Is Shift 2 Unleahed any good for the PS3?

[NissanGTR07]

I was going to buy the game on amazon but I see that the ratings are low and read some of the reviews and some people complained about input lag or something and I have no idea what they are talking about but is Shift 2 Unleashed playable on PlayStation 3?

 

[II-zOoLoGy-II]

I picked it up several months back as a rental from Blockbuster. I returned it the next day. The input lag was horrendous. Absolutely un-drivable. Now, they could have patched it; I am unsure of that.

It might be worth the rental if you are not looking for a serious sim. Blockbuster is doing a $15 unlimited rental for one month thing. If you don't like it take it back and exchange it for something else.

 

[tribolik]

Yeah I played the game for about 2 months than I waited for a second or third patch that would fix the enumerous bugs that plage the game (the imput lag is definitly the worst one and the freezing of the PS3 in longer tracks another) but after the announcement that EA/SMS wouldnt release any more Bug fixes/patches I sold the game

 

[mr_serious]

I think it really depends on what kind of person you are.

I have never noticed any input lag, but the game does drive substantially different from GT5. It is a lot harder to master and really takes some practice, but then skill based games should in my opinion.

There are plenty of bugs though. Some which affect everybody and others which don't affect everyone and these will never be fixed.

Personally I am very very glad I have the game because (once mastered) the racing is exceptional. I no longer play GT5 as it is just far too dull in comparison.

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

I'm another who would recommend this game on PS3. I have it, and even though there are some issues I've had, there were no game breakers for me. I play with a DS3 so I've had no input lag either. Once you get playing the game, it's addictive... alot of fun IMO, and I'm still glad to own and play it. Tuning the cars you own will be recommended to you often, and here on GTP, you'll have access to some really good ones. Give it a chance... 👍

 

[xXKingJoshXx]

The physics aren't as good as GT5 obviously but the tuning and car customization is better by far.

 

[ussr]

I've sold my copy but still have it installed on my 3.55 kmeaw 👍 I just can't throw it away And i play from time to time.

Shift 2 might be one of those games that you either love or hate

 

[xXKingJoshXx]

Not really I think its ok.

 

[ENTERSANDMAN13]

Tuning and car customization are very good, also alot of nice tracks and cars. However much i enjoyed these aspects, it wont change the fact that i hate the driving physics with a passion, the ai is WAY too aggressive! and the use of a steering wheel is unbarable, so it went back on my shelf to collect dust. Its a shame because shift 2 could learn alot from GT5, but also GT5 could learn alot from shift 2. 👍

 

[hondy]

i love the fact that the ais are so agressive and that every race is a battle with cars, i love the way the tracks have big bumps just like in real life, i have driven a few race cars in real life and they are not tame like they are in GT5 they bite and bite hard this game dose that very well, in GT5 you can nip up the inside of ais and they dont fight you back in this game they do, this game is alive not like GT5 witch to me just feels flat,

and B4 all the GT5 guys go mad i also love GT games and own all of them and even spent a lot on the GT5 signature edition aswell

 

[dhandeh]

The game side if things, events, tuning, mods etc are 10/10, the actual driving is quite possibly the worst thing ever.

 

[NEWDRIVER2]

I love this game and i can't stop playing for one day with out touch it in carrier or online race give it a chance and it will rewind you back :-) .sorry for my english not my native language .

 

[JDMLOVER]

The game is amazing in every way. The sound is beautiful and puts other games to shame, the visuals are amazing and a huge step up from the first shift and the physics are challenging, but very enjoyable.

Don't let the feel of the physics discourage you at first if you've been playing GT5 with all aids turned off, than Shift 2 will come to you naturally after a few races and you get used to things. I think this will cause my GT5 to collect dust and I just got GT5 along with all my other games for PS3. At times, GT5 with its amazing premiums and great physics can't save it from it's annoying career experience emphasis on "at times" It really gets in the way of enjoying the true essence of GT5. With shift 2 you jump into it.
And mind you that I play with a controller. The experience may vary if you use a wheel.

I think the game gets low reviews because it is even more unforgiving than GT5 if you miss apexes and overspeed corners.

 

[LuxxusPrime]

Love this game. Love the customization, the tuning, the cars, the tracks, the sounds,etc. GT5 needs to take some notes. Its way easier to use the throttle to dig on turns than GT5. Can't wait till shift 3.

 

[Phoenix]

Played it for 2 weeks after release, finished it, then sold it, and have never regretted one bit.

The newer NFS games is just no fun for me. I miss the old ones.

 

[Nuck81]

I've started going back to it.

The game is brilliant at the lower levels. And once you figure out the tuning it unlocks an entire new level of fun and enjoyment.

