I can't believe nobody has mentioned this game: Need For Speed SHIFT

[Castout]

. Been playing this game out and it's great! Too bad there's no Ferrari in this game but imo it's one of the best racing game out there.
Well my biggest gripe is the lackluster and superficial damage modeling. It seems the car is made of a titanium steel because they hardly deformed and can't never be totaled.

But aside from those it's a very good racing experience. I wouldn't say great but it's definitely much better than previous Need for Speed offerings. Finally a racing game that feels and looks like a racing game.

Or is it speed not one thing that subsimmers are passionate with.

[Dowly]

I stopped playing NFS' yeeeeaaars ago.

[Castout]

Originally Posted by Dowly

I stopped playing NFS' yeeeeaaars ago.

I know I did too for quite some time. I was utterly dismayed with their titles until this SHIFT came along! It's great!

I'm not joking give this one a chance. Many people complain about control difficulty playing with keyboard and instead of bashing them trying to play a racing game with keyboard I just want to say it can be done and it's been done. I for one am playing with keyboard and have unlocked the fifth tier which is the final level of the game. I just think it's not worth it yet to invest on a wheel considering the few worthy driving titles out there and the fact that I've burnt my pocket for something else .

Dowly give it a chance if you happen to have a passion on cars! Not as luxurious prestige showoffs but to appreciate them for their sheer driving thrill! Judge not a car or a sports car by its price tag but judge them from their driving experience!

[Arclight]

People bashing a game because it's difficult to control with the keyboard need to get a controller, be it a wheel, gamepad or joystick. It's not rocket science.

What irks me about SHIFT is that you have (what I assume are) optional objectives during races such as ramming 5 opponents. I can't approve of a racing game that encourages driving others off the road, unless it's Destruction Derby.

[Castout]

Originally Posted by Arclight

What irks me about SHIFT is that you have (what I assume are) optional objectives during races such as ramming 5 opponents. I can't approve of a racing game that encourages driving others off the road, unless it's Destruction Derby.

Well there's no such objectives in SHIFT but if you do that you'll get aggressive points .

[Arclight]

Is that good or bad?

[Castout]

Well I have to admit that due to the small number of laps before finish and the small distance at start line up I tend sometimes to bump into the car in front of me because they are moving too slow either that or because I was braking too late(I just wish that sports cars come with a braking system that not only stops the wheels from spinning but also roll back the road beneath to help some more).

What pisses me is when the AI do that to me.

They should have an option to increase the number of lap, put more distance between cars at line up and umm build a wider track and let us have practice laps . Now the race feels like sardines on wheels especially at start.

[Arclight]

So aggresive points are actually negative points? If that's the case, forget I said anything. I thought it actually rewarded points for "unsportsmanlike conduct".

Goes to show I shouldn't complain about something I haven't played. Or at least make sure I get the facts straight.

[NeonSamurai]

Originally Posted by Castout

Well there's no such objectives in SHIFT but if you do that you'll get aggressive points .

There are optional objectives like knocking out opponents, and stuff like leading for one full lap. They are not necessary to do but they do give you extra stars beyond winning the race.

The game monitors 2 driving styles, aggressive, and clean. You gain points from doing both (its not negative points) which add to your driver rank in total. It does indicate the kind of driver you are though as you will be higher in either aggressive or clean. You do get rewarded for driving either way. Personally I think its a good thing as the AI are a bunch of ***** **** ****** *********** ** * ****!!!! (yes I typed a bunch of *), and I take great pleasure in stuffing them into walls, or doing a high speed pitt maneuver on them.

There is plenty i don't like about the game, I hate being forced to drive other cars which I can't tune before the race, the lack of preset tunings, lack of time trials before a race and being stuck in the back of the pack trying to get past all ai cars blocking me, only having a few seconds to hit the right rev mark for a proper launch, etc

that is beyond the bugs and problems that existed.

[Castout]

Originally Posted by Arclight

So aggresive points are actually negative points? If that's the case, forget I said anything. I thought it actually rewarded points for "unsportsmanlike conduct".

Goes to show I shouldn't complain about something I haven't played. Or at least make sure I get the facts straight.

I thought you already had the game lol

The points are awarded to you(it never goes negative) when you either race clean(the game calls it precision driving) or race aggressively(aggressive driving) and you'll get a profile deeming you either a precision race driver or aggressive race driver depending on which type of point you get more. The points are used to level up your driver level which gives you bonuses such as money, unlocking of paints, rims and vinyls, add more garage and invitational races.

Archlight if you have a passion about car I suggest you give it a try. If you like Grid you'll like this one too and the graphics are better and I must say the car control is more realistic than in Grid and I think most people would agree with this. I don't know if there's a demo if there's one try it

And umm I pl;ay it with keyboard and I'm doing great though I have to tune every car to under steer.
I've even unlocked the fifth(final) tier/level and won it in third place in first attempt.

I've been hoarding cars and have the best of each tier and all of them are upgraded substantially. My Murchielago is even a works car that qualify it to race with upper tier cars which are really the best super cars out there. I have the most expensive and fastest tier 4 car which is the Zonda R(racing) which is even faster than the usual Zonda(well 2nd most expensive actually the Veyron just bleeds more money by a hundred grand). I'm planning on getting that Mc Laren F1 now. All with the magic of keyboard. lol.

[Arclight]

Playing with keyboard is fine, and an accomplishment to brag about to boot, just saying that the people complaining about it always have the option of plugging in a controller. Kinda negates their complaints.

I might try it, at some point, though normally I only play the more realistic ones. Gran Turismo is a favorite, I hear good things about Forza but I won't touch another Xbox in this lifetime, TOCA Touring Cars was nice and DTM Racedriver was pretty awesome too. I'm not sure SHIFT is on the same level.

[Castout]

Originally Posted by Arclight

Playing with keyboard is fine, and an accomplishment to brag about to boot, just saying that the people complaining about it always have the option of plugging in a controller. Kinda negates their complaints.

I might try it, at some point, though normally I only play the more realistic ones. Gran Turismo is a favorite, I hear good things about Forza but I won't touch another Xbox in this lifetime, TOCA Touring Cars was nice and DTM Racedriver was pretty awesome too. I'm not sure SHIFT is on the same level.

Umm I didn't mean it to brag after all it's just a game however I meant to entice you to try the game

Well to me aside from those I complained about I found SHIFT to be a good racing experience game. I'm not competent to judge whether it's realistic or not but it's obviously not meant to help professional race driver win their races . It just feels like a good racing game. And that's a rarity in these days.

[Arclight]

I agree it's a good racing game. Most of the reviewers even say it's a must-drive for fans of the genre. Looking at some gameplay, it looks great, but the physics seem more arcade than sim. The cutscenes in between races are very NFS; anyone familiar with the series will recognize SHIFT as a NFS game in a heartbeat.

Looking at it, I'm more inclined to fire up my PS2 and play some GT, than go out and get this. I don't think this is really what I'm looking for.

Gonna give the demo a try, we'll see.

A good one from the series and fun to play, expept the drifting part. Just forget about it, you have to be really accurate with speed and hand brake.
Offtopic
Right now its all about Dirt 2 baby

[ajrimmer42]

Dirt 2 is damn good

I quite liked SHIFT but it was too much like GTR, and tbh I'd rather stick with that. Until NFS gets back on par with Underground 2, I'm not particularly interested. I want less crappy circuits and more modding/street racing!