Shift 2 - Unleashed (Limited)

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After watching all the cool videos EA has been putting out and getting caught up in the hype of this game, I shouldn't have been surprised when I actually played the game, it is part of the Need for Speed franchise, one that's never had accurate physics. But I thought maybe Shift 2 would be different. It was being billed as an amazing sim racer, so I was expecting something on Par with at least GT4. Here's what I hated about it:

1. The physics are horrible. Like previous reviewers have mentioned, it's like driving a boat on ice. The tires seem to have little to no grip, the cars understeer more than they should, and even in a straight line the cars just seem to twitch back and forth and want to run for the infield like a race horse with a full bladder. The cars seem to suffer from what I call the Weather-Vane Effect. Cars like in

2. All the cutscenes have this Formula D person I've never heard of "coaching" you through the game. He even talks to you during races telling you to "keep pushing!" and "you've almost got this!". It's kinda like TOCA from the PS2, but just more annoying.

3. The menus. When you press the start button on your controller, you'd expect to see a pause menu that'd let you adjust various aspects of the game or at the very least so and alter the controller layout. Not here. You can only change driving assists, HUD, and audio.

4. The graphics really are nothing to write home about. From the teaser video they put out (the same one they show at the beginning of the game), you'd expect a higher level of polish in the game. It does have a little more "atmosphere" than GT5, which always felt a little too clinical and weirdly lighted, but the detail of the cars and tracks is nowhere near GT5's level.

A couple of weird quirks I saw as I was playing. Once at the start of a race, I was going to fast into a corner and slammed into the tire barrier. The screen did this weird black and white thing, which I expected, but then it seemed to place my car behind the barrier and none of my controls worked. The only thing I could do was choose to restart the race and when I did, I kid you not, my car was facing the wrong way on the starting grid! Was this game even tested before release?

I don't know if all these problems could be fixed with a patch, but I'll never buy another EA "driving" game again day 1 without reading reviews first. Like a previous reviewer said, fool me once...

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I was so frustrated by how poorly the cars handled with a steering wheel in Need For Speed Shift that despite how much I liked many of the game's features I had to stop using it. I've followed the development of Shift 2 Unleashed and listened to representatives talk about how much they've improved the handling in this game, one saying it was 200% better. Of course they would fix it; enough people complained about it. Well, I guess 200% better than terrible is still terrible.

I use a Fanatec GT2 wheel with Clubsport pedals. It works beautifully with Dirt 2 on the PS3 and Forza 3 on the Xbox. Gran Turismo 5 is a little loose in the center but tuning the wheel (something you can do with the Fanatec) can compensate pretty well. From these games my experience is that the cars respond 1-to-1 with input to the wheel. If in cockpit view, I see the movement of the hands of the driver mimic my hands. It's a beautiful synergy.

Shift 2 Unleashed on my PS3 allows me to relive the total frustration of Need For Speed Shift and it's not something I ever wanted to do again. People will undoubtedly say that I haven't adjusted the dead zone correctly or I've missed some sensitivity setting. Well, I've tried the recommendations of others online and spent hours tweaking both the in-game settings and my Fanatec's settings. I was NEVER able to eliminate the loose feel of the car. Perhaps with a game pad this is not an issue but with a wheel it most certainly is. I actually played Forza 3 again just to make sure I wasn't nuts. Control was perfect, as I remembered it.

I don't want to work this hard to try and make a game playable when there are others available that work correctly straight out of the box. As soon as Amazon offers a trade-in I'll be sending it in for whatever credit I can get. I didn't even bother to use the online code. Needless to say, I will never try another EA racing title. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

But I will say I really liked the concept of Autolog and would have enjoyed matching times with my PS3 friends. Oh well.

3/30/11 I must agree with other reviewers regarding the sense of being on ice. I was so focused on the poor handling that I didn't mention that earlier. It feels like you're racing on bald tires. The car slides around in turns and gives me no confidence in the level of control. Just another nail in the coffin, unfortunately.

3/31/11 OK, further adventures with Shift 2. First let me state clearly that if Amazon offered to refund my money I would send this game back in a heartbeat but, whereas that's not an option, I'm trying to get some value out of the game. I spent a couple hours with it last night and made some progress. Basically, by turning off all assists and doing some heavy tuning in the advanced controls screen and with my wheel I was able to get the cars drivable. But it requires a change in mindset. Rather than think I'm driving finely tuned race cars on paved courses, as in Forza 3, I have to think about driving cars on dirt courses, as in Dirt 2. Once I made that mental adjustment and drove as if I was on dirt I started to get a feel for the cars and courses. It's not what I wanted when I bought the game and it's a lot of physical work as I fight the wheel but it should let me get some hours in it and some value out of it.

