games.
The career mode in the game is fairly simple, there's no live action cut scenes and there's no licenses or stuff like that. Everything is streamlined into the menu, you rank up and earn new levels and tiers by gaining stars. Stars can be obtained by finishing a race in either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd as well as getting a certain amount of XP during a game.
XP is gained by driving 1 of 2 ways, precision driving, or aggressive driving. Precision driving XP can be achieved by staying on the racing line, clean overtakes (passing another car without touching it), mastering corners (taking a corner at the fastest speed while maintaining the racing line), driving clean (not going off the course or hitting anything), and getting a good launch. Aggressive XP can be done by trading paint (hitting other cars), dirty overtakes (passing another car after hitting them), spinning out another car, pushing another car off the track, drafting (which you think might fall under the precision driving XP), and blocking opponents from passing you by getting in their way. XP will gain you stars and level you up, which opens up a new set of tracks to race on.
The tracks are nicely done and those that are based on real life tracks represent them quite faithfully. They give enough of a variety between narrow and wide tracks, and twisty and straight, and really do give the feeling of a real race day. While it may not be as good as Forza 3 or Gran Turismo 5, it's much better than the recent Need for Speeds and I would recommend it to any racing fans.
