NFS: Shift 2
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RobPhoboS

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

255 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2011
quotequote all
I've posted this on the 'official' forums but I'm sure one or two people may be interested here.

Worth going here to keep an eye on new tracks, cars, podcasts etc
http://www.needforspeed.com

On Sunday I was invited to go and play NSF Shift 2, and in the process get paid for it biggrin
I jumped at the chance, especially since the first Shift is by far my favourite racing game on the 360.

I've just cut and pasted what I typed up, and as mentioned, I really should have said I was going to play it as I could have brought back a lot more info than I did.
Apologies.



So over the weekend I imagine quite a few people were invited to have a play on NFS Shift 2, and provide some feedback on our 90 min experience.
We were playing on the 360 version which was online but I guess in some kind of dev network or something, the 'autolog' was working too.
I'm a huge Shift fan anyway, without a doubt my favourite racing game, so I was very much looking forwards to sitting down and having a go on it.

Clearly they already have a great foundation to work on already but the added details are just superb.
I had a big list of positives, and only a few suggestions that weren't in the built we were playing.
Which were:
No manual gear shifting mode (because of the version we were playing as you could shift with the bumpers).
System link - please for the love of all that is good add this on, it's ridiculous having to connect to the internet to play against friends in the same room !
Handbrake - a touch over sensitive on the control pad button.
Touge tracks - I love the mountain roads in FM3, this would be a great feature to have.

Seriously that was about it from where I was sitting for that limited time.
I guess I can't say a huge amount, as there are good clips online already.

Handling - I immediately felt comfortable, able to control the cars with assists off, and when making mistakes getting punished for it
The damage is crazy - (careful on the Shanghai jump ) but definitely in a good way, so reckless driving styles will see you changing tactics pretty quickly, or prepare to limp to the finish line.
The car list is great, plenty of fantastic cars to choose from, and not like some other game with 20000 variations of the same thing. Although there was one manufacturer that I didn't see which seemed odd not to have at the moment but that could be the build that we were playing, I'm not sure.
Lots of excellent tracks, which even when racing on your favourite ones become an entirely new place at night - very challenging and looked fantastic.
I should have used some headphones for the sound, as it was just coming out of the TV speakers, it sounded very good from what I could hear but with 5 or 6 tv's in the room they aren't at full blast. The sound is usually my main criticism after the physics in a game, these guy's seem to have the same enthusiasm as I do for getting it 'right'
The modelling details of the cars and tracks leaves others to shame but you can see that already from screen shots & vids.
I loved the new crash helmet cam, I left it in that mode for 95% of my playing time, it works, and adds to the experience.

When we played the game, we had several races and events which we had to do specifically.
So that our feedback would be on consistent on tracks/cars, otherwise I imagine it would be hard to get conclusions.
We were allowed in the last 10 mins to try out whatever we wanted.

I played the following:
BMW Z4
BMW 135 - not sure of the numbers afterwards, looked more like a works type of car.
Aston Martin DBR9 GT3
Carrera GT
Audi RS5 (think it was a 5)
Lotus Elise 111r
Mazda RX8
MAZDA RX-7 FC3S
Nissan GTR (GT1 car I think - didn't look on the outside of it)
Honda S2000

Tracks a bit tricky to remember the names, sorry.
Brands Hatch GP
Monza (not full circuit)
Shanghai (not sure which version exactly)
Hockenheim
Hockenheimring
Alpental
There were about 2 or 3 more but just can't remember the bloody names at the moment.

There were a LOT of cars and tracks already working, I'm not sure if all of them are included or some that are future DLC.
No idea.

The people that were working there seemed to be from the market research company rather than EA or Slight Mad Studio's etc
So techy questions weren't easily resolved.




That's probably of no use to anyone but thought I'd share.

ellis427

1,653 posts

208 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2011
quotequote all
really looking forward to this game.
Love the fact the gt1 cars are included.

http://www.needforspeed.com/shift2unleashed/cars the list looks good despite being hardly full

Edited by ellis427 on Tuesday 22 February 23:19

Egg Chaser

4,954 posts

196 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2011
quotequote all
I predict another failure.

RobPhoboS

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

255 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
quotequote all
If you didn't like the first one, you won't like this one.
However, for me, personally, it completely kicks the living poop out of GT5 & FM3.
Far better handling, sounds and graphics = me happy

Conian

8,030 posts

230 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
quotequote all
I love NFS Shift, for me it's the perfect balance between reality and arcade.

S3_Graham

12,835 posts

228 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
quotequote all
RobPhoboS said:
If you didn't like the first one, you won't like this one.
However, for me, personally, it completely kicks the living poop out of GT5 & FM3.
Far better handling, sounds and graphics = me happy
i really liked it and was one of the few defending it... but to say its better than GT5... really!?


Tuvra

7,926 posts

254 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
quotequote all
RobPhoboS said:
However, for me, personally, it completely kicks the living poop out of GT5 & FM3.
Far better handling, sounds and graphics = me happy
Seriously? In a premium car GT5 owns all, handling wise the same - Ill give you the sounds are a bit crap though smile

Shinobi

5,129 posts

219 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
quotequote all
RobPhoboS said:
However, for me, personally, it completely kicks the living poop out of GT5 & FM3.
Far better handling, sounds and graphics = me happy
Are you alright?

RobPhoboS

Original Poster:

3,454 posts

255 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
quotequote all
Seriously, it doesn't frigging matter which games you prefer, your choice, I just thought I'd start this one on a new game.
laugh

356Speedster

2,294 posts

260 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
quotequote all
Most important question.... is it going to be playable to the end? The first Shift was so badly coded that at about 60% thru' the game, it overloaded the PS3 & 360 to such a degree that the game was no longer playable. Typical EA poor coding / QA, which they then failed to acknowledge and took 6mths to fix.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the game, but it did not have the drivability, variety and longevity of GT5, IMO.

That said, Shift 2 does look good and I'll buy it anyway biggrin