The cars themselves also come alive in this view.
In a particularly heavy crash you might even hear the driver grunt in displeasure as he absorbs the impact of the collision. Collide with a barrier or an opponent, and the color will fade from the screen, the driver's vision will blur, and the edges of the screen will become distorted. The kinds of forces the driver is being subjected to are communicated through the camera.
The happy side effects of the helmet camera aren't limited to the benefits of looking into the apex, either. The way this was implemented is nothing short of remarkable. This means that, for example, when you approach a corner the driver begins to shift his gaze toward the apex like a real driver would. The helmet cam mimics the movements of a professional race car driver.
Shift 2 boasts a helmet cam that's completely different from any other camera view of any other console racing game. Is it worth the time of some of gaming's most polarized and finicky fans? The answer is a resounding yes. Surely a game under the "Need for Speed" banner couldn't possibly measure up to the giants of the genre. Now, however, developer Slightly Mad Studios is vying for a piece of that action with their newest offering, Shift 2: Unleashed. Sure, there've been a few compelling offerings from the likes of Codemasters and even Konami, but it always comes back to those two main franchises. Fans of console racing sims have, since 2005, been split into two camps: Forza fans and Gran Turismo fans, each asserting the superiority of his favorite franchise.