Shift Review on IGN(more reviews added)

[sonoma1993]

Originally posted by: jbourne77
Picked it up at lunch; game is fun. Only complaint at this point is that it suffers from carturnsaboutastaticaxisitis. Maybe that's just because it's not a sim, but Grid suffered from it too. It's like there's a pole that goes through the center of the car, and it pivots about it.

i got the game today, it pretty fun, much better than need for speed prostreet. My few complaints is the lack of 2 player mode, also they say you can customize the interior of the car. But the only options i see for doing that is buying the cockpit upgrades in the upgrade menu. Unless im missing somethen, i don't really see an option to customize the interior to my preferences.

 

[EvilComputer92]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

yea there's no fps issues on the 360 here

The 360 version of Shift also runs at 30FPS, it has exactly the same problem the PS3 problem does there.

anyone do the invite challenge with the pagani yet?

Haven't gotten that one yet, got to the one with they Veyron on the Ring- absolutely get the sense of speed on an extreme level. Really going to need to get the wheel setup going for this game, the faster cars are worlds different then the scrub mobiles. I don't know if it's just me, but did they make the tracks more narrow? Seems the tracks I have run that I am most familiar with I have way less room for positioning while passing(particluarly Laguna Secca and The Ring).

The PC version isn't exactly well optimized either, but I get around 45fps at 1920x1200 with a GTX 275. That's with 4x AA however. Graphics are really good, much better than PGR or GRID.

I hope Forza 3 or GT5 do the cockpit view just as well as this game. Now that I've been using it so much it really feels lacking from other racing games. I heard that GT5 is only going to model interiors on about 150 of its 1000 cars which is kind of dissapointing. I hope Forza 3 puts the same attention to interior detail as shift has.


Let me say again that this game has a seriously great sense of speed. I've noticed especially in the GT games that going at 70mph feels far slower than it does in real life. The last game I saw a good sense of speed was Burnout, although all the speedometers were exagerrated in that 300mph feels like 150.

y posted by: R Nilla[/i]

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: R Nilla

Originally posted by: jdport I guess I'm a little confused becasue when this was first announced, I thought they had said they were going to be releasing multiple games under this brand ... one a realistic sim and one an arcade type. Is there only going to be one now? Trying to please everybody with one game will just piss off everybody.

They are working on multiple games under the NFS brand. Shift is supposed to be the realistic sim. Nitro is the arcade racer.

Nitro is only on the Wii and DS. Every other platform is stuck with Shift. No NFS Arcade-style games for PC, PS3 or X360.

There's also NFS World Online coming to the PC.

[/quote]

I expect this one to suck since its made by EA black box, who made undercover and prostreet and all the other awful NFS titles after Most Wanted.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: artemicion

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Well, us sim-fans want that cockpit view combined with the developer's history - not mucked up by EA.

Read a piece the other day and thought of you, heh- GT5 will use the eye so when you turn your head in cockpit mode, it will pan the camera left and right. Thought that was a nice little touch for the cockpit guys(still riding my front bumper, maybe when I get a projector and can go 100" I'll change it up ).

If you turn your head, doesn't that mean you can no longer see the tv?

:laugh:

That's the thing that bugs me about cockpit or bumper/hood view... people say it's more realistic, but it's not realistic to have no peripheral vision.

 

[RedRooster]

Hmm, I don't want to say I regret the purchase, but I'm not super high on it right now.
Maybe I just have REALLY good memories of PGR4 and Forza 2, but this game isn't there yet.
In fact, it reminds me a LOT of RacePro, in the physics and racing and whatnot, but off the track its just a mish mash, like RacePro. It's like an "EA'd"(fancy interface, loud sounds, etc) RacePro. It doesn't match PGR4 for fun or even come close to Forza for realism, even though I like these tweener sim/arcade type games most times.
The car textures are low quality and the in car view isn't really any great shakes more than what PGR4 was. Hate to keep bringing up those old ass games, but those two were/are the gold standard on XBox.
I'll give it a solid 7.5 for now, maybe the faster cars will help a little, but the game is already twitchy enough for me with the slow 135.
I'm not against buying it if you're on the fence, but it'll probably get traded in for Forza 3, no question.

edit- oh ya, and 45 second loading screens. Literally. Ouch.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: artemicion

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Well, us sim-fans want that cockpit view combined with the developer's history - not mucked up by EA.

