My Self Imposed Games Embargo ended as did the naughties. It shouldn’t have ended, of course, since the games I hadn’t finished still remain unfinished yet with the turn of the new year the impetus to remain frugal in a videogame sense was replaced with a sudden splurge of buying games.

Of these (the names of which I shall cleverly keep under my virtual hat, but if you have a PS3 WHICH IS ONLINE* they’re quite easily found), the one that I’ve mostly been playing of late is NFS Shift. It’s caused quite a bit of discussion on the game blogs and forums for being so very different to the laddish street racers that made up the rest of the NFS series.

That difference is a bonus, if you ask me, since I’ve never been that keen on those other games.

Shift does several things very well. It looks great, has more real-world tracks than the likes of GRID or Forza 2 (I haven’t played 3 yet, though it is on my radar when the price drops a bit) and the handling is very chunky. I’d put it somewhere between GRID and Ferrari Challenge, in that it punishes you somewhat for overly-ambitious entry speeds but gives you more of a chance to slide gracelessly around the outside of the corner if you do so.

It’s big thing (USP, if you excuse the marketing speak) is its driver profile. For every action on track, you get awarded points. These are either precision points (for driving clean sections and passes, sticking to the racing line) or aggression (smashing into your opponents, blocking them), and these points define how the game sees you. Early in the game, my profile was borderline, swapping between precise and aggressive race to race, but it’s settled on precision as I’ve become more accustomed to how the game plays and layouts of tracks I’ve not driven before.

Points also make levels, while stars are gained for podium positions, attaining a given number of points in each event and achieving a special task for the event (a certain lap time, clean lap, etc).

Tracks range from the obvious (Spa, Nordschleife, Laguna Seca) to the fantastical (London, Tokyo) and look great even if I don’t remember Spa and Donington having theme parks in them. Cars are plentiful, ranging from touring car level Ford Focus and Seat Leon to supercars such as the infamous Bugatti Veron and Koenigsegg. There’s plenty to do to the cars, too. Upgrades, setup tweaks and a livery customisation tool which I can’t make anything look pretty, especially when the more interesting designs are unlocked as you gain levels.

It’s almost all good so far. The only problem is drifting events are made part of wider series, so the only way to complete them is to finish on the podium of drifting competitions and that’s something I haven’t found much enjoyment in so far. GRID does it, as does Gran Turismo, but at least they have the good sense to make it largely optional. In fairness, it’s not required in Shift but the way everything’s set up it may be difficult to avoid if you need a certain number of stars towards the end of the career game.

Despite all this, I’m conceivably on my way to a second platinum trophy as there’s nothing in there that I can’t do and given enough time and enthusiasm for continued (proper) racing, it’s all looking good.

* You know who you are. Sort it out.