I saw this guy at the CTA booth trying out the Wii gun controller.  I guess they were all about serious business.

The Need for Speed series has been around for quite sometime. Sense the debut of the Next Gen Consoles Need for Speed has done quite a change up from it’s usual offerings. I was fortunate enough to get a review copy of the Need for Speed Shift. While I’m not a hardcore racing enthusiast after seeing Shift at E3 I was a bit curious. So how does Shift hold up in the Next Gen Racing department?? Well buckle up and get ready for a high speed and unbiased review.

Gameplay

Sure enough Shift got the Gameplay right. The Game begins with a test lap, essentially gauging how much driver assistance you’ll need in the game. I myself hit the Normal range neither great nor horrible. The thing that really caught my eye about this game was the guiding and point system. While Burnout really established the point avenue Shift takes it to a new level. Much like games that have a moral standing Shift translates that into actually driving styles. You have precision and aggressive styles of driving. Precision is more based on not destroying the other drivers while the aggressive is more in the crashing category. An interesting effect of your driving is the change of you Character Logo, as you progress in either Precision or Aggressive your logo changes to reflect it. I started out with a logo with Large Spiked hammers and slowly progressed into more Angel Wing design. Felt it was a good indicator in how you are doing in the game. Which was something I really appreciated, a lot of times racing games rely on the joy of either saving money to buy a car or getting upgrades. In Shift there are various things to do, the Point system is used on each track that then Unlock Stars. The Stars are then used to unlock new races and equipment while the Points also translate into you License Level. If that wasn’t enough you can also collect Badges on all tracks, from simply trading paint with another vehicle or driving x amount of miles in US made car. There are various Medals to collect and it’s always fun to finish a race and see how you did. One of my biggest issues with racing games is more or less my own driving problems, I tend to take turns way to fast. That’s where the Guide Line comes into play. Essentially it shows you where you should be driving and how fast, Green means go, Yellow Slow a bit, Red Slow down a lot. I felt this was a fantastic add in, it can be turned off for the more Hardcore audience but made the game really easy to pick up and play. It also helped race my driving skills quite a lot. There is only one issue with the game, it has a very slow load times between races. I hoped that installing the game on the 360 Hard Drive would speeds things up but it was still noticeable.

Graphics

Damn this game look good. There was a very interesting Design choice of suggesting you play from the interior of the car. This of course can be changed but takes aways from the overall experience that is Shift. All the cars looked great from the inside and really added a huge dimension of realism to the game. Though the game doesn’t stop there. All the cars looked stunning and there wasn’t anything held back in the Customizing of your car. My favorite effect was the crashing instead of just slamming into something your windshield cracks and your vision would become blurred. This is very fun while attempting to get back into a race :)

Sound

This is an interesting area to discuss. While I enjoyed the realism to the game I felt that the music was a tad lacking. In most racing games you have a radio playing with various tunes. In the races it seemed it was left more to just the SFX of the cars. The SFX sounded fantastic. They really did a great job of making feel like you were in the car.

Overall

I have to say I’m impressed. The game is built for any racing enthusiast with any skill level. While this game takes things a tad more series then other racing games it was a nice change up. What stands out most about the game was added realism while keeping the game fun.

Another Trailer for Dragon Age Origins. This Trailer goes more in depth on the world and lore of Dragon Age Origins. Be sure to take a peek it’s worth the watch!

The gaming industry is finally hitting the Late Night circuit, thanks in part to Jimmy Fallon and his staff.  Tim Schafer got to be a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to talk about Brutal Legend and the things we geeks already know about.  But I think it’s more fun to see a game developer say it on a more viewed format like Late night TV.

Jimmy did mention that he would like game launches to be treated more like film.  I really hope that happens, because just like a film, games take a huge crew to make and getting more promotion on Late night talk shows would really help the game industry.

Here is a Webstream of the Brutal Legends Dem-o-thon. Webstream starts at 12pm PST.

Also, don’t forget, the Demo goes Live October 1st for everyone on Xbox Live and PSN. You can find out what fans are saying about the demo and even add the Demo to your Xbox Live download queue instantly here if you have an Xbox Live account. Download and play this mind-destroyingly epic demo and help Double Fine Productions stave off the wrath of Ormagoden… and don’t forget the game hits shelves Rocktober 13th!

Tune in to www.brutallegend.com/demothon Tomorrow, October 1st at 12pm PST for a LIVE broadcast from Double Fine Productions in San Francisco featuring interviews and antics with the Double Fine team. We’ll also be taking questions live from fans at www.twitter.com/brutallegend and http://www.facebook.com, giving away awesome Brütal prizes, broadcasting a message from Tim’s Swine Flu proofed bunker, conducting a special spoilers interview, giving Live Axe Lessons, and much more. Watch and interact with the Double Fine team as Drew, Emily, Lee, Colin, Erik, Brad, Levi, Tasha, Dave, Steve, Nathan, Pete, Anna, Dan and Jon take you behind the scenes of the development of Brütal Legend, covering everything from character design and animation to multiplayer, the open world and even technical development.

Also, don’t forget, the Demo goes Live October 1st for everyone on Xbox Live and PSN. You can find out what fans are saying about the demo and even add the Demo to your Xbox Live download queue instantly here if you have an Xbox Live account. Download and play this mind-destroyingly epic demo and help Double Fine Productions stave off the wrath of Ormagoden… and don’t forget the game hits shelves Rocktober 13th!

Event Schedule (TBD):
· Welcome to the Demothon!

· A Message from Tim’s Bunker

· Drew shows how to make Brütal VFX

· Emily shares her 10 Least Metal Albums

· Lee reports from the field and share’s little known facts from the world of Brütal Legend

· Colin show’s how Eddie’s power grows in the Open World of Brutal Legend

· Erik reveals the Depth of the World of Brütal Legend

· Brad walks you through Multiplayer Stage Battles

· Levi draws a Brutal Caricature of one lucky fan while discussing Character design

· Nathan, Pete, Anna, Dan and Jon talk about programming Brütal Legend and crunch time at Double Fine

· Tasha and Dave take you inside white box animation

· Steve gives an Axe Lesson

· Forbidden Questions answered by a Special Guest

Another Trailer for Dragon Age Origins. Seems I can’t get enough of Bioware games from Star Wars TOR, Dragon Age Origins to Mass Effect 2. These games just can’t come out fast enough. Well it’s almost November right?

To celebrate the demo going live on Rocktober 1st, the team at Double Fine Productions is conducting a live video webcast to promote the demo, answer all of your questions about Brütal Legend and give you a taste of life inside Double Fine.

Tune in to www.brutallegend.com Thursday, October 1st at 12pm PST for a live broadcast from Double Fine Productions in San Francisco featuring interviews and antics with the Double Fine team as well as Live Q&A’s from our fans at www.twitter.com/brutallegend, awesome giveaways, a message from Tim’s Swine Flu proofed bunker, Spoilers, Live Axe Lessons, and much more.

Simply tweet @NeedforSpeed with “I have the Need for Speed bc …..” and fill in the blank. Just remember to include the #NFS hashtag for your entry to be eligible. The sweepstakes will close tonight at 11:59pm PST, and all entries submitted after this time will not be counted.

Today, there will be 34 daily winners – 33 of them will get a free copy of Need for Speed SHIFT, and one lucky winner will get an Xbox 360 console with a wireless racing wheel. For eligibility info and sweepstakes rules, check the Official Need For Speed Shift Blog here.

This is the final mission and your last chance to win the BMW M3!

Can’t wait for Rocktober 13th to see the opening cinematic of Brutal Legend? Then play the video above to satisfy yourself until then.