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OK I know their are lots of posts here and I could tack onto those. But there are no real comparisons vs GT5. So I wanted to give me thoughts for those who have been thinking about purchasing but on the fence. I have played Gt5 since December and a big fan of the game and the series in general. I have played NFS before, but I did not play the original shift nor have I played forza. These are personal opinions nor am I pushing for one product over another.
Firstly, my set up. PS3 120GB. 32in Plasma. HDMi input. Controller - Logitech DFGT.
Game was purchased from Walmart for $59.99 + tax, was the LE (so much for pre order only?!) I had not intended to buy this game, but the feedback on the new Nascar game was terrible so I jumped for this seeing it was released.
Settings : Damage - real, driving elite settings with abs. Everything is off. Ai - Medium
Interface and menu's.
Anyone who has been playing GT5 will know the interface and menus' are slow, very slow, and poorly mapped for access to other sections. Shift 2's menu is fast, quick and you are able to access many sections without waiting, in the garage, the car loading will load in the background as you flip through, not a big deal but would be nice for a quick visual representation of the car (even if it was lower detail and loaded a higher version if you stay on it for 2 seconds) Menus' for tuning and options for settings are very clearly marked and displayed. There is no confusing with what you are doing ever. In most sections there are basic settings and more advanced settings, this is nice for casual and hard core players. Loading times for both games are fairly similar. However beyond the initial load, shift is faster and less loading is required. This experience is very welcoming after the frustration of GT5. Its nice to be able to race more than load or get to a section.
Graphics.
Lets ignore the fact of the standard cars in GT5 and focus on the Premium. Car graphics are obviously a lot more sharper in GT5 over shift, on the PS3. I have read that PC and Xbox versions are better than the PS3. Tracks also look cleaner in Gt5. Gt5 Graphics are far superior in every sense over Shift, however looking better, is not always better. Shift has done some very clever things with the graphics at its disposal. The immersion in the tracks seems more real, I feel enclosed, I feel speed. I do not always feel these things in GT5. People have stated the tracks are widened in Shift, but they feel more real than Gt5, do they look as real ? No. As far as I can tell, I never driven on a track. Sun blinds you, the crowd seem like they are moving and interacting with you, taking pictures, waving flags, instead of looking like stick figures. I am a avid hood/bumper cam driver, always have been. However in shift I have been using the helmet cam, this feature really immerses me in the graphics, with my sight becoming blurry over bumps, in crashes. I am racing at 100, 150, 200 Kmph, not watching a high definition movie. Gt5 is mouth dropping to look at sometimes if you keep your eyes on the car and the tarmac, but thats it. Shift has poorer eye candy quality but with everything they have done with effects, I actually feel like Im a racing instead of watching a movie. (brands hatch is fapfapfap)
Gameplay (single player)
The game play in Gt5 is good, A spec has plenty of races (B spec isnt a game), special events give a spice of something different. However, after a few races, it all begins to very samey, it feels like a grind to an extent, tracks and races seem to merge into the same thing repeated but with having to change the car u choose. I have only played shift for 4 hours so I cannot give a great deal of feedback, but I have not felt this way yet, it feels varied, so far the lap #'s in shift feel like they have been perfectly set to not feel like its a chore and a test of concentration over enjoyment. Various styles of races/challenges mix it up for shift too. The track selection seems perfect too, never feels like you are running the same track over and over again.
Physics.
One thing that bugs me about the Gt5 community is how they worship physics of the GT series. The physics are really good, dont get me wrong. However I feel sometimes they good beyond the realism and feel like I get punished for being aggressive. Yes you can tune cars in Gt5 to be more aggressive, but if you play without aids, you can be severely punished for what seems like something that shouldnt happen. Even stock cars seem to think they are on ice sometimes. It sounds like Im bashing GT5, but I am not, I just dont think every car in the world needs to be tuned to allow you to throw it round a course. Shift is less sim like physics, and I feel like I can accerlerate out of a corner, push it to the limits, I wont be punished all the time, and the game/cars warn me when I am pushing to hard, the feedback although not as good as powerful as GT5, seems to give more information. It also requires some tuning on the car, however unlike Gt5 you can save different settings on a different cars and save them to individual tracks as well, which is a welcome relief. A little bit of work has to be done to make it feel a bit more realistic, especially with a wheel, however I suspect a patch will be coming to improve handling, overall though it feels good. As seems to be the trend recently in most racing games, they have completely messed up the lotus elise, how these game developers in the world think one of the best handling car/brands ever drive like these I do not know. When you get behind a beast of a Porchse, you certainly feel the tail slide all over the place, the physics to me at least, seem more diverse between the cars.
