EA and then Need For Speed series is back on track.
1) Graphics - the graphics are great for the most part, at least you don't get the yellow tinted crap seen in GRID (why developers seem to make games orange/yellow these days i have no idea), lots of nice contrasts and colors, cars are immaculately rendered, of course there are a couple of textures are a bit meh here and there but it's nothing you'll notice unless you look real hard.
the presentation of the game is fantastic and very high quality, the menus are extremely easy to navigate and gone the piece of crap that was in previous games.
performance is the best of any nfs game yet, maxxed out i'm getting well above 60fps and the game is smooth without any stutter, feels just like GRID in that sense, the NFS games has always been plagued by stuttering performance, not here, this time around you'll love it the feeling.
2) Sound: the music as always is one of EA's strong points, there are plenty of styles and not just Rock music as in previous titles so it'll get you in the mood, the sound of the cars and effects are good but nothing to sniff about, cars occasionally sound all the same but they're never bothersome.
3) Gameplay: If you played GRID then you'll be at home in NFS: Shift where you race in various tracks, you can customize your car, the game is mainly arcadeish just like previous NFS games but you can customize the gameplay to be closer to simulation, won't be GTR2 or LiveForSpeed but in general it feels great.
what's lacking a bit is the sense of speed, i thought GRID gave you crazyneck speeds, while in Shift you don't really get the sense of speed as much at least until you grab one of the super cars and tune it to death (you can tune cars to your heart content).
CONCLUSION?
I'm happy to report that this is a very good step for EA and the Need For Speed series, i thought i would never buy another NFS game but here i am and this time it was worth the wait and the money, i hope EA keep it up and improves on this great formula for the next NFS game.
buy NFS: Shift with confidence, it's RECOMMENDED.
Thanks for reading. :)