But the Physics and handling really start to let me down with the higher level faster cars.

It seems that once you get into the 1800's or so of Car ratings, the floaty and slidey feel of the handling just make the game a burden to play instead of a joy. I've started doing the endurance races in Cars like the Golf just because they are more fun to drive than anything more substantial.

It's a shame that SMS bailed on Shift 2 as soon as all the DLC was released. If they would have had the time/spent the time to iron out a few more of wrinkles the game would have been simply brilliant.

It makes me weary of Project CARS.

 

[FuriousDemon]

I've started going back to it.

The game is brilliant at the lower levels. And once you figure out the tuning it unlocks an entire new level of fun and enjoyment.

But the Physics and handling really start to let me down with the higher level faster cars.

It seems that once you get into the 1800's or so of Car ratings, the floaty and slidey feel of the handling just make the game a burden to play instead of a joy. I've started doing the endurance races in Cars like the Golf just because they are more fun to drive than anything more substantial.

It's a shame that SMS bailed on Shift 2 as soon as all the DLC was released. If they would have had the time/spent the time to iron out a few more of wrinkles the game would have been simply brilliant.

It makes me weary of Project CARS.

It wasn't that they "bailed", it's that they were not getting paid by EA to develop it any further. I think they even tried to put in some new features that EA made them take out after they found out that they did that. So it's totally an EA product. In any case, this game was pretty brilliant on PC. PS3/360 have been outdated for at least 2 years now, so no wonder it had lots of issues on consoles. You just cant push them much further.

As for pCARS, it is different - they are actually investing their own money (about 1.3 million) to make it, so I don't think its in their best interest to not support it or half-ass it.

 

[tribolik]

I've started going back to it.

The game is brilliant at the lower levels. And once you figure out the tuning it unlocks an entire new level of fun and enjoyment.

But the Physics and handling really start to let me down with the higher level faster cars.

It seems that once you get into the 1800's or so of Car ratings, the floaty and slidey feel of the handling just make the game a burden to play instead of a joy. I've started doing the endurance races in Cars like the Golf just because they are more fun to drive than anything more substantial.

It's a shame that SMS bailed on Shift 2 as soon as all the DLC was released. If they would have had the time/spent the time to iron out a few more of wrinkles the game would have been simply brilliant.

It makes me weary of Project CARS.

My thoughts exactly... once you get into 1600-1800 plus cars you really start to feel the imput lag kick in and ruin the game.

 

[Bom15]

I used to have it. That was until there was a major bug with my game (it's affected others to). I was lvl 20 the highest you can go, had numerous cars including the DLC. But one day i went to go play it and i couldn't do anything except drive my Seat Leon on the first track. I had all my cars, tracks, money and was still lvl 20. Even the DLC was locked again. Apart from that. It was ok. The driving experience was interesting? The cars where way too sensitive. But you can change the sensitivity. The cars also felt abit light, like driving on ice. Especially later on with Supercars. Customization i thought was again ok. Not the best. Midnight Club:LA is better for vinyls. It's good for an arcade style bash every now and then. But i wouldn't recommend it to any of my friends. Mainly due to the bug. Which apparently existed in Shift 1, but EA couldn't be bothered to fix it (They might of done now?). If you get it. Back it up often.

 

[evilserpentman]

They didn't fix most of the bugs. I still have it, bought it shortly after release, it is bad on the driving front.
Really twitchy with a DS3, unresponsive with a wheel and horrible frame rate really kill the game for me.
The customation is nice, but I really couldn't be bothered.

It seems to be following the current NFS trend, one decent game every 5 years and then crap for the next 4...

 

[Smuttysy]

I too was wondering if it was worth a purchase, mostly because I'm getting a little stalled with GT5's almost complete lack of "real world" tuning options. I've read that you can mess with engines etc, including one quote "1000bhp euroboxes", leading me to immediately think of engine swaps, and the livery editor. Are these both on the PS3 version, modified PC version only or mere fantasy?

 

[Mac K]

Popped it in for a few hours today, I took a GT3 RSR around the Ring for a lap, fun, but the Ring in Shift 2 is no where near as good as GT5s. I then took an E30 M3 around Bathrust and that was bliss, I felt like Peter Brock whoever created the Miami street circuit needs to be fired though, it's terrible.. Oh and Shift 2 is $20 now a days, so you can't go wrong.

