Racing game SHIFTS into gear

The Need for Speed Franchise is back in one of the best, top-of-the-line, driving simulators yet. This game features three standard game modes: Career, Quick Race, and XBOX Live.

In Career Mode, you have to win four different levels of courses in order to qualify for a world championship tournament. Also in Career Mode, you can go one-on-one or beat your best time in a time trial.

If you want to rush right into a race or if you want to test your driving to see how rusty you might have gotten, then Quick Race might be the mode for you to polish your skills. In this mode, you can choose your style of racing, such as a regular race, drifting, and your usual time attacks. While in Quick Race Mode, you can choose the time of day, the number of racers, and the number of laps.

If you choose to do XBOX Live Mode, then you can choose between Versus Mode and Driver Duel Mode. In these modes, ranked matches can be set up, so that if you beat your opponent, your rank will increase and move up the cybernetic leader board (which can be viewed anytime in XBOX Live Mode).

Aside from the modes, NFS Shift offers 70 different cars for top manufacturers like Ford, BMW, Chevy, and Audi. The game averages about seven cars per manufacturer (some of which haven't came out in real life yet).

Gamers who race in real life might find the gameplay as realistic as the real thing because the power that comes from the vehicle is the same as if you were in the real vehicle. This means that it may take some people that are used to smooth rides around the track some getting used to. Also when you crash into a wall or another racer, your character will experience blurred vision and fatigue as if you were driving in a real race course.

This brings me to the sound of the game. The sounds of the cars are authentic and sound like the real car. You can hear the audience and the wind as clear as a bell.

The graphics in the latest NFS would appear to be state-of-the-art. The drivers in the game look like real people.

This game is definitely not for someone just starting out in the racing gaming world.

"This game feels so real. I actually feel what the driver feels. You feel like you are in the game. I would definitely recommend this game for any race fans," said Travis Roberts, a Florida State College at Jacksonville student.