Written by: Ian

 

 

 

NFS has been one of EA's longest running franchises, although the Shift element of it is far newer, and now we see a second iteration in this sim racing franchise. The developers got pretty aggressive during development with their claims, so let's see if this really is the premier sim game, and if it puts the more established Forza or GT series in the shade.

 

 

Stories in driving games are all the rage at the minute, and given the focus on the whole racing experience that Shift shouts about, I was really disappointed that there wasn't a greater focus on this aspect of the game. You start out as a faceless novice, but can't even choose a name or helmet design, let alone a number. Additionally, whilst you get some help from some generic American dude who is apparently a pro racer, I found him and his comments really pretty annoying.

 

 

Shift 2 has pretensions of living up to the very best in the simulation world, but takes a very different approach to Forza or Gran Turismo. Whilst those games concentrate on physics calculations, 60FPS gameplay, and accurate handling models, Shift eschews all of these things. Instead, it focuses on being the most accurate simulation of an actual race. Critics of Forza and GT call these titles sterile, and to be honest, they can be sometimes, with generic AI, and gameplay decisions that promote accuracy over fun. Shift, however, has some very aggressive AI, that have no problem in trying to take you out, and will take different lines and make mistakes of their own.

 

 

The AI itself does work pretty well, but the handling model is anything but realistic. All the cars suffer from horrendous oversteer, and you basically have no choice other than to drift round most corners. From the helmet view (which is really cool, with a restricted view, and features head turning into the corners) this makes less of a difference, but from the outside views, is really blatant.

 

Spins and crashes are pretty frequent, whilst the AI is tough, and will just race off into the distance. The thrill of racing when there are loads of people around you is palpable, but if you are either sat at the back, or way out at the front, the racing lacks any of the finesse or skill that the other sim games have as you manhandle your car around the track.

 

I have several issues with some aspects of Shift 2. Most of the courses have been recycled from the first game, and even much of the menu system and events feel overly similar. The whole game, in fact, seems to stink of something that has been cobbled together from varying bits without really adding anything new. It’s also way too hard.

 

 

The lack of a rewind function hits it badly in particular. It’s massively frustrating when you spin out or get nudged out after 5 laps, especially when half the time it feels like it’s all just down to the handling model. It’s also not clear that a fatal crash can easily be righted by pressing the back button, whilst the lack of any indication on the HUD at how bad the damage is also lets the game down. Loading times are also just horrific as well, suggesting perhaps a lack of final polish. None of this is fatal, but these wide inconsistencies really let the game down in certain areas.