Need for Speed: Shift was the first in a new direction for the series, that of a more realistic drive. It was the first one that wasn't arse, at least.
It's still low on the realism scale, but isn't as stupidly ridiculous as it once was, now sitting bewteen Juiced and PGR, possibly comparable to Grid.
Hot Pursuit goes back to the very early days of the series, when it was Cops vs. Racers, removing all the customisation the series has been famous for in the interim.
I think everything they've done since Shift has been a mis-step, which seems borne out by the fact they've announced the next title as Shift 2.
Personally, I liked the silly. I can't do particularly realistic driving games, and can't be added to learn how to, so I like em arcadey. Plus, I like pimping out cars in hideous dayglo colours and daft gull wing doors too, so my favourite as actually the nfs underground games. The more realistic angle is a bit disappointing. There already options out there for realistic, I don't need another one.
The silly certainly had its place, but the market is pretty crowded in all areas. The Underground games were one of the first to do the free-roaming with missions scattered around the city, which has been ripped off massively - I guess they wanted to do something to distance themselves from the pretenders. Juiced 2 is pretty much a modern version of the NFS:U games, £5 on Steam.
I think their games are better now, but don't see why their version of realism is mutually exclusive from luminous orange body kits - I see cars like that all the time.
There are a lot more arcade racers around now, Blur, SplitSecond, ModNation, Midnight Club, Burnout, Ridge Racer and Sega Rally - without mentioning ones that have other vehicles than cars like the off-road or kart ones - so moving out of that area was probably a smart move.
Gran Turismo and Forza aren't likely to be knocked off their perch, so aiming at that middle ground where the likes of PGR, Grid and Dirt sit makes them a big name in a market with less competition.
Dog Pants wrote:I had Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit back in 1998, and it was pretty good back then. I've never played any since though.
It was pretty good indeed, but my all-time favourite was Hot Pursuit 2, and kinda liked Most Wanted, but really, they're releasing the same game, changing one little feature ceteris paribus every year and people are like WOO I WANT MORE.