Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed Review

This then has a knock-on effect when it comes to the racing simulation aspect. The AI is fantastic from the perspective of, they'll almost never take the same robotic line. However, on the same note, unless you slightly go off the track, they will almost never be able to overtake you. If you manage to get into first place, hold a decent speed and stay on the racing line, you're almost guaranteed to win. On the same coin though, overtaking opponents can be rather tricky too. Not only do you have to worry about attempting to stay on the racing line, you'll then have to worry about compensating for what the other drivers are doing. It has an element of realism to it, but the handling of the cars take away that realism a bit. The collisions don't do the game any favours either.

No matter how a collision happens, you can almost guarantee you will come off worse than the AI. If you're slightly leaning on a car to go up the inside, somehow your car will lock-up. It also highlights how ridiculously aggressive the AI are when it comes to self preservation. Sure, they won't overtake you unless they see a clear opportunity, but on the same coin, if you try to overtake, mess it up a little bit and duck out to try again next time, they won't think twice about ramming the crap out of you.

There are also some bugs which stop the experience from being what it should. For example, if you get forced off the track a little bit, try to power through and then make a be-line straight for the track, you clearly haven't gained an advantage by this happening. Despite this, the game will still void your entire race-time as it believes you're trying to cheat. It's understandable if you cut off a huge chunk of the track and gain some positions, but if you've gained nothing, why should you be punished? There is also a huge bug in the drift mode. If you end up crashing and going down the wrong part of a track (on a figure of eight, for example), when you rejoin and go the right, it will no longer increment your score. This is the case, even if you let it reset you.

The range of cars featured in the game is pretty decent. There's a nice mix of retro and modern cars, with each of the major continents catered for. You'll also be able to upgrade them quite a lot, which is nice. The level of customisation here is rather impressive actually, and it's great to be able to get a stock car, and upgrade it to a works car.

The visuals match this perfectly too - everything looks great when you're racing. The sound is also rather impressive, with almost every nuance of the cars' engines perfectly highlighted. The music actually takes a bit of a backseat, with it playing quietly in many of the game's menus.

In terms of options, Shift 2: Unleashed has a ton of things for you to do. Its career mode might not be able to compete with the likes of Forza or Gran Turismo, but there's still plenty to keep you occupied for a while. The progression is good, and there are distinct differences between the game's difficulty options - so if you want to mix things up a bit, you can quite easily. There's only the online section, which implements something akin to the recent FIFA World Cup title. You'll enter into a competition, whereby you square off against other opponents. If you qualify, you'll go onto the next stage of the competition, each time going up against even tougher opponents.

There's also Autolog, which was first implemented in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit last year. This allows you to directly compete against people on your friends list. It will also highlight events that you should check out, based on what you like doing.