A few other mentions, the car choice in Shift is very good, obviously some brands are missing, Ferrari for example. Personally I have never been a fan of the rear wheeled monster that is porchse, but I am sure thats a big tick in the box for yes for people who want to drive those. Whilst the number of vehicles is paltry compared GT5, 140+ vs 1000+, however it is definitely a case of quality over quantity, and being a EA game there will be DLC. And at the end of the day, you can only drive one car at a time. The tuning section is awesome compared to Gt5 series, correct names for options instead of stage 1 2 3, however their seems to be a reported bug with the tuning section that prevents you purchasing multiple things in the same section, however this will be patched I am sure.
Oh.. and the big thing for me. DAMAGE!!!!! A much derided aspect of GT5, this is how it should be done, it could do with a little tweaking, however it is very very impressive, i have real damage on (not just visual), race over if u do 200 into the wall in this game. Dirt on screens, crumpled side panels, broken lights, cracked windscreens, lost bumpers.. its amazing. I know this isnt damage strictly, but I love the fact if I spin out on a gravel track, and start driving back on the track, i still hear those loose stones bouncing around in my undercarriage whilst they work themselves out
. Anyone who is planning to release a racer with damage need to use this as a base. It truly is the best damage in a race game I have come across that isnt a $1000's+ simulator.
Overall, Shift 2 is an amazing product, it is different from GT5, some aspect are more arcade than sim, however you will have fun. Which is why I play games.
The best (and probably most stupid) way I can describe these products side by side is they are both highly paid doctors in the same job.
GT5 went to the best schools, best groomed man of the year GQ style face, head hunted by all the big hospitals and is always listened too. He is the face of your company, the guy you go have meetings with.
NFS:s2 went to public school system, bummed around Africa in his gap year, lived his life, has a beard and a lil scruffy, this guy is ya best friend and you invite him to all ya parties.
Very happy with both games, problems on both sides, but the gaming industry and pushing out material quicker and quicker so issues will always happen now. Both excellent bases for products if they continue to support update. Both could be classics with a bit of work.
Firstly, my set up. PS3 120GB. 32in Plasma. HDMi input. Controller - Logitech DFGT.
Game was purchased from Walmart for $59.99 + tax, was the LE (so much for pre order only?!) I had not intended to buy this game, but the feedback on the new Nascar game was terrible so I jumped for this seeing it was released.
Settings : Damage - real, driving elite settings with abs. Everything is off. Ai - Medium
Interface and menu's.
Anyone who has been playing GT5 will know the interface and menus' are slow, very slow, and poorly mapped for access to other sections. Shift 2's menu is fast, quick and you are able to access many sections without waiting, in the garage, the car loading will load in the background as you flip through, not a big deal but would be nice for a quick visual representation of the car (even if it was lower detail and loaded a higher version if you stay on it for 2 seconds) Menus' for tuning and options for settings are very clearly marked and displayed. There is no confusing with what you are doing ever. In most sections there are basic settings and more advanced settings, this is nice for casual and hard core players. Loading times for both games are fairly similar. However beyond the initial load, shift is faster and less loading is required. This experience is very welcoming after the frustration of GT5. Its nice to be able to race more than load or get to a section.
Graphics.
