Introduction:

Shift 2 Unleashed is the follow-up to the 2009 hit, Need for Speed SHIFT by Slightly Mad Studios. The SHIFT series is one of the most realistic and immersive simulation racing games on the market. With 145 cars from 37 manufacturers available, the SHIFT series satisfies racers who desire a simulation racer with arcade-style objectives. This time you will build your racing career working towards the FIA GT1 championship crown. Along the way you'll progress to drifting, time-attack, throwback cars, endurance, GT3 and several other varied events! SHIFT 2 has several new additions, an in-helmet cam view, night-time racing, real vehicle damage that affects vehicle performance, and the Autolog feature introduced with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. New online modes include online duel and catch-up. The higher difficulty in this installment is that unlike the first SHIFT game's trophy set, this time you must complete a specific set of objectives. Such as competing online for King of the Hill, drifting, beating all your rivals, and being able to master every track in the game.


Walkthrough:

Step 1: Playthrough your career on HARD difficulty

When you start the game, your first race in your career will be against opponents for two laps after a quick tutorial where you are driving in a Nissan GT-R. It is important that you come in first place in this race for the Proving Grounds trophy as this is missable. If you want to prepare visually for this race, you can watch the video in the trophy guide section.

After the tutorial, I recommend starting up the difficulty on hard to make a single-career run towards 75 career wins in first-place for the Race License trophy which will also unlock Sports License and Competition License along the way. While a podium finish normally counts as a winning finish in the game for progression unless otherwise stated, for these trophies you will need to finish in first-place. Do keep a tally of your wins as there is no in-game count of them in the Autolog.

The career mode in the game is open-ended. As you increase your driver level and gain XP, you will unlock new events. Your focus at this point is leveling up, earning cash towards Bounty Hunter, and getting as many podium finishes as possible in all events. Podium finishes reward the most cash and you will be able to purchase better cars and upgrades for beating your rivals. You'll eventually face off against rivals as you win enough podium finishes to play in that respective series' championship event.

During races you'll want to try to complete race objectives that appear on the race loading screen, such as leading and running a clean lap. These count for the Going The Extra Mile. Also attempt on mastering the track by working towards a 100% score on the best racing line and mastering every corner of that track for Day Walker and Night Rider. As you progress you'll see the tracks in a different daylight setting such as night time and will have to master those as well. As such, there are 126 track master badges total to earn.

Eventually you'll work yourself up to the GT3, Works, and GT1 championship events to finish your career and earn GT3 Champion, Works Champion, and GT1 Champion.


Step 2: Online

Online can be done at anytime, as you will need to accrue over 10 hours of online game time to unlock Notorious. Your total time can be tracked through your autolog profile.

You can get some friends together or find boosting partners in this thread for the I. Am. Iron. Man., In the Zone, and Intercept and Pursue trophies. As they can be unlocked in private unranked matches.

When you complete a race in your career, don't forget to recommend a track to your friend(s) using the button after a race to help them unlock Recommended.

For King of The Hill, you'll need to win eight races in a row in a ladder-style online driver duel. When you win the qualifying round, you'll unlock I'm Going To Hollywood! These cannot be boosted by practical means as its an auto-match.


Step 3: Clean up

At this point, you will have all events unlocked so you can clean-up the remaining trophies. You are likely left with just earning cash and badges. If you need to work on hard difficulty wins, you can change the setting back to hard and start re-playing events you know you can get a podium finish in. If you need online time, you can also work towards winning events online and earning more money as well. Most likely all that will be left is earning $10 million for Bounty Hunter. Going back to win more GT1 events on top of the podium will give the most money per race. However, GT3 events pay a little less cash, but are shorter in time-length to run.


Career Mode Tips

• It is recommended that your backup your Shift 2 save data often via removable media and/or the PlayStation Plus Cloud Service. There have been many confirmed reports of the game freezing during saving points as-of title update 1.02. If the game freezes during game saving, your could lose your career progress. Save yourself possible grief, and backup when possible.

• Based upon your driving skill and outcome in the initial career race, JR will present you with possible handling and difficulty options to start your career with. I do suggest giving what the game has presented a try. If you felt the tutorial was hard to control, you can set it to novice handling with easy mode to start things off. This will turn-on all assists including steering, which should help those who are having issues adjusting to the handling. I would advise to not depend on brake assist as it can make races a little harder than they should be.

• You can spend your cash as you see fit on cars and upgrades. If you change your mind on a car upgrade, you can get a full-refund on that upgrade. This allows you to experiment with how you want your car to work best for you.

• The AI will adjust to your car's performance index as you install more upgrades. If you are having problems getting podium finishes in races, you can simply go stock or minimal upgrades and win races on technical driving skill. With rivals, you likely want to make upgrades since their cars are on a fixed performance index. The rest of the field will adjust however but your chances at beating rivals is better.

