skylineaddict

Upon hearing about the release of Shift 2, I was excited.. Like a dog that had just met their masters after they've come back from a war (Look it up, it's the most touching thing I've ever seen!). The first Shift was plagued with issues for me thanks to the bad controller support and the fact that it wasn't realistic at all. The graphics were great and all, but that was really all it had in my opinion.

With the hopes that the issues from Shift 1 would be resolved, I started up Shift 2. First race, I got the honor of driving a stock Nissan GTR R35. The sound of the engine was incredible. I turned the volume up and revved the engine, listening to the bass at the low end and the mechanical screams at the high end. Thumbs up for sound NFS. The graphics were also good, but not as good as I would've hoped. Shadows were terrible, and some textures were just plain horrendous. I run it at 1920x1080 with all settings on high and no AA so it isn't my settings. Still, the car looked good, and NFS really paid attention to detail. I liked that when I redlined the engine, the hood started shaking.

Now, the bad, which is basically everything else in the game. The menu UI is terrible. Navigation of of the menu is like playing a typing game. To switch menus, use the arrow keys.. To switch pages of configuration menu, use U and I. To switch pages of advanced settings in the configuration menu, use J and K. To remap a key, press F. To save the setup, press Shift. It is quite a terrible setup, and I wonder how they managed to make that the final UI for the game, seriously, it's like trying to fly a 747 (Look up the cockpit of a 747 and you'll see what I mean).

Next is the actual driving. Short description: TERRIBLE. The controls are finicky and the algorithm that takes in the data from the controller and transforms it to inputs in the car is worthless. I use a Logitech gamepad for my racing games, and I never had problems with using it on games like GTR2 and rFactor. With NFS: Shift 2, it was an almost traumatizing experience. The raw input from the joystick isn't used like in GTR2. The game is very slow to respond to inputs which makes it extremely hard to make tiny corrections while taking a corner or almost impossible to take a chicane as fast as I would like. Slight taps to the joystick have little effect on the car, but move it a little beyond a certain point and the car veers to the direction you're trying to turn. For most corners, you have to use full steering lock to get the full effect of the steering, which should definitely not be the case. It feels a lot like GRID, which is probably one of the worst racing games I've played in my life.

The "best racing line" function is just a joke. The majority of the lines that they have are certainly not the best lines to use on the track. Using racing lines that I come up with, I can go an average of 3 seconds faster on every lap compared to when I use the racing line laid out by the game designers. If NFS had so many racers give in their input, how the hell did they end up with such bad racing lines?

Last complaint I have is with the intro scenes at the beginning of every race. There is no way to skip them so I'm forced to sit there and watch badly designed people walk around the car in the same pattern every time (Understandable that they are badly designed though. NFS shouldn't have to care about how the pit crew looks in the game, they are never used). I find it funny how all the pit lane models have the bottom of their asses hanging out under their skirts. I guess some perverted 3D modeler had fun with designing them.

In the end, it's not a completely bad game, it's just not for me. If you are going to advertise realism, at least live up to the promise a little. In my opinion, it's about time game designers made a new racing SIMULATOR and not a "realistic" arcade game.


I do like that NFS is making racing games that don't focus on the street racing world, but I think they should stick with that. Those are more fun to play than the Shift series and I am sure they bring in more money than any of the Shift games.

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Couldn't come up with anything snappy to say, so I'll just be awkward.

BlueMak

In the first game there are many options to set the controller as you want. Aren't there any in the sequel?

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

skylineaddict

It has the same options, but changing those didn't make the experience better for me. The algorithm I talked about is really weird. It's hard to explain. The wheel doesn't turn in sync with my inputs on the joystick. It follows an almost exponential curve where a little turn the joystick doesn't make the car do anything. If I get the joystick halfway to either side, the wheel in the game is almost at full lock. Changing the settings just makes things worse. Putting sensitivity closer to 100% is terrible. A slight tap on the joystick would put the wheel in the game at half-lock. Closer to zero, the car will barely turn unless I put the joystick all the way to the left or right. At around 50%, I get the effect I mentioned above. I just want linear input! Playing with deadzones doesn't help much either.

