Need for Speed has been having an identity crisis. EA's premier racing series - a guaranteed Christmas number one not so long ago - ought to be successful enough to feel confident in itself. It had the girls, it had the cred in a crude, streetwise way, it had the sales. But it wanted more.

After the below par Need for Speed: ProStreet and Need for Speed: Undercover , EA isn't prepared to weigh anchor and calmly abandon its once popular racer franchise. The latest NFS game marks a fresh start for a series.

Definitely a better experience than both Pro Street & Undercover; enough cars; events and tracks to keep you occupied for days; the reward system works well in multiplayer and single-player

In the end not much of a challenge; still not the comeback we were hoping for; certainly hasn't restored the series' former glory

Shift is a fantastic new direction and clearly EA have taken the time to think, ‘What are the serious options we can take?' and although it is trying to compete in a saturated racing market, it does so with good stead.

In-car view is the best in any racing game; Awards in-game for driving style; Customisation options are vast

Terrible default handling with bad oversteer; City tracks lack depth; Soundtrack is lacking variety

The Need For Speed franchise has had a serious overhaul and with the latest version just released we have a look at how it compares to the other racers that are out there. We can nearly all say quite confidently that the last few versions of the Need For Speed franchise have been not up to scratch.

The last couple Need for Speed games haven't exactly been what one would call stellar. After the pathetic quality of Pro Street and Undercover, most

Intense racing action; Stimulating cockpit view; All events aren't required; Brings the series back on-track

Poor racing AI; Online and customization lacking; Tuning glitch impairs gameplay; High learning curve for drifting

The more serious side of the Need for Speed franchise is rolled out for its second run. Jaz Rignall gets under the hood.

Exciting racing action; Very dynamic visual presentation; Excellent car customization options; Fun, once you get the game set up right for you.

This game builds on the Original NFS Shift. It's pretty exciting and brings you into the world of professional Formula racing. There is definitely a big difference between the Street Racing NFS and Professional NFS and I like it.

this is a big improvement from NFS Underground and Carbon but I am so confused as to how EA let this ship with sooo many obvious errors. The car bounce is ridiculous and i have lost countless races thanks to it. how could EA miss something THAT big

Large selection of REAL (note the real in all caps) tracks Large selection of REAL (especially note the real in all caps) supercars not bouncy little tuners sense of speed engine sounds upgradebility of cars real race parts and have real effects real tuning ORGANIZED TRACK RACING not street racing...

No weather No night Tries so so so very hard to be a simulator its almost bad; Roll over and car crashes are pathetic Damage effects from crashes=pathetic (you can slam into a concrete wall at 200mph and still drive on) Cars look like clumsy variable geometric shapes when they crash or attempt to...

The all-new helmet-cam separates Shift 2 from every other racing game.

Need For Speed Shift – Xbox 360 I was never really that much of a fan of driving games and to be honest, the more hyped up a game is the worse it usually turns out to be. For instance, I find ‘Gran Turismo' and ‘Forza Motorsport' absolutely abysmal.

Huge variety of racing scenarios ;  Lots of cars ;  exciting ;  Addictive .

Not for you if you get bored after two seconds