Bizarre that the developers could produce a game like this and think it was a true simulation. All they had to do was compare it to Forza 3 to realize they had completely missed the boat.

Also strange that they couldn't even get the gameplay clock to work. After over two hours it said I had played 14 minutes. Even if the clock is for actual race time, I know I raced for more than 14 minutes.

For future reference, if the driving game is for a console and isn't from Codemasters, Polyphony Digital or Turn 10, I'd stay away from it. :-)

3/31/11 (evening) The final chapter in my tales of Shift 2. I spent another couple hours with it tonight, reaching what I felt was the best balance between game and wheel settings to approximate a passable driving sim. Driving a Ford Focus through the first tier events it wasn't perfect but I was managing. Then I entered some hot lap events where the game provided me cars to race. It was as if I had accomplished nothing with all my tuning. These cars were all over the track and I fought with each one trying to keep it on the pavement, even doing 50 mph on a high-speed track. I've heard some people say they adjust the tuning of the controls for each car but you've got to be kidding. Then I bought a Mitsubishi for a Class C race at Suzuka, a course I know well and enjoy racing. Mitsubishis are good handling cars that I've enjoyed driving in Dirt 2 and GT5 and it had a decent handling rating in Shift 2. Well, the car continually oscillated back and forth across the track while I struggled to keep it on the drive line. I didn't even finish the 2nd of 5 laps. I turned off the game, removed the disk from my PS3 and will trade it in as soon as I can. I'm done with it.

It is very possible that if you drive using a game pad there are no issues and perhaps even other wheels are fine but if you have a Fanatec GT2 then I warn you, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. Dirt 3 is coming in May and Forza 4 is coming this Fall. Save your money for them.

Buy Shift 2 - Unleashed (Limited) Now

Back in March of this year, I was extremely excited to play Shift 2 and couldn't wait to pick it up on launch day. Reading the SpeedHunters' blog in which one of the creative directors regularly posted updates on the development of the game(Read them here: , you can see they put a lot of work in to making it as authentic as it could be.), made me even more excited then the launch of Gran Turismo 5! GT5 is still my favorite "driving" game but had many dissapointing shortcomings that Shift 2 would seem to fill.

Launch day came and I picked it up as soon as I was able and threw it in my PS3. Everything was as advertised except the dealbreaker: The input lag and forcefeed back of the wheel. I played it with the Logitech Driving Force GT, I searched all over the internet for that perfect wheel setting but never could find it. I gave it about a week and tried to like it, but it was just undrivable to me. It did so many other things right (which I will get into later) but ultimately gave up and traded it in, which I now completely regret doing.

I recently upgraded to a Fanated GT3 RS v2 wheel with ClubSport pedals. (It was a steal off of craigslist!) I love playing GT5 with this set up, but wanted to try a different game with it. Someone suggested I try Shift 2 again. I did not want to whatsoever. The game has all but been abandoned by EA and the developer has departed. But he insisted I need to give it a second chance. His reasons were that they had patched input lag, the Legends DLC was legendary (no pun, haha), and that I need to get into the mindset of tuning the cars rather than expecting them to drive perfectly right out of the box (as in GT5). So I picked up a used copy, (not giving EA more money) and gave it a go and to my surprise, the game has changed for the better! The input lag was greatly reduced, and the force feedback, whether it be my new wheel or the patch, feels so much better. With a little patience and knowledge of tuning, the cars handled better. It is now very enjoyable and giving GT5 a run for which game I play most now.

Onto the review portion. (I will be comparing it alot to GT5, thats really all I have to compare it too.)

I'll start with the bad:

-It is more of a sim than people give it credit for(not a bad thing, of course). For example, tire pressure, wear and temperature are all factored in. But on the longer (endurance races) there is no pitting, which is dissapointing given that pitting is a big part of racing in my mind. So dont wear out those tires!

-Most of the career races (except endurance races) are extremely short, only 2-3 laps which to me isn't much of a race. There is a quick race mode in which you can set laps, track, etc and can make longer races that way, but the career should have contained some longer ones.

-I liked the tutorials and videos that had real drivers, but got really annoyed with constant chatter coming from the drifter as you drive. Luckily, you can turn off that voice in the options.

-The learning curve. This is not GT5. The cars don't handle well out of the box at high speed. You have to be patient and learn the basics of tuning. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but probably turns away alot of people.

Things I thought that are good, but could have been handled better:

-The over-the-top race day flair littered on all the tracks. Look, this isnt a terrible thing. I wish GT5 had some of that race day feeling on all their tracks. (As beautifully rendered as they are in GT5, they are a bit bland and feel more like a random track day than a race day.) But Shift 2 is the complete opposite. Holy freaking billboards, flags, balloons, helicopters and product placement! I dont mind some of that, but it makes it look more like an arcade game than a sim that it is trying to be sold as. I do like that it has flag signals and a guy waving a checkered flag as you cross the finish. Something GT5 should have had...

