The NFS and Forza franchises have respectively avoided each others turf for quite a few years. NFS heading down a story driven path of arcade style racing with little respect paid to the simulation element of racing as a sport. While on the other hand, Forza has been the purists holy grail of simulation racing for some time, on the xbox and xbox360. For reasons that I am assuming are marketshare driven, NFS gravitated more towards the simulation side of things this time around with the recently released Need For Speed: Shift. Revitalizing the series with a much needed face lift in the graphics department and some strong deviations from what you would normally expect from a NFS game in the gameplay department,EA defintitely put themselves back on my racing map with their latest efforts in Shift. While unreleased for another week, Forza 3 is already capturing the praise of many reviewers and racing fans alike. With a racing formula and attention to detail rivaled by few, MGS and Turn10 have produced the crown jewel of the Forza series in Forza Motorsport 3. In the past it would be hard to compare the two games as their styles are completely different but with both development teams efforts to cater to the other crowd. Trying to find a winner in this battle is fun for one person….The gamer, because equally well done NFS: Shift and Forza 3 are both high performance machines. Yet in this head to head there can only be one winner…
Graphics & Presentation
From the moment you first turn on your copy of Forza 3, you realize you are playing something special. The very vivid menus, the English narrator, the smooth and ease of transitioning from WTF am I supposed to do now, to transitioning right into your career mode. All make that initial boot-up an easy process, that you just keep looking forward to going back to. The transitions from offline and online game modes, tracking progress in your career, and the guidance that is given as to what challenges you should be playing are all nice touches that are lacking from Need For Speed: Shift. NFS has some of these features but they don’t come off the same way that they do in Forza. Presented in a neat and logical manner Forza’s objectives in the single player are helped by the way the content is presented to the player. The graphics in Forza 3 and NFS: Shift are both excellent. Car Models in both games are photo copies of their real life counterparts. Forza impresses on the little things lighting, shading, sceneries, are all picture perfect in Forza 3 and despite NFS’s efforts in adding details to its game, at times can come off a bit cluttered. Forza 3 seems to be a little crisper but while NFS is no graphical slouch it just does not measure up to Forza 3.
EDGE: Graphics & Presentation: Forza 3
Gameplay & Controls
There is still a clear line dividing these two games regardless of playing online, offline, in a race, or in career mode. NFS Shift does capture the feeling of true speed and power in its racing, but the game remains true to its franchise roots as an arcade racer. Regardless of what settings you choose to race on, Need For Speed Shift will not be testing your driving skills the way that Forza 3 does. The main thing you notice in playing both is difference of feeling that you get when driving, In Forza 3 you are testing your car on the road and the major objective is mastering your car to take on the track, NFS Shift is more of a battle against the track. That statement is a little hard to understand but I guess its the best way to put it without just saying ” Forza is more Realz.” Both games give the player options to toggle in regards to driving assistance. Yet, even at its hardest difficulty you will not be reaching a realistic driving experience in NFS shift. Though, where NFS Shift lacks in realism it picks up in fun. They really managed to capture G-Force in this racer, whether you are playing the unbelievably tasty in cock-pit view or any of the others you will notice the feeling when you are transitioning in gears, braking, or red lining the vehicle. Its a new addition and they did it really really well. NFS shift in car camera view could be a game in itself. While there you seem to forget about most of the graphical differences between the game as the views in car are probably the best I’ve seen. Crash a car in NFS Shift and you’ll feel it , the great part about NFS is that they deliver an excellent feeling of speed and acceleration and an equally fullfilling feeling of coming to complete and utter stop, by temporarily impairing your driver. Both good in these departments it’s hard to pick a clear winner as it comes down to a matter of preference. Where you notice a major difference also is your objectives while racing. In Forza 3 your objective is to finish the race in the highest position. While in NFS shift, you are scored with more of a Project Gotham style points system. Giving you points for driving cleanly, and points for driving a little more dangerously, NFS shift does add a little bit of variation into the mix.
EDGE: Gameplay & Controls : Toss Up
Features & Online
Hands down Forza delivers the goods in the features department. With so many things to do besides racing, Forza 3 does a great job at delivering an experience, and not just a game to mash through. With online Auction House, the vehicle equipment settings, and the level of detail that you can design custom skins for your car at, you really can forget you are playing a racing game at times. Although Need For Speed Shift, does have customization options as well. They seem to be more of an afterthought than anything. Deeper and more fun Forza 3 wins big in the features department. They also deliver more content in the way of tracks, variations, and cars. Where many vehicles aren’t included in NFS:Shift Forza has nearly everything. Namely Ferrari. Online Forza 3 also delivers a rich and engaging experience where NFS shift stays pretty standard and actually run of the mill. Forza 3, does include some non traditional racing modes which keep the action fresh as opposed to the standard racing matches you will find in NFS:shift and with the features mentioned above like auction house, I would also include that as a plus to the online portion of the game.
EDGE : Features & Online : Forza 3
Singleplayer
Both games deliver a fun singleplayer experience. Both games include a narrator which guides you through the game and your objectives. Neither uses story telling to propel any story line other than moving up driving classes to race the biggest and baddest vehicles. Where the major differences occur between the two games is in how you want to attack your challenges. Both games basically progress by winning races, but where NFS is so open that at times you can kind of get sidetracked, Forza 3 streamlines the process by adding races to a schedule and displaying the races that you own eligible vehicles for. In Forza your main objective is winning races, by adjusting difficulty settings you will earn more or less points for each race. NFS is a little different, some races contain objectives which you earn points by completing. Running clean laps, Earning a set number of style points, there are numerous variations that will arise in your career. I found this to add a level of depth to the each race making each one a little more fun. At times the monotony of just racing for checkered flags can get a little old and a few objectives cure that.
EDGE : Singleplayer : Toss Up
To be fair to Need For Speed : Shift the developers produced an excellent title in its latest offering. In a Forza-less world, NFS: Shift we be at the top of mountain looking down on all the competition. At best though NFS: Shift is equal to but not better than Forza 3 in almost all categories. If the attention to detail that was paid to the games in-car views would have been applied to the rest of the game NFS: Shift vs. Forza 3 just might have been a closer race. With two discs full of content, cars, tracks, and features Forza 3 gives more bang for your racing dollar. If I could just pick one it would be Forza 3 FTW.
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