If you've played GTR2, you know what I'm talking about. I've managed to control a 1800HP RWD monster around the Nordschleife track, something I would never be able to do with Shift's input system. It may be different if a racing wheel is used, but I can't afford one of those, and if I can, I don't have the room for it.

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Couldn't come up with anything snappy to say, so I'll just be awkward.

BlueMak

I haven't played GTR2.

I wonder if it is a problem with your joypad with this game and not the game in general.
At least I hope it is because I plan on getting the game one day.

Have you tried using the keyboard to check how it drives with it in comparison to the pad?

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Tipstaff

Could be that the game is too "restrictive" on what pads it supports, maybe a perfect fit for the 360 pad, but other pads not so much?

It sounds like the best place to play this game is on the console, and seeing as how this seems to be a straight console port anyways this doesn't seem to be worthy of my PC.

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asedsa

OK skylineaddict, I will agree with many things you said.

Probably, this thread should name "Need for Speed: Shit 2 (My very biased opinion)"

skylineaddict

I don't think it is the gamepad. It's a PS2 style gamepad and has everything the PS2 controller has except variable pressure buttons. Also, I'm more than sure it's the game because it seems to be designed for those players who brake at the latest point possible and put full steering lock on to make it through the corner (Typical arcade-style method). That's the style I've adopted now because it's the only thing that works for me.

But, as mentioned in the title, my opinion is very biased. I LOVE racing simulators and those games in my opinion have the best input system for my style of driving. I like to be challenged to handle a car in a game, not just challenged to make fast times. I'm sure for people who aren't used to sims love this game though.

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Couldn't come up with anything snappy to say, so I'll just be awkward.

Tyrsonswood

If it shows up on Steam for $5 I might buy it, wonder how it plays with a joystick?

I've got Shift, Grid, DiRT2 and several others... I don't play them to "beat" the game, I "beat" DiRT2 a long time ago and still play it, every race is different so I play to enjoy. It's not like I need a new game..... not done with the ones I have.... Some different cars and tracks would be interesting though.

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BlueMak

My point wasn't that there is anything wrong with your joypad, but with the support of it by the game. That's why I asked if possible to try the game with the keyboard only to see if the problem remains. The best would be to have also a different model and make of gamepad to test.

Most games now are made with the 360 gamepad in mind. It is not unheard of to have a game have lousy support for other gamepads.
All we know so far is that Shift 2 is probably not working properly with the specific model of gamepad, which is good info to have, but unfortunately doesn't say much for the game.

Anyone else has the game yet?

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Veridian3

Just been playing some of it with a 360 pad (wired). Didnt notice any problems with the steering... the wheel in the in-car view matched my movements instantly and it felt natural to steer... if anything it was a little too sensitive to larger/quicker movements but that was it.

skylineaddict

I'm exaggerating when I say it's really slow. It is fast compared to games like GRID, but just not on par with the racing sims I usually play. What really killed it for me was what you mentioned last. Larger movements killed it because there's a certain point where the input stops being linear. It was especially bad in drifting. They've implemented a system where the opposite lock required for drifting is done automatically which I find absolutely idiotic. It makes it much harder to drift, espeicially around chicanes. Shift 1 had the best drift physics and control out of any game I had played aside from Gran Turismo 3 (Which technically doesn't have a drift mode, but drifting in it was hella fun especially with cars like the Toyota GT-One).

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Couldn't come up with anything snappy to say, so I'll just be awkward.

Judas

the need for speed franchise has been nothing but fluff for awhile... and not ... they don't even have really good graphics to push their might as they keep developing for the console.....

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Callandor

I'm getting NFS Shift 2 tomorrow, can't wait.

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