-Engine sound. Don't get me wrong. The sound is great! Much better than GT5's sound. However, it is over the top on the stock production cars. The stock cars sound like race cars! Which is just not accurate. But on the tuned/race cars, it adds to the immersion.

-The AI is great for the most part. They race and are fast. Most of the time they do try and avoid you, I have run plenty off the road when trying to avoid me. On the other hand, they can be aggressive and ram you. I have taken some hits by the AI. Should have tuned the AI a bit to be more consistent. But still, much better than GT5's AI.

-You do have different times of day and night racing for ALL tracks. Another cool thing is sometimes there are random overcast days (no rain, though) which I read is supposed to affect the temperature of the assphault and in turn affects grip. Just wish they could have implemented a dynamic lighting system with day/night cycles, but I'm sure that is easier said than done.

-Visual customization. It is decent but not very intuitive. And why no number vinyls??? However, at least it has a livery editor so you can express yourself online. (ahem, Polyphony, take note please)

-Too many night races. Look, night races aren't a bad thing. In fact, they are exciting and dramatic in this game. I just think there are too many that take place at night. Honestly, how many real races are held at night?

-Don't know if i'm qualified to mention this as I have never driven on any of the tracks in the game, but some of the tracks may not be truly accurate to their real life counterpart. Some parts of the 'Ring feel wider than they were in GT5, for example. Not a big complaint, but noticable.

-Drifting is extremely hard.

Onto the good stuff. This game is extremely immersive and fun. Here is why:

-The car selection. Okay, so there are about 150 cars total. To many that seems to pale in comparison to GT5 and Forza 4. However, 90% of the cars are cars one would want to drive and eventually convert into an all out race car. Believe me, the selection is great and you won't find any Prius' either.

-On the subject of cars, they are not on GT5 premium models but are modeled great both inside and out. This game has the best cockpit view of any (console) game! Even has the reflection of the dashboard in the windshield. All gauges work and I personally enjoy the helmet cam. Another thing that adds to the immersion.

-The damage model is leaps and bounds above GT5. You do not want to crash in this game! It is realistic looking as well as handled realistically. It all depends on where you are hit. Unlike GT5, you will be worried about crashing!

-The number of real life tracks is phenominal. 'Nuf said.

-Legends pack is the best $10 I have ever spent. I could go on about the legends pack, but I am just going to say, get it!

-You know what? I could go on and on about the great things, but this review is getting long. This game set out to put the player in the seat of a real car and a real race and feel all the emotions a real race car driver would endure during a race. And it accomplishes just that. It is exciting, fun and honestly more realistic than what people want to give it credit for. This game is really more sim than arcade.

In closing, give the game a second chance. Go in with the mindset that you need to be patient and tune a car to your style and you will see why this game shines. I know I sounded like I was ripping on GT5, I am a huge GT fanboy, but I can be honest and say 5 fell short in many areas. Shift 2 fills the shortcomings that GT5 has. I still play both and don't have a problem going back and forth between the two. I highly recommend it.

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I never write a review and never sell a game through Amazon until now! If you're a casual gamer you need to avoid this like the plaque. Like others have said, this game is near impossible to control. I was able to fine tune the car for the first few races...but then they force you to race in a car that you CANNOT fine tune, so good luck in trying to win any races because you'll be slipping and sliding all over the place. A steering wheel might help, but I doubt it. I honestly wanted to like this game and tried every suggestion online, but in the end, it's impossible for a casual gamer like myself.

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Loved the first game. Tried to like this one but it just doesn't have the fun factor of the first. Handling seems a lot different (as someone put it "driving with bald tires on ice"), aggressive actions (which were encouraged and one of my favorite features of the first game)are frowned upon. I know they want to compete with the other sim games out there but the mix of arcade/sim from the first is gone and replaced with more emphasis on precision (which some will like better, just not me).

I'll give it another go tomorrow, but it looks like I'll be sticking with the first.

**Updated a few days later Tweaking the advanced steering and braking options helps a bit, but the game continues to frustrate. Don't even think of tapping or being tapped by an opponent or wall as this will result in you crashing and facing 180 degrees backwards (regardless of what you do during the spin). No way you'll get back in the race when this happens: Pause/Restart every time. This game is like walking on egg shells instead of being fun by taking chances and pushing the limits. Between focusing on not hitting anything (even a slight touch) and the mushy handling, this game is just not fun. Time to trade in. Too bad because I really was looking forward to it as the first Shift was my favorite racing game (not too arcade like Hot Pursuit/Split Second/etc and not to sim like GT5).