Shift 2: Unleashed has been announced for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC from Electronic Arts and developer Slightly Mad Studios (the same studio that created the original Need for Speed: Shift in collaboration with EA Black Box).
This game will include an all-new engine and a myriad of updates and new features that builds on the previous game as well as drawing from the just-released Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2010.
“Shift 2 redefines immersive racing by blending the rush of tearing up the track at unbelievable speeds with the emotional experience of competitive battle.” – Marcus Nilsson, Executive Producer
Need for Speed: Shift 2 features an all-new rendering engine with a massive graphics overhaul that puts the player in the heart of the racing action. With an innovative helmet camera view simulating the physical experience of driving at 200mph, the thrilling experience of night racing and authentic degradation of tracks and cars, this is tomorrow’s sim for today’s adrenaline fueled racer.
Shift 2 also incorporates the next generation of Need for Speed Autolog – the groundbreaking network that connects friends for epic head-to-head races and compares player stats for the ultimate social racing competition.
Here is the game’s debut trailer.
The original SHIFT game was released in September 2009 and has sold through close to five million copies globally. Its success was propelled by the revolutionary true driver’s experience – a game design that was heralded by critics as more visceral, more physical and more intense than any other title in the sim category.
Capturing the physicality and brutality of racing at 200mph has been the leading area of innovation by the award-winning development team at Slightly Mad Studios. Shift 2 builds on the true drivers experience by introducing the driver’s battle, an even more authentic and primal feeling of power and speed which elevates the fundamental competitive race into a struggle for supremacy against other drivers and even the track itself. In Shift 2, players’ hands sweat and ache as they clutch onto the controller, their pulse races from the break-neck speeds experienced through the first-person cockpit view. Launching in Spring 2011, Shift 2 pushes the envelope with the most authentic and intense racing experience in the genre.
“Shift 2: Unleashed is redefining immersive racing by blending the rush of tearing up the track at unbelievable speeds with the emotional experience of competitive battle,” said Marcus Nilsson, Executive Producer, Shift 2. “We are also working closely with real-world performance drivers to ensure that Shift captures their experience and becomes the benchmark in authentic racing action.”