Lets ignore the fact of the standard cars in GT5 and focus on the Premium. Car graphics are obviously a lot more sharper in GT5 over shift, on the PS3. I have read that PC and Xbox versions are better than the PS3. Tracks also look cleaner in Gt5. Gt5 Graphics are far superior in every sense over Shift, however looking better, is not always better. Shift has done some very clever things with the graphics at its disposal. The immersion in the tracks seems more real, I feel enclosed, I feel speed. I do not always feel these things in GT5. People have stated the tracks are widened in Shift, but they feel more real than Gt5, do they look as real ? No. As far as I can tell, I never driven on a track. Sun blinds you, the crowd seem like they are moving and interacting with you, taking pictures, waving flags, instead of looking like stick figures. I am a avid hood/bumper cam driver, always have been. However in shift I have been using the helmet cam, this feature really immerses me in the graphics, with my sight becoming blurry over bumps, in crashes. I am racing at 100, 150, 200 Kmph, not watching a high definition movie. Gt5 is mouth dropping to look at sometimes if you keep your eyes on the car and the tarmac, but thats it. Shift has poorer eye candy quality but with everything they have done with effects, I actually feel like Im a racing instead of watching a movie. (brands hatch is fapfapfap)
Gameplay (single player)
The game play in Gt5 is good, A spec has plenty of races (B spec isnt a game), special events give a spice of something different. However, after a few races, it all begins to very samey, it feels like a grind to an extent, tracks and races seem to merge into the same thing repeated but with having to change the car u choose. I have only played shift for 4 hours so I cannot give a great deal of feedback, but I have not felt this way yet, it feels varied, so far the lap #'s in shift feel like they have been perfectly set to not feel like its a chore and a test of concentration over enjoyment. Various styles of races/challenges mix it up for shift too. The track selection seems perfect too, never feels like you are running the same track over and over again.
Physics.
One thing that bugs me about the Gt5 community is how they worship physics of the GT series. The physics are really good, dont get me wrong. However I feel sometimes they good beyond the realism and feel like I get punished for being aggressive. Yes you can tune cars in Gt5 to be more aggressive, but if you play without aids, you can be severely punished for what seems like something that shouldnt happen. Even stock cars seem to think they are on ice sometimes. It sounds like Im bashing GT5, but I am not, I just dont think every car in the world needs to be tuned to allow you to throw it round a course. Shift is less sim like physics, and I feel like I can accerlerate out of a corner, push it to the limits, I wont be punished all the time, and the game/cars warn me when I am pushing to hard, the feedback although not as good as powerful as GT5, seems to give more information. It also requires some tuning on the car, however unlike Gt5 you can save different settings on a different cars and save them to individual tracks as well, which is a welcome relief. A little bit of work has to be done to make it feel a bit more realistic, especially with a wheel, however I suspect a patch will be coming to improve handling, overall though it feels good. As seems to be the trend recently in most racing games, they have completely messed up the lotus elise, how these game developers in the world think one of the best handling car/brands ever drive like these I do not know. When you get behind a beast of a Porchse, you certainly feel the tail slide all over the place, the physics to me at least, seem more diverse between the cars.
A few other mentions, the car choice in Shift is very good, obviously some brands are missing, Ferrari for example. Personally I have never been a fan of the rear wheeled monster that is porchse, but I am sure thats a big tick in the box for yes for people who want to drive those. Whilst the number of vehicles is paltry compared GT5, 140+ vs 1000+, however it is definitely a case of quality over quantity, and being a EA game there will be DLC. And at the end of the day, you can only drive one car at a time. The tuning section is awesome compared to Gt5 series, correct names for options instead of stage 1 2 3, however their seems to be a reported bug with the tuning section that prevents you purchasing multiple things in the same section, however this will be patched I am sure.
Oh.. and the big thing for me. DAMAGE!!!!! A much derided aspect of GT5, this is how it should be done, it could do with a little tweaking, however it is very very impressive, i have real damage on (not just visual), race over if u do 200 into the wall in this game. Dirt on screens, crumpled side panels, broken lights, cracked windscreens, lost bumpers.. its amazing. I know this isnt damage strictly, but I love the fact if I spin out on a gravel track, and start driving back on the track, i still hear those loose stones bouncing around in my undercarriage whilst they work themselves out
. Anyone who is planning to release a racer with damage need to use this as a base. It truly is the best damage in a race game I have come across that isnt a $1000's+ simulator.
Overall, Shift 2 is an amazing product, it is different from GT5, some aspect are more arcade than sim, however you will have fun. Which is why I play games.
The best (and probably most stupid) way I can describe these products side by side is they are both highly paid doctors in the same job.
GT5 went to the best schools, best groomed man of the year GQ style face, head hunted by all the big hospitals and is always listened too. He is the face of your company, the guy you go have meetings with.
NFS:s2 went to public school system, bummed around Africa in his gap year, lived his life, has a beard and a lil scruffy, this guy is ya best friend and you invite him to all ya parties.
Very happy with both games, problems on both sides, but the gaming industry and pushing out material quicker and quicker so issues will always happen now. Both excellent bases for products if they continue to support update. Both could be classics with a bit of work.
