OXCGN’s Shift 2: Unleashed Review
Exhilarating NEW series for Need For Speed franchise
by : GrathiusXR
©2011 Arthur Kotsopoulos
In this generation it’s a daunting task to plan on working on a sequel to a certain game that surprisingly received more than positive reviews and sold quite well. It’s a no brainer when it was announced Need for Speed would have three new titles in the franchise, and NFS: Shift 1 was the cream of the crop that stood out of the three.
Sure it wasn’t anywhere near as complex as Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport 3 or Sony’s Gran Tursimo 5, but it was a great ‘fun’ racing game nevertheless.
Yes it was somewhat confusing at first, as it wasn’t exactly an arcade racer, yet at the same time, it wasn’t a SIM racer either, but caught in the either somewhere in between. Somehow NFS: Shift 1 did manage to set itself apart from the rest of the racing crowd and restore faith in EA’s NFS franchise.
OXCGN has over 250+ excellent in-game images and heaps of videos for you on Shift 2: Unleashed:-
So make sure you check out the Screenshot Gallery & our Screenshot Slideshow. – Enjoy
But things have changed
With its intense pacing, heart stopping crashes and headache inducing cockpit view, Shift 1 somehow managed to impress many racing gamers around the world and warranted itself a genuine sequel.
And now Shift 2: Unleashed looks to continue that style, and to do away with any worries gamers may have had with the first iteration, and make what is in my view, a much deeper and overall more enjoyable game than Shift 1.
EA has chosen to split the NFS Franchise in two now, aiming at separating the two by having distinct classes, and in doing so, has decided to place the Shift Series on its own sub-genre, and leave the NFS-Arcade style games as they have been in the past.
This is evident with the release last year of ‘NFS: Hot Pursuit‘ and with recent announcement of NFS: Run, which will be released later this year, and feature all the normal NFS features, and then some. It will also be the first game to be running the critically acclaimed DICE Frostbite Engine 2, which will be handling the physics and visuals of NFS: Run. Ideally we’ll see it used in a great number of new EA titles, and ideally the next iteration of Shift.
Whilst again Shift 2: Unleashed is certainly no Forza 3-4 or Gran Turismo 4-5 ‘yet’, it is really trying to be something very similar, Shift 2: Unleashed improves on its visuals in almost every way, from the cockpit to real-time damage, smart AI whilst racing and some very good environments with an impressive draw distance so you know exactly what you’ll be crashing into come pressing the brakes too late and slamming into the wall.
It’s almost the same as Shift 1 with its subtle advancements but they make all the difference when it comes to racing in Shift 2.
• Shift 2: Unleashed Release video
So where’s the changes.
The biggest change to the game overall that you will notice is the way it presents itself to you, the gamer. Introducing any new event you race in is a video of a real life racer in that respective field whether its Drifting, GT endurance races or Hot Laps.
It goes that extra step to immerse the gamer into the world of racing. Some old features from Shift 1 are still present, mainly the Mastering of Corners which personally I loved.
I felt the biggest problem with Forza 3 was the lack of tracks, meaning that come later on in the game you would be racing with different cars on the same track. It kind of got stale for many gamers except the hardcore sim fans but in Shift 1 we were introduced to Corner Mastering.
• Changes in tracks and cars & ‘realisim’, EA style
Whilst it didn’t exactly eliminate the problem that Forza 3 had, it made racing on the same tracks more challenging. Miss a corner in a race from a different event then here was your chance to master it and gain extra experience to level up.
Leveling up in Shift 2 is much the same as Shift 1 except I feel that you level up way too easy and quickly in ‘Unleashed‘. Sure you’re being rewarded for your great racing skills but I’m barely 30% into career and already I have racked up $1,000,000 ++. Any event that I haven’t already been in, or have a car for, I’m given a free car to race for that event, with which I can still ‘Auto-upgrade’ a bit and win with ease.
Yes the game does have different difficulty levels and AI scaling to counter any nifty upgrade it feels that you will easily win a race, but play a few little dirty tricks, and you’re guaranteed a victory.
Sure it’s foul play but let’s be realistic- in which racing game have you NOT tried to hustle your opponents to get top spot? It’s dirty but it is a feature that has been included in the game so why not use it to your full advantage.
• Shift 2: Unleashed Screenshot slideshow
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My only gripe with this though is that there is a 60/40 chance you will not benefit from tangling your car with another.
Great frustration is to be had when entering a bingle with another car as you always end up spinning out and having to restart because you cannot recover to get a reasonable place in the poll or end up driving onto the dirt and again having to restart.
Most times you will barely even touch your opponent’s car and yet somehow end up in the dirt. It was a problem with NFS: Shift 1, Forza 2 and Forza 3.
[Ed; It's called real-time physics lol, and is dependent on the angle of impact from both vehicles, the speed of each vehicle, the direction and position on which the vehicle is on the track. A small tap on the read side can send a car into a huge tail-spin, or set it sideways with little hope of retrieval - which is what real (sim) racing is about, and something the studio is pushing for in this sub-genre.
Even over-stepping the corner ridging and being in the area of the track that has all the tyre residue called 'marbles' in it, it can bring about a loss of traction if the vehicle is tapped in the right place ever-so-gently. ]
• Shift 2: Unleashed Realism
I’m not to sure if that’s the way a car should react when barely getting scrapped or touched but it’s definitely a frustrating experience especially if you wish to beat track times and improve in the Auto Log.
The Auto Log is a brand new addition in the world of Shift that allows you to have up to date real time racing logs of who on your friends list has clocked the fastest race time on a particular track, in what car, and what achievement they have recently unlocked.
Even going so far as to show what events they recommend their friends participate in. It’s not only challenging but a great race to partake in.
This is going that one step further to please those who love gaming with their friends and bringing up old rivalries.
It’s great for trying to improve your race time and show your friends who is the king of the racing world, but at times it can get annoying when constantly overwhelming your screen with updates and news with its ticker feed.
The learning curve for Shift 2: Unleashed isn’t steep, so fans who have played and finished Shift 1 will get used to the way the game plays and feels within a couple of races, but for any new comers, it will take a few hours to get a handle on how the cars turn on tight corners, drift on curvy race tracks and handle around long sweeping bends.
• Shift 2 Unleashed Hot Laps
Drifting is my Kryptonite- as is for many others and it does feel slightly different to that of Shift 1.
I tried for a good hour before giving up to continue other events and won’t be coming back to it until I have to because frankly it just feels harder than the previous entry into the franchise for reasons I do not know. It may just be that I’m still rusty and need to spice up my skills some more.
I probably won’t delve much into Multiplayer for this title because of what Shift 1 was like: hard to find a good connection for a race without seeing cars tele-port 100 meters in front of you with magical powers. The standard options are there from turning on the ability to go through each other as to have no one whinge if you bump them, to the ability to set laps and which track to race on and what cars to restrict the party to use.
Overall, Slightly Mad Studios have improved in almost every way with Shift 2: Unleashed over Shift 1 but in a generation now where every racer needs something to come out on top above the rest they will need to definitely keep their A game up.
OXCGN’s Gold Award
`9/10
©2011 Arthur Kotsopoulos
xxxxxx
• Shift 2 Unleashed Pagani goodness
• Shift 2 Unleashed screenshots gallery
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Filed under: Xbox 360 Tagged: | Electronic Arts, Experience point, forza motorsport, forza motorsport 3, Gran Turismo, Gran Turismo 5, Grand Turismo 4, need for speed, Need for speed shift, Network File System (protocol), Race track, Racing video game, Shift 2 screenshots, Shift 2 unleashed reviews, Shift Unleashed, shift-2-unleashed
