NFS Shift Is an Authentic Driving Game, Not a Simulator

The Need for Speed franchise has been for a long time the benchmark series for any racing game that appeared on the market. It crossed genres from action to simulation and arcade, thus creating experiences that gamers welcomed with open arms.

But in the last few years, the series has been struggling to find its identity, which showed in the eyes of critics, who weren't particularly impressed with iterations such as ProStreet or Undercover. Luckily though, with three or four games currently in development at various studios, things will change and every gamer will find a NFS title to be proud of.

Out of all of them, NFS Shift is the one getting the most hype, as it aims to provide a great experience, which is closer to racing simulators like Gran Turismo. But such a thing isn't true, says executive producer Jesse Abney in a recent interview, as he stresses the fact that it will provide an authentic racing experience that will make players feel like they are in a real race with human opponents who are prone to failure.

“I mean, Gran Turismo is an awesome driving simulator, and we really don't want to even have the simulator tack applied to us. We're a fun, authentic racing experience. And in that, you get the driver experience, which is something that just doesn't exist anymore. You get an AI component to that, which is something we saw games like GRID starting to do – AI that was fallible – and we took it to the next level. With multiple personality types in Shift, you get the feeling that you're against a number of racers who are prone to make mistakes. They're going to lock up brakes; they're going to misjudge corners; they don't have a perfect layout of the track in their mind and running a perfect line every time.”

It is this detail that will truly make NFS Shift stand out from the crowd and get players extremely interested in it, reveals Abney. “In that dimension of the game experience, nobody is doing any of that to the extent Slightly Mad is doing with Shift.”

Are you excited about this game? Will this new “authentic racing experience” make you interested in purchasing it? Leave us a comment with your thoughts.