EA’s Need For Speed series has had quite the ‘ride’ throughout it’s long history. Everything from the ‘Underground’ to ‘Undercover’, it seems like the series has been everywhere and back. 2009’s entry, Need For Speed: Shift was more of a ‘Gran Turismo’ take on the series and resided well with fans of the series. Even though Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is going to tear up the streets this year with Burnout developers Criterion at the helm, EA has already announced 2011’s NFS title and fans better be ready to ‘Shift’ once again to a more realistic take on the franchise.
Need For Speed: Shift 2 hasn’t even been announced yet, but that didn’t keep EA from posting it in their Earning Reports for their Q1 FY11. It looks like Slightly Mad Studios is taking another stab at a more realistic Need for Speed approach. Look for Need for Speed: Shift 2 in early 2011, along with an onslaught of other EA published titles including Crysis 2, BulletStorm, and Dead Space 2.
It should be interesting to see how fans react next year after they get their hands on Criterion Game’s take of the series. How will series fans respond to realism after experiencing the arcadey-style of NFS: HP? Will fans want to go back to the simulation realized in the Shift series?
If you’ve been interested in NFS: Shift, perhaps you should give our review a peep. Now that the game has been discounted, why not give it a chance before the true king of racing simulators, Gran Turismo 5, hits ferociously on November 2nd.
