I was quite disappointed with this game if I’m honest. In a sentence it fails to live up to the arcade madness of its predecessor, Need for Speed Shift. That being said, it’s still a game that will keep you occupied for a couple of weeks while your girlfriend spends your money in a Ballito shopping mall.

The Storyline
The Run refers to the storyline of the game which is about as imaginative as the guy selling Nokia charges at the traffic lights, the same Nokia charges that his best mate is selling at the traffic light 100m away.

You’re in a race from San Francisco to New York, starting in position 200 and reaching predetermined goals on the way to New York where you must finish in 1st place. This storyline with limited cut-scenes and the most stereotypical characters this side of Harry Potter wasn’t enough to hold my attention properly until the end of the race. In fact three quarters of the way in I dropped the difficulty level to “Elderly-female-taxi-driver” just so I could get to the end quicker.

You’re introduced to characters through the briefest of bios, written on the loading screen just before you race against them. Would it have taken up that much space on the disc to churn out one 30 second storyline of an old nemesis or a estranged brother throwing down a gauntlet?

The good news is that you’ll have tons of time to read the 5 line bios while you wait the immensely long time for the stage to load. I shouldn’t gripe because this actually makes you drive better because you’ll be dreading the loading screen so much if you fail a stage that you won’t fail any.

It’s not all negative though. Big shout out to the inclusion and use of the Frostbite 2 engine (seen in Battlefield 3). For a majority of the game it means just enhanced colors and better scenery, but when you hit the sand and snow stages you’ll experience a whole level of game play. And depending on how your b-list celeb knowledge is you may even be able to spot on or two well known voices in the game like Sports Illustrated models Irina Shayk and Christy Teigen.

The cars
There is quite a wide selection of cars and the good news is you don’t have to work your butt off in the beginning to get a great car. Since The Run is all about gaining positions, they make sure that you’re well looked after. But you’re not allowed to select or change a car before a stage starts and this is irritating. Instead you must pull into a garage en route and choose from quite a limited selection.

By the end of it, you’ll probably just drive the car you’re in until the end of the race. When you do get to choose a new car though, it’s like eating sushi in Japan made by a master chef. Pagani Huayra, McLaren MP4-12C, the new Koen. They’re all there, so choose wisely.

Overall
I enjoyed the hell out of Shift because they introduced a new element to serious gaming titles: proper arcade. You didn’t need to get 12 licences before getting on the road, or tweak your car’s suspension each time you took to a different track, you just switched on and drove. The Run is much the same as that except it just seems to lack some of the fresh excitement I got from Shift.

Thankfully there is the online racing feature to look forward to which let’s be honest makes everything all right. When you’re competing against someone 1000kms away, it almost doesn’t matter what game you’re playing.

How much: R500 From where: www.kalahari.com