• Online Pass and Need for Speed loyalty awards:

If you bought this game new and received the limited edition online pass, not only will you get a 10k bonus and two cars, but as soon as you claim it online you will enable double-XP for 24 hours. Keeping this in mind, you can make considerable progress early-on towards Level 20 and the Veteran trophy.

If you previously played Need for Speed SHIFT, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and/or Need for Speed: Undercover on your EA Nation account, you can also unlock loyalty bonuses for free XP and cash under the options menu.

 
Legends Pack DLC:

The servers have now closed, therefore the 100% is unobtainable if you didn't get the online trophy before that happened.

Overview:

Introduction:

The Legends Pack downloadable content for Shift 2 Unleashed takes racers back to the golden age of racing. This expansion adds another branch to your Shift 2 career and a possible Legends Championship should you beat your new Rival, Matt Powers on top of the podium!
 
Walkthrough:

STEP 1: Playthrough the Legends Career Branch and win the Championship event

Just like the base Shift 2 career, you will be presented with the new Legends branch after the GT1 branch. You will have several new events to compete in to your liking. Playthrough the branch and earn a minimum of 12 podium finishes to enter the championship series to face your new rival, Matt Powers. Feel free to maximize your car upgrades from the Legends Pack (but don't go works). You can set the game difficulty to easy as well if you want an easier time with races. Once you are eligible for the championship series, you will need to complete six stages and defeat Matt in the final-standings. With a lot of upgrades on your car minus a works conversion, you should have plenty of horsepower to overtake Matt and win the championship!

STEP 2: Win an event online with a car from the Legends Pack - Unonbtainable

All you need to do online is win any event on top of the podium, in first-place in any car in the legends pack. You can start-up or play in unranked or ranked lobbies for this final trophy.

 
Speedhunters Edition DLC:

The servers have now closed, therefore the 100% is unobtainable if you didn't get the online trophy before that happened.

Overview:

Introduction:

Shift 2: Unleashed Speedhunters Edition downloadable content adds an all-new dimension to the simulation genre by catering to fans of drag racing and street competition. This new expansion introduces two all-new disciplines to the game: Drag racing & Standing Mile. The drag racing mode rewards the player with the quickest time on a half-mile stretch, while the standing mile competition is all about maximum top-end speed on a one-mile stretch. Contents also include new Speedhunter edition cars and new drag strip locations. You will also get to face a familiar rival in Chris Rado from your Shift 2 career, plus two new ones. Check out my in-game rivalry video for more details on this exciting drag racing venture: LINK

Walkthrough:

STEP 1: Playthrough the drag set of events and defeat your rival, Chris Rado for the 1320 Outlaws Championship.

With the new Speedhunters edition expansion, you will be presented with the drag set of events branch after the GT1 branch. You will need compile at-least four podium finishes to be able to race in the Outlaws championship against Chris Rado. I would recommend using the fastest A-performance car immediately available, the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) Speedhunter for these events. You will literally fly to the finish in the qualifying events and have no trouble at all once you understand how to drag race. You are also very likely to unlock 8 Second Club naturally as you progress through the drag event set.

Once you are eligible for the championship series, you will need to complete three stages and defeat Chris in the final-standings. In which you should have no trouble if you follow the above advice and to unlock Grim Reaper.

STEP 2: Playthrough the Step Mile events and defeat your rival, Koz for the Standing Mile World Championship

The second set of events in the Drag Branch is the Step Mile events. This time you are measured on your top-speed in the one mile span. Your main focus is to get as much power and up-shift accurately to launch yourself to the fastest speed possible. You can use the WORLD Scion tC reward car you won by defeating Chris Rado, or you can use the same Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) Speedhunters Edition for an easier time with the mile events. While you are playing for podium finishes, and using the car(s) I mentioned you are likely to unlock 250 Club for breaking 250mph in an Step Mile event in natural fashion.

Lastly, you will need at least a set of four podium finishes to qualify for the Mile World Championship. Where you will face Koz in several events, and have to finish on-top of the podium to defeat him to unlock Monster Dog. Nothing changes in terms of difficulty in this series, and if you gotten this far, you'll be able to beat Koz and win the championship with little difficulty.

STEP 3: Playthrough career races using all cars unlocked in the Speedhunter Edition

Now that you have completed the drag branch and have the two reward rivalry cars needed in your garage. You will need to play any set of career events using every Speedhunter Edition car at least once to unlock Speedhunter.

STEP 4: Online Experience - Unobtainable

Now that you have completed the drag branch, and all offline trophies, you will take your game online. You will also need access to the online mode via the EA online pass. All you have to do is win on top of the podium, in first-place, in at least one drag event with a Speedhunter car for Ready to Rock. This can be boosted in private, unranked matches. See the boosting thread to find a partner that has this downloadable content for an easier time with this trophy.