 

[STEVE182rs]

Sorry i disagree with that one, Nord on GT5 is to flat and smooth, Shift2 smashes it. I killed the track on GT5 because it was the only track which gave me a rush, but Shift2 is much more of a task to get round clean, after you master the track on Shift2, GT5 is like a sunday drive

 

[mr_serious]

I too was wondering if it was worth a purchase, mostly because I'm getting a little stalled with GT5's almost complete lack of "real world" tuning options. I've read that you can mess with engines etc, including one quote "1000bhp euroboxes", leading me to immediately think of engine swaps, and the livery editor. Are these both on the PS3 version, modified PC version only or mere fantasy?

Some cars have engine swap options

There is a livery editor BUT it is not a joy to use, there is also a bug: If you sell a car, your liveries can disappear or become shared on several different cars, it's a bit of a nightmare. However I still use it to personalise my cars.

Shift 2 is much harder to master than GT5 and in keeping with the real world the more power a car has, the harder it is to control. Then again driving the less powerful cars is challenging enough and victories in S2U are a thousand times more satisfying than anything in GT5.

 

[Smuttysy]

How reliant on online is the game, as I know GT5 is far too reliant on it for my liking (if my partner is watching online tv, gt5 completely stops working even in the Home screen, trying to return to the garage from the paint shop for example I'll get the blank screen with gt logo until I disconnect from PSN)
Is there enough scope within the "A spec", for want of a better phrase, to keep you occupied even after completion?

 

[BobbyBRAKEaNek]

They didn't fix most of the bugs. I still have it, bought it shortly after release, it is bad on the driving front.
Really twitchy with a DS3, unresponsive with a wheel and horrible frame rate really kill the game for me.
The customation is nice, but I really couldn't be bothered.

It seems to be following the current NFS trend, one decent game every 5 years and then crap for the next 4...

I'm with you on all of this. I purchased the game on the first day and put it up on the second. I tried again lastnight, I did maybe 10 races. I give up with EA.

 

[Zeeco_9]

How reliant on online is the game, as I know GT5 is far too reliant on it for my liking (if my partner is watching online tv, gt5 completely stops working even in the Home screen, trying to return to the garage from the paint shop for example I'll get the blank screen with gt logo until I disconnect from PSN)
Is there enough scope within the "A spec", for want of a better phrase, to keep you occupied even after completion?

S2U has the best offline career of any current racing game in my opinion. There is enough races and events to occupy you for a long long time. With the choice of easy, medium and hard AI you can immerse yourself in many ways. Play around with cockpit and helmet cam adds additional fun to the game. If you are into tuning, the telemetry screen actually works and has given me many hours of enjoyment trying to nail that ONE fast tune. I am sure if you give this game a fair chance and get used to the physics , you will enjoy it 👍

 

[mr_serious]

How reliant on online is the game, as I know GT5 is far too reliant on it for my liking (if my partner is watching online tv, gt5 completely stops working even in the Home screen, trying to return to the garage from the paint shop for example I'll get the blank screen with gt logo until I disconnect from PSN)
Is there enough scope within the "A spec", for want of a better phrase, to keep you occupied even after completion?

I have never played it online at all and I am not even close to tired of it. I spend most of my time setting up quick races rather than doing career mode (only at 26% career lol). Not that I see any point in a levelling system in a decent race game, but I reached level 20 (top level) just by doing quick races.

I did however buy the unlock all cars downloads so all cars (apart from the prize cars) are free.

Racing is brilliant in this game and even time trialling on your own is thrilling knowing that hitting a kerb badly or getting one wheel in the gravel can end your session

Love it!

 

[Kewbitsa]

.

 

[Smuttysy]

Well, I got it earlier today from a used games shop, £10. I thought I'd give the online pass a go, as they're normally used by the time they get to the 2nd hand market. Much to my surprise it was still valid!

Well, after several hours of constant play I can say it's pretty damned good, and definitely kicks GT's botty in more than just AI and circuits. The overall customisation package is head and shoulders above what GT will ever (seemingly) have.
The livery editor is slightly limited, in so much that you can only stretch vinyls to a certain size, which sometimes means using two of the same to make one longer one. I put this together in around 20 minutes, although I have done this model in previous NFS titles. (Still not complete, but getting there fast)

The tuning is rather unclear at times, and this may sound rather odd, could do with being a little more complex, akin to that which we have in GT5. BUT, the engineswaps are excellent. The Cossie above has the Focus engine swapped in and the sound is pretty much spot on.

It seems that every other racing game have upped their game and progressed beyond their previous titles, the GT series seems to be stuck in their ways. Don't get me wrong, I will still always end up back on GT5 for certain cars, a certain feel and online races, but there's definitely another option that doesn't involve a Microsoft playbox.

I would definitely recommend it now.


(Now I just need to look up the tuning thread, I'm struggling really. My 350z is an absolute disaster, span out five times in one lap at Donington!)