Read a piece the other day and thought of you, heh- GT5 will use the eye so when you turn your head in cockpit mode, it will pan the camera left and right. Thought that was a nice little touch for the cockpit guys(still riding my front bumper, maybe when I get a projector and can go 100" I'll change it up ).

If you turn your head, doesn't that mean you can no longer see the tv?

:laugh:

That's the thing that bugs me about cockpit or bumper/hood view... people say it's more realistic, but it's not realistic to have no peripheral vision.

Well that much is true - however, the whole IR Tracker type thing (what is used for PC games), and now apparently the PS Eye on PS3... requires little head movement. You can keep your eyes on the screen and just slightly move your head to the left and the right, again keeping eyes easily relaxed and focused on the screen. So you get that experience.

Doing that with button presses is terribly difficult for me, and the IR Tracker is too expensive for me to pick up for the PC. The PS Eye is cheap in comparison, and I'm definitely sold on that idea.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: RedRooster
Hmm, I don't want to say I regret the purchase, but I'm not super high on it right now.
Maybe I just have REALLY good memories of PGR4 and Forza 2, but this game isn't there yet.
In fact, it reminds me a LOT of RacePro, in the physics and racing and whatnot, but off the track its just a mish mash, like RacePro. It's like an "EA'd"(fancy interface, loud sounds, etc) RacePro. It doesn't match PGR4 for fun or even come close to Forza for realism, even though I like these tweener sim/arcade type games most times.
The car textures are low quality and the in car view isn't really any great shakes more than what PGR4 was. Hate to keep bringing up those old ass games, but those two were/are the gold standard on XBox.
I'll give it a solid 7.5 for now, maybe the faster cars will help a little, but the game is already twitchy enough for me with the slow 135.
I'm not against buying it if you're on the fence, but it'll probably get traded in for Forza 3, no question.

edit- oh ya, and 45 second loading screens. Literally. Ouch.

:thumbsup:

 

[Qbah]

Originally posted by: Qbah in PCG forums
Holy shit, this game is AWESOME! It's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much better than GRID and DiRT. The steering is so awesome, the graphics are amazing, the cockpit camera is the first one I seriously love and it's so much fun to drive from cockpit (first time EVER for me!). Seriously, mad props to EA for this game, it's simply amazing. I'm playing on my MS Wheel on my Xbox, solid frames, not even the slightest slowdown.

What I love the most is the steering done right - I hate the steering in DiRT and GRID - it feels very unnatural, at least for me. In this game it's simply done properly Playing on Normal

 

[Razgriz]

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: R Nilla

Originally posted by: jdport
I guess I'm a little confused becasue when this was first announced, I thought they had said they were going to be releasing multiple games under this brand ... one a realistic sim and one an arcade type. Is there only going to be one now? Trying to please everybody with one game will just piss off everybody.

They are working on multiple games under the NFS brand. Shift is supposed to be the realistic sim. Nitro is the arcade racer.

Nitro is only on the Wii and DS. Every other platform is stuck with Shift. No NFS Arcade-style games for PC, PS3 or X360.

are you serious? Of course this IS EA we're talking about here...sigh.

Originally posted by: destrekor
I've realized I enjoyed NFS: Porsche Unleashed, far more than any recent NFS game.

This game seems to be turning off a lot of recent NFS fans, because they hated ProStreet and want underground street racing back. And EA, and [formerly Blimey] Slightly Mad Studios devs, have constantly hyped the realism approach, which drew in fans of sims. Make one game - lose two groups of potential buyers. Gotta hand it to EA, only they can accomplish that. :laugh:

Exactly...prostreet was shit and this shift shit is a step in the wrong direction. They can't draw in the arcade fans (like me) who want the old-school NFS back with Shift, and the hardcore sim players will pass (Forza or GT). From reading the rest of the thread, they're trying to strike a balance in between arcade and hardcore sim (sorta-sim is what I saw one poster call it), which may appeal to some but not many people. and EA wonders why the series is in the shitter now? Is it really that hard to go with what works, the PU, HP, MW style of NFS, the games that people actually want, not this half-baked excuse for a sim.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Razgriz

Exactly...prostreet was shit and this shift shit is a step in the wrong direction. They can't draw in the arcade fans (like me) who want the old-school NFS back with Shift, and the hardcore sim players will pass (Forza or GT). From reading the rest of the thread, they're trying to strike a balance in between arcade and hardcore sim (sorta-sim is what I saw one poster call it), which may appeal to some but not many people. and EA wonders why the series is in the shitter now? Is it really that hard to go with what works, the PU, HP, MW style of NFS, the games that people actually want, not this half-baked excuse for a sim.

