NFS Shift 2 Unleashed
Who's excited about this one then?
I absolutely loved the first one. I've always loved the NFS games since HP2. A few of the more recent games, Undercover, ProStreet etc were a little disappointing but Shift for me was a lot of fun.
Seemed to be a nice balance of Arcade/Sim and some reasonable customisation without being too 'Pimp my Ride'. It also has a real sense of speed too, I think it's the first game that made me feel genuinely 'nervous', adding Race Modification to a car and hurtling down a straight at some obscene speed towards a corner you have no idea if you'll make.
Trailers looks great for this one, looking forward to picking it up.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmwZpm_ufqc[/ame]
I absolutely loved the first one. I've always loved the NFS games since HP2. A few of the more recent games, Undercover, ProStreet etc were a little disappointing but Shift for me was a lot of fun.
Seemed to be a nice balance of Arcade/Sim and some reasonable customisation without being too 'Pimp my Ride'. It also has a real sense of speed too, I think it's the first game that made me feel genuinely 'nervous', adding Race Modification to a car and hurtling down a straight at some obscene speed towards a corner you have no idea if you'll make.
Trailers looks great for this one, looking forward to picking it up.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmwZpm_ufqc[/ame]
Replies
The last NFS, Hot Pursuit was pretty neat, I enjoyed that one quite a bit. Actually my buddy's gonna bring it back in a minute since I really have been feeling like playing it again for a while.
NFS 5: Porsche Unleashed already did that 10 years ago
I definitely recommend at least checking it out Xoliul, it's kinda sim based but still arcadey enough to be fun and not an out-and-out sim. If you liked Hot Pursuit I'd have thought you might like Shift, the car physics are similar, although I think it's all circuit based rather than point to point, could be wrong there though. There's a nice range of events too; time trial, sector trial, one on one, drift etc.
PurplePaint - Good call! I forgot, ProStreet was actually one I enjoyed! The track day thing was a nice addition and the range of events was cool. Drag racing was awesome, and it was cool how you had to build setups for different events.
Even before I worked at Turn10, Forza was still my favorite sim since it came out. It's not balls-out "SIM" like Gran Turismo, but rather a great blend of ever-so-arcadey controls and great sim-ish features.
Fo sho. Was playing Forza 3 just now for the first time since GT5 and it's definitely my favourite. Car physics are spot on, realistic enough but fun. Customisation in Forza is hands down the best too. Engine swaps and big noisy exhausts on a Honda Fit ftw!
Cant wait for the next Criterion Burnout game, Paradise is one of the only driving games I actually like.
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/115/1157453p1.html
The 'violence' aspect does sound appealing though, the first game was full of massively exaggerated sounds and acceleration, even little compacts would literally roar like a drag rocket after a few modifications.
We gotta wait til Friday to pick it up here in the UK, but I believe it's out today in the US. Would be good to hear thoughts from anyone who decides to buy it.
I agree, but don't disregard this one just based on that. The phase they went through with Underground, Underground 2, Carbon, Most Wanted etc etc is forgettable, but since then the games have been pretty good (with the exception of Undercover).
If you're into racing games at all, I really recommend at least having a go at Shift or Shift 2.
So true for me.
III: Hot Pursuit and Porsche Unleashed were great, but since Underground they all seem the same to me.
I loved GRID aswell, felt different from all other racing games, and shift feels pretty similar to me, and I loved shift 1 so can't wait to try shift 2 tomorrow, when it comes out here.
In my opinion, I thought it was a really awful mix between arcade and sim. Both the arcade and sim aspects were ridiculously over done. I couldn't keep the car traveling in a straight line due to the over exaggerated physics.. and then when I did complete a race, I had to make my way through 5 or 6 screens and menus to see my scores, drift points, and other unnecessary info.. Give me my lap times and I'll be on my way -_-
Grid is still to date my favorite racing game.
I remember wanting to get full marks on every race with all assists off and then that idea quickly going out the window when I was tasked with piloting a Veyron round the Nurburgring and couldn't even make it to the first bend without ending up in the barrier.
Funny though you guys preferring grid, I'm the opposite. I enjoyed Grid, but Shift felt like the same but better.
I dont like the sound of twitchy controls, hopefully it isnt as bad as some are making out.
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That might be reserved for iRacing
and lol for glitch crash.
Which was annoying as all the higher up races were a smash fest due to the AI not knowing how to drive, and their lust for the raceline, nevermind that you were there before them, they just shove you off into a wall. Which was made worse as even if you stay away from said smash fest, some stupid AI would rear end you in his eagerness to join said fest.
See, I hear this and it makes me think you might like it. I too much prefer things like drifting the AE86, or tuning old VTEC Honda hatches, to blazing round the 'Ring in a Zonda with 'on-rails' handling.
