The Criterion-developed Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is in stores today and Electronic Arts is ready to announce the next game in the series. Shift 2: Unleashed drops the Need For Speed title, but EA still considers it a Need For Speed game and it's definitely considered a full-fledged sequel to 2009's Need For Speed: Shift.
In development at Slightly Mad Studios, Shift 2 will offer "a massive graphics overhaul" that EA hopes will increase the immersive feeling of the racing sim even more than its predecessor. Slight Mad also plans to recreate the real-life feeling of what they call the "driver's battle": "[The] 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." Whoa.
The game will also include the Need For Speed Autolog for head-to-head play and online stat comparisons.
Shift 2: Unleashed will be available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in Spring 2011. But in the meantime, EA has included the game's debut trailer on the Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit game disc. Or, if you prefer instant gratification, you can watch it right here:
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