Have you actually played it? IMO it's more like Porsche Unleashed than any game since that one.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Razgriz

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: R Nilla

Originally posted by: jdport
I guess I'm a little confused becasue when this was first announced, I thought they had said they were going to be releasing multiple games under this brand ... one a realistic sim and one an arcade type. Is there only going to be one now? Trying to please everybody with one game will just piss off everybody.

They are working on multiple games under the NFS brand. Shift is supposed to be the realistic sim. Nitro is the arcade racer.

Nitro is only on the Wii and DS. Every other platform is stuck with Shift. No NFS Arcade-style games for PC, PS3 or X360.

are you serious? Of course this IS EA we're talking about here...sigh.

Originally posted by: destrekor
I've realized I enjoyed NFS: Porsche Unleashed, far more than any recent NFS game.

This game seems to be turning off a lot of recent NFS fans, because they hated ProStreet and want underground street racing back. And EA, and [formerly Blimey] Slightly Mad Studios devs, have constantly hyped the realism approach, which drew in fans of sims. Make one game - lose two groups of potential buyers. Gotta hand it to EA, only they can accomplish that. :laugh:

Exactly...prostreet was shit and this shift shit is a step in the wrong direction. They can't draw in the arcade fans (like me) who want the old-school NFS back with Shift, and the hardcore sim players will pass (Forza or GT). From reading the rest of the thread, they're trying to strike a balance in between arcade and hardcore sim (sorta-sim is what I saw one poster call it), which may appeal to some but not many people. and EA wonders why the series is in the shitter now? Is it really that hard to go with what works, the PU, HP, MW style of NFS, the games that people actually want, not this half-baked excuse for a sim.

that comment was made by me prior to playing it.

It's still a game that is trying to strike the perfect balance, but play it on Pro with no aids, and use a wheel, it's a pretty damn good racer. Not a pure sim, but far far from arcadey when playing with those settings.
Definitely less arcade than GRID, Dirt, and similar racing games.

This game is all about the presentation though. Close to realistic sim, with an amazing cockpit view and sounds, really makes a worthwhile overall package.

 

[Stuxnet]

Decided I'm not a fan, but not because of anything that's wrong with the game. I keep trying to finesse it like I would the cars in Forza, and it looks like you just can't win races that way. Seems like a good game, just not my cup of tea.

 

[RedRooster]

Originally posted by: jbourne77
Decided I'm not a fan, but not because of anything that's wrong with the game. I keep trying to finesse it like I would the cars in Forza, and it looks like you just can't win races that way. Seems like a good game, just not my cup of tea.

It does seem like they want you to run into cars and race rough, don't they?
I think we're on the same page.

 

[Qbah]

Well, I love it Except One on One battles. I hate those (I actually punched my wheel a few times from frustration) - your opponent is flawless. One mistake and you might as well restart - the 5s rule doesn't help with the enjoyment either. What I did in the few I finished - let the opponent overtake you at start and try to push him off the road and run away to win with the 5s rule. Didn't work? Reset and try again. Luckily you can skip a lot of stuff you don't like if you don't feel like playing it.

Everything else is very enjoyable Especially now, when I got my Murcielago pimped with Works 970HP baby! ~2.5s to 100 ~5s to 160km/h

 

[RedRooster]

One of the big issues I had with the game, the terribly twitchy handling, seems to have been solved. http://forums.xbox.com/29123795/ShowPost.aspx

About three hours ago, I threw the controller down in disgust and was about to give up on this game. Then I searched and found these settings and it's getting much better. It feels a lot like PGR4 now, with a controller its actually bearable to drive. Just got done a three hours straight session, testing these settings. I'd say they work. :laugh:

Gonna get my money's worth out of this yet!

 

[TheUnk]

Am I the only one who feels like this game should still be beta?

Menu is slow and clunky. Can't adjust controls without going to the main menu. Even the voice acting guy has gotta "go go go". Can't reassign buttons either.

