Here's a lesson to every game developer trying to make the most out of a market absolutely saturated with games of a certain genre.
Need For Speed: Shift
Electronic Arts
PlayStation 3
Hayden Meikle
Four stars (out of 5)
Strip everything back, remember substance should rank higher than style, copy the best bits out of other games and voila.
It was a pleasant surprise to find Need For Speed, one of the most established driving series in gaming history, had taken a fresh new turn with its latest title, Shift.
NFS has been around since the dawn of time, or at least the 1990s.
Popular with petrolheads and thrill-seeking gamers alike, it has offered a nice variety of souped-up cars, frenetic driving and absorbing career modes.
But many of us felt the series was getting stale.
Personally, I grew tired of the emphasis on the glitzy rubbish that just clogs up driving games.
Like the Midnight Club series - which does have many good points - NFS started to get a little manic, a little too arcade-y for this ageing gamer.
That's why I'm enjoying Shift so much.
It's a lovely way to waste a few hours and is, perhaps, the best simulation driving game in two years.
The game moves away from the series' roots and its affinity with Burnout and Midnight Club and Ridge Racer, and shifts - geddit? - to a more realistic approach akin to Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport.
Speaking of Forza, the third of which is due out any day, NFS: Shift has clearly taken its lead from that series.
A grunty career mode involves tiers of racing, with events that can be unlocked via a star system when you start to win events.
And regular cash prizes allow you to buy new cars and upgrade them (in a virtually identical way to Forza).
I grew frustrated with the Midnight Club games because of the stingy rewards for winning difficult races.
NFS: Shift takes the opposite approach, showering you with rewards, medals and money.
Also like Forza, Shift gives you the option of racing with a handy line that shows green when acceleration is needed and red when the only option is braking.
Plenty of gamers hate this option but I think it's good to be given the choice.
The actual racing feels intense without being stupidly busy.
And the cars feel natural without being ridiculously difficult to handle.
Plenty of work has gone into a new cockpit view and collision effects.
The in-car view is extremely detailed, allowing you to see the driver changing gears and turning his head, while the screen goes blurry or loses colour when you have a big ding.
You can earn points for things like overtaking and neat cornering, and get rewarded with badges and titles as a result.
Plenty of real-life tracks (Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Laguna Seca) and hundreds of sweet rides add to the game.
With Forza Motorsport 3 and Gran Turismo 5 on the horizon, Need For Speed: Shift has made the early break.