For that reason, Shift was a lot of fun. Plenty of option to mess with cars, but still arcadey enough to be fun. I agree with the above that the drift physics in the first one were questionable. Now, I've never drifted in real life, but I would imagine it's much more like GT5 / Forza drifting, where it literally is a case of purposely oversteering and controlling the counter steer/power. But Shift altered the physics on the drift races to make it easier to start and maintain a drift.
You might hate it, but I really think it'd be worth a rent at least!
Also, I loved shift in the beginning with the 4wd and fwd cars, it was great, but once the high end cars came up it lost it a bit.
But if they tweak it a bit, and fix the things I had trouble with, I'll probably take a look at it. I love a good racing game.
Agree on both points. Drifting physics were clearly set up just for the drift races, and it was a bit out of hand. One slight flick of the controller even in lower powered cars and you were sliding crazy. Also I found you kinda get 'locked' into a drift, almost like the computer is helping. Still, makes for some showy replays
And yeah, I always enjoy the smaller engine, cheaper cars more, it's much more satisfying earning money from each race and gradually building up your little compact to be a bit quicker.
It's clearly real, i'd do that to an Audi TT too if I was one of the devs.
Other than that I am pretty happy about the game, would be nice if they could do like in underground where you could choose exactly what you want, except from 3 bodykits as it's now, I am a sucker for customizing :P
It's a fun game. I think the driving physics are a bit funky, but overall it's a good experience. I tried playing through one of the earliest Lotus challenges using the xbox controller for windows - totally failed. The physics for that car or how it interpolates it with the 360controller are way off. It felt like the Lotus was racing on ice - I was non-stop fishtailing back and forth down straightaways.
I've tried using arcade settings and simulation settings, they are both equally wonky on the 360 controller. I hooked up my driving force GT wheel to my PC and tried it and it works way better, though I haven't tried it on the Lotus challenge yet.
I did the pre race thing where it recommends settings and got 'pro' driving, medium difficulty. So I decided to switch assists off and set it to 'elite' but left it on medium.
I then spent an hour doing 2 races in the first series.
Without ABS / Traction Control switched on it seems literally impossible to keep the car under control, and this is the first tier entry level cars! One slight flick on the steering or braking a touch too hard and you get sent into a slide or into the barrier.
Switched ABS/TC on and it seemed much better, but somehow a little less fun.
Also, before yesterday, I had no idea who 'Vaughan GIttins' was, by yesterday evening I never wanted to hear his voice again. Unskippable 'tutorials'... grrrrr.
My review:
Track and environment visuals are great, also lighting. Even though it's totally overdone, the way the taillights light up the road behind the car, and especially how the exhaust flame lights up the back of the car looks great. The way the car dirties up over time is again, exaggerated but looks good. Damage model works kinda well, if a little excessive. I like how you can attempt to continue a race despite losing 3 wheels.
Handling is screwed. I can't even hold onto an MX5 with some assists on.
They've also massively toned down the noise, I remember the first one, the exhausts/engines used to literally scream and crashes were so overly loud. Now it's just all a little too serene.
Helmet cam... doesn't work as well as I think they had hoped, why would I want my driver to turn his head at scripted points. It's like they heard about what Forza 4 is doing with Kinect and tried to implement it... except without Kinect, and with the comptuer controlling it and not the player ><
Car visuals... flicking through the Car Lot, some of the cars look terrible. The models are clean and nicely done but the shaders, especially on the gloss paint looks pretty bad, and entirely different on the track to in the garage (dull in the garage, over-reflective on the track).
Desaturation on every crash... why?
And a minor one... why remix all the licensed music to sound the same. I think I heard a new Rise Against track remixed in a sort of ambient vibe, which sounded awesome, but also identical to about 4 other tracks, it never 'kicks in'.
Very disappointed to be honest, still love the first one but there's not enough in this to make me enjoy it and there's too much to fault in my opinion.
Stock Hachi Roku and the crazy physics along with the 'music over a PA effect' = fun fun.
It actually scares me when driving, I don't drive fast enough cause I am scared of driving on the grass and spinning out.
I do find the drifting a bit to hard tough, very much so on tracks where there is tight corners, although I think it's about finding the right car for each player.
Would love to play with you if I only had a xbox
You definitely blew GT 5 out of the water I hated that game, now it depends on forza 4 to try and take the throne away from you
Shift2 is okay, I've played it some more. I still think the physics are ass, but it's fun sometimes. I can't manage to get past that darn Lotus challenge yet. That car just slides around, even with all of the assists turned on =\
If it makes you feel better I suck at drifting too