Need For Speed: Shift

NfS-Shift-15.jpg

Whats happening there?
 
Not what I meant. Picture is coming in fine. Whats going on with the Civic?

Pretty sure he just got rear ended pretty hard.

In reading various message boards, there seems to be rather extreme viewpoints. The people who say it's bad say it's arcade crap, and the people who say it's good say it's the best sim on the consoles.
 
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I'm kind of perplexed as to what to do about this game. I was sort of hoping it would have this type of sim handling EXCEPT with cop chases and stuff. I really don't need another sim game with standard tracks and such (unless this one is even better than Forza, Gran Turismo, etc.). It seems there's a vacuum for cop chasing games that actually have realistic handling :(
 
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It's getting a lot of praise as being the resurrection of the series and all that. I haven't tried it myself, but I kind of want to.

I don't know excactly how you're supposed to look at it. As a mixture of Forza and Grid? As a sim or an arcade racer? The supposedly realistic physics along with the objectives of making 4 opponents spin and etc... Makes for a weird blend, at least for me without having tried it.

Guess I'm gonna have to try it out to make my mind up. Though I can't afford it right now, Fifa10 and Forza3 are going to take up all my gaming time :)
 
Well, wtf. People get real. You don't have to earn every star there is, stuff like spin 4 Dudes off the track is for the "old" nfs crowd who don't know shit about racing. You don't have to do anything anything if you don't want to.
I finished Tier 1 and the invitationals and I already got access to tier 3 because I grabbed most of the stars.

Its simply a fun game. I played it for a couple of hours, and all I can say: Carrera GT invitaional @ Spa = Awesome...
 
It's great, I love it. It has just enough realism to be fun for anyone, and at hard opponents + pro controls (with a wheel) it's actually very challenging and exciting. First game since nfs5 which works well with a wheel.

And it has a ring! My god, finally. I prefer it to gtr evo hands down.

But.. I don't like the fact that opponent's level is automatically adjusted to whatever car you're driving. It's actually much easier to win with a slow, unmodified car, than with the same car with upgrades, or a faster car. Also hate the fact that one gets bonuses for crashing into people, but as Buba said, you don't have to do it.

Thanks for that. I needed a no-BS review.

Top Gear Top Tip - AVOID?

Yeah, except that review was half BS, at least at points that matter. I can only suspect evans played with keyboard (which I didn't like one bit) or gamepad (which I haven't even tried). I agree that brakes have a weird response, they bite too sharply, but you get used to it.
 
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Got it to work with more than 3fps in W7. Controls are pretty hard with the keyboard though. :(
 
I also say the first patch, as it is an EA game, will be here by the weekend. And the fact that it has no LAN Mode is utter shite, even if they want to add it in a patch - earth to EA, please release complete games, kthx

The reason some companies tend to "forget" Lan mode is to make more money. I don't know if it works though...

Scenario 1: game has local multiplayer, one guy buys it, wants to play it with his friends, they bring their pcs over, install and maybe crack the game. Copies sold: 1

Scenario 2: game doesn't have local multiplayer, guy wants to play it with his friends, everyone has to buy a copy of the game. Copies sold > 1 (in theory)
 
Thanks for that. I needed a no-BS review.

Top Gear Top Tip - AVOID?
Avoid indeed if you like simulation racing and expect NFS: Shift to be just be anywhere near low-end simulation games like the GTR-series.

Seriously? Apart from the gimmicky points thing, I think it feels more like a simulation than an arcade, definitelly better than GRID and wtf are you talking about Nordschleife having weird corners? When was the last time you drove on the track?

If the game didn't have the stars, points, etc, it'd be a good racing sim, but as it is, it falls somewhere in between.
Saying that the second-worst red wine you could find is "pretty good because it's definitely better than the worst one" does not make that second-worst red wine any more appealing. Furthermore, if NFS: Shift did not have the lame-ass points and stars systems, it would still be shit and would not be "a good racing sim". Just in case you didn't know, the points and stars don't have shit to say in whether or not the physics are realistic.

You lost all credibility right there. The new chicane is complete crap. The old course is 1,000,000,000 times more awesome.
Yeah they definitely used the old Bus Stop because it was "the most awesome". Or perhaps it was the only model Blimey had on hand from the GTR games. Oh and just so you know, it's not the old-old Bus Stop, it's the intermediary one used in 2005 - the one with a sharp right-kink before the actual entry.

Yeah, except that review was half BS, at least at points that matter. I can only suspect evans played with keyboard (which I didn't like one bit) or gamepad (which I haven't even tried). I agree that brakes have a weird response, they bite too sharply, but you get used to it.
At least at points that matter? So now physics and accuracy in recreating the tracks don't matter anymore? How could I possibly comment on the physics without using a wheel?

And it has a ring! My god, finally. I prefer it to gtr evo hands down.
At least SimBin got several things right in the simulation-department with GTR Evo. NFS: Shift pushes all the wrong buttons. Here's simulation for you: No H-shifter support (at least on PC) and in the controller settings, you can set automatic clutch and clutch sensitivity, but you can't map the clutch pedal.
 
Hmmm, it would be nice if we could find some kind of consensus here. Some are saying the physics are great, others are saying its total crap. Where does the truth lie, somewhere in the middle?
 
I quite like it (the PC version). Performance is good, so are the graphics and effects. It's challenging (on medium, low TC), but not as nerdy as Toca 3 or GTR.

As far as i can see there're 2 flaws:

1. Loading time is a little bit too long, especially on my 10000rpm raptor.
2. The "Racing line" road marker thing is not accurate enough.
 
I was wrong, I actually had fun playing this game.

It's far from perfect and won't replace GTR Evo on my PC, but I think it manages to narrow the gap between sims, which often frustrate casual gamers with little tolerance for driving errors and arcade racers, that are as close to newtonian physics as Bud is to beer.

^What he said!
I'm disappointed that this isn't more of a sim. It was entertaining enough but it's not something i would spend monies on.

I'll wait for Race on...
 

I concur.

I drove it for the first time yesterday on a PS3 and found it to be fairly good and accurate, with a few caveats:

-The brakes are too good. When I first drove the MX-5 I couldn't stop the rear wheels from locking up on every corner. I'm pretty sure I can tweak the brake pedal to make it less twitchy, though.

-The shifts take too long (the character model has to move down to the stick before it will shift; which in upshifts is fine, but downshifts are tricky if you turn auto clutch off, since you will always be shifting rough)

-Damage is a bit... forgiving. But that isn't to say it isn't there. I already have succeeded in wrecking a car with one hit. (London City is a tricky track the first time)

But other than that, I can't say the cars don't react realistically to inputs. You just have to set the physics on Pro mode, and then, after you complete the first race, set the TCS off again. (For some reason, the game turned it back on).

It's like Pro-Street mixed with GTR Evo. It's not a full simulation, but it isn't totally an Arcade game.
 
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Xbox.com says "players: 1" so I assume that means no local multiplayer splitscreen.

Ah, that's what I wanted to know. PC it is. Thanks. :)

Gonna warez it, play it a bit, then buy it if I like it (I don't want to waste $50 if I don't).
 
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I tried it for a few hours. Its a arcade style with a little simulation mixed in.

One weird thing is that in automatic mode during launches, the car starts in neutral you rev up and then put it in 1st. WTF is the point of that?

And the car stats are weird too. How does a 350z with 306hp weighing 3300lbs have a higher top speed and faster acceleration than a S2000 with 422hp weighing 2800lbs?
 
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