Back in November, EA showed us an early version of Shift 2 Unleashed, which touts Autolog implementation and a new immersive helmet cam designed to make what was one of the most lifelike racers even more, well, lifelike. At a San Francisco hotel earlier this week, I was given full access to the game's Career mode, a series of progressively difficult venues that combine traditional races with more specialized events -- muscle car races, retro events, and elimination and drift challenges are sprinkled throughout.
Shift 2 Unleashed takes its predecessors shoes, shines 'em up and tries to pass them off as an entirely new pair. Yes, this is an evolution of the ideals present in Need for Speed: Shift, but it's obvious that Slightly Mad Studios was careful not to mix things up too much. Producer Jesse Abney describes it as "a refinement of the things we've done the year before," thus the game's biggest new features are Autolog implementation, deeper car customization, a new helmet camera system and the addition of nighttime driving.
Night driving isn't going to redefine the sport, surely, but in Shift Unleashed 2, it poses its own unique set of challenges. Since the damage models are more dynamic this time around, you can actually break your headlights and be stuck racing in pitch blackness -- believe it, because it happened to me when I was drafting too close to a racer who slammed on their brakes when I was flying through a track in Dubai. An intense, and unexpected, wave of panic and confusion ensued. "So this is nighttime driving?" I thought to myself. Abney also told me that cars can break axels and even damage engines to the point where a race cannot be finished, which wasn't possible in the first game.
As you may already know, Shift 2 Unleashed will incorporate Autolog, the competition-between-friends system introduced by Criterion in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit; however, it's not just a quick port job. Autolog in Shift 2 Unleashed is far more robust and delivers loads more information to players. Also, the UI is more intuitive, which was the biggest issue this writer had with the offering in Hot Pursuit.
The way it works is largely the same: at any time, you can press a button and be presented with your Autolog, which will list track times for your friends and recommend courses for you to take them down in -- that's old hat. Producer Jesse Abney says Autolog is now "Need for Speed DNA" -- it'll be in every Need for Speed game from here on out. Its feature set is now enhanced to not only provide track times for unique events, but will now also segregate data based on quick race tracks, race types, automotive disciplines and will even document times on individual segments of a particular track. So it's going beyond "hey this is the time your friend got on this race, now beat it" seen in Hot Pursuit.
Finally, we were also told about a new loyalty incentive program for Need for Speed gamers. Those who played Hot Pursuit will gain access to two extra cars: the Pagani Cinque Roadster racer and Lamborghini Reventon police car. Racers will gain access to these cars when they log into Shift 2 using the same EA account they used in Hot Pursuit, following input of their Online Pass code.
You know that trio of sweet rides you get for pre-ordering the "limited edition" of Shift 2: Unleashed? If that's what you're after, then this trailer's gotcha covered. If not, how about some nocturnal racing? No? Well, aren't you hard to please!
EA has clarified the "early 2011" release window for Shift 2 Unleashed by declaring that we'll be able to satisfy our need for speed (without the "Need for Speed") on March 29 in North America and March 24 in Europe. The trailer after the break reveals the EU date -- but if you'd like to see the other date at the end, check out YouTube.
In addition to revealing the date for your next Autolog adventure, the new trailer features some driver's-seat footage that reminds us why we play racing games instead of racing cars in real life. That is, it's the constant fear of painful death. Just a quirk we have.
#screens
Despite the roaring success of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, a racing game that managed to yank me forcibly back into a genre a long lost interest in, I still don't anticipate the release of Shift 2 Unleashed. More »
Looking to drift around Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed's narrow apexes in a perfectly balanced Nissan Silvia Spec-R Aero (S15)? To leap from 0 to 60 in 3.3 seconds with an over $300K Lamborghini Murciélago LP640? To ... uh ... commute in style in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV? You may want to pre-order the game, then, as EA announced this morning that all three cars will only be available at launch to folks who manage to snag the "Limited Edition" of Shift 2.
Like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit before it, the initial shipments of Shift 2 Unleashed will be "Limited Edition" versions packing the three cars -- no extra money is required, just the need for speed on (and around) launch day.
The release says nothing about when the trio of liveries will become available to the rest of us normal folk, but it does characterize the bonus as "immediate" rather than "exclusive" access. That said, we're sure the Autolog system moving over from Hot Pursuit will make whatever period of exclusivity torture while friends toast our time trials. Blast you, friends who think ahead!