Don't get me wrong, the game is a lot of fun, but feels sooo unpolished and not ready for release.

Car upgrades = fail. Basically just a "buy everything". No performance customization at all. It's looks like you're gonna be able to customize your car through it, but it's really just fluff. Way too easy to get money too.

Replay mode = fail. No slow-mo, blurred vision on crashes. Why? I understand it while racing, but not needed in replay especially on exterior views.

Oh and why does my car always start out in Neutral if I can just stick it in 1st and get better launches? Just 1 of many minor irritations.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Just got the game today. Found another problem. I tried a car battle between the Viper and the Ford GT. Picked the Viper and it won't move, at all. Restarting doesn't fix anything. Resetting the console doesn't fix anything. The Viper WILL NOT MOVE. The Ford GT will though.

Did these EA losers even play-test the game before releasing it? I suspect a degree of executive meddling.

However, I am happy with several things:

- Pre-made racing liveries
- Various effects, including blurring your vision at high speeds and shaking things up when you crash
- The handling, once the changes RedRooster linked to were made
- Career mode so far is rather fun. I like the large grids of cars.

EDIT: Two other things:

1. There needs to be an "Exit" option in the menus. I don't want to have to finish a race or reset my console whenever I've begun an event I can't complete.
2. Drifting is completely, utterly impossible.

 

[Qbah]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
*snip*

1. There needs to be an "Exit" option in the menus. I don't want to have to finish a race or reset my console whenever I've begun an event I can't complete.
2. Drifting is completely, utterly impossible.

You mean this QUIT? Just scroll the menu down and it's there. Done a minute ago during a Tier3 event with my Nokia (which explains the sucky quality).

Didn't try drifting yet so can't really comment.

 

[stag3]

Originally posted by: Qbah
Well, I love it Except One on One battles. I hate those (I actually punched my wheel a few times from frustration) - your opponent is flawless. One mistake and you might as well restart - the 5s rule doesn't help with the enjoyment either. What I did in the few I finished - let the opponent overtake you at start and try to push him off the road and run away to win with the 5s rule. Didn't work? Reset and try again. Luckily you can skip a lot of stuff you don't like if you don't feel like playing it.

Everything else is very enjoyable Especially now, when I got my Murcielago pimped with Works 970HP baby! ~2.5s to 100 ~5s to 160km/h

same here, for the most part i let the guy pass me then ram him off the road and win by the 5 second rule

i've only won 1, maybe 2 by out driving him rofl

 

[Imported]

I've actually won a majority of the One on Ones with pure driving.. atleast the Tier 2 races.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: Imported
I've actually won a majority of the One on Ones with pure driving.. atleast the Tier 2 races.

I've done fairly well too. It often depends on the car selection. Sometimes it took me many tries to get it, but I eventually did. If you take the less powerful car, it can be difficult but it adds a real challenge. With the Audi R8 vs. Aston Martin Vantage race, the R8 so outclassed the Aston that I didn't have to do any dirty tricks. On the other hand, in the 911 vs. Corvette race, I picked the (lower-rated) 911 to avoid the dreaded "car doesn't move" bug, and the only way I could reliably beat the Corvette was to spin him out. Probably the best one was the BMW M5 vs. Porsche Cayman. The Cayman was rated only slightly higher but because it handles better I had a real handful driving the M5. Took many tries to win with the M5 but it was fun.

I want to play more now. Haven't had time in a while.

 

[Sadaiyappan]

I just bough this bitch. I hope she is a good bitch and is good to me.

 

[R Nilla]

Wow, currently 39.99 at Best Buy and Amazon.

 

[Regs]

Half the problem with racers is that it takes a lot of time, money, and other resources trying to license the cars for the games. It's like Madden NFL but likely twice as expensive.

 

[Sadaiyappan]

Bitch is not being good to me. First thing I notice is the low resolution. Next when my car went off the track onto the grass it started bouncing around like it had hydraulics. It also feels like the turning is too drifty not realistic enough.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Did you try adjusting things based on the link in RedRooster's post? http://forums.xbox.com/29123795/ShowPost.aspx

The bouncing around on the grass is normal, I think. The game takes some creative license with how it affects your view when you crash or go off the track because many existing racers don't punish you enough for such things.