- 35
- G33KFR34K66
So, I'm an avid racing game fan. I have nearly all the racing games that have been made over the past 20 years, both console and in my arcade.
I've been looking forward to Shift 2 since I've heard of its development, and was a pretty big fan of Shift 1, which I admittedly received as a gift after it had been patched the first time. I did play the demo (PS3) that I found pretty hard to control.
Anyway, I digress.
I pre-ordered, and it arrived at home on Tuesday afternoon, but I've been away on business until tonight. I also have a G25 wheel, but I find it enough of a PITA to set up, that I rarely actually pull it out, and decided to play the first few races in SU2 with the DS3....
I've been following the threads here, so I kind of knew what to expect. As everyone said, the GT-R was a complete mess. I managed to take first in the race after two tries, bit I did so by learning how to compensate for how crazy the handling was, and not really by being a good driver. If the GT-R represented how the rest of the game was to play, I would have shut it off. Pure frustration.
After the shakedown races, I bought an Infinity G35, and put the basic body package on it for some down force, and managed to come in 2nd or 1st place in a lot of D class races. I went back and played the races I didn't win over again until I had won, and got to feel more at home with the driving style this title required.
I wouldn't say it's better or worse than any other racer I've played. They all have a style, and this one is just a bit different....
I did make a change to the setup and turned some other assists off, and that helped me with the control, but I can't remember what options I changed.
The AI in this game is, IMO, better than GT5. It actually wants to win. When I screwed up, there were cars there, waiting to take the lead. That was refreshing, and added to the excitement of racing. I don't like rubber banding AI, and this didn't feel like that to me. If I had driven perfectly, I would have been fine - but my screw ups opened the door for my competitors to breeze by me - which is as it should be.
The downside of the AI is that as clean as I want to try to race, I found the AI to be somewhat dirty. I'd do anything I can to avoid hitting them, and they'd ram right into me if I crossed into the racing line.
Mostly, I think this is going to be a really fun game. GT5 is great, but it always felt like a grind redoing races, and I hated ever being in 5th place because it felt so meaningless back there. With NFS: U2, I don't mind being anywhere on the track, because I feel so connected to the action, and my motivation is to just get past the next driver before the end of the race, regardless of what place I might end up in.
I've been looking forward to Shift 2 since I've heard of its development, and was a pretty big fan of Shift 1, which I admittedly received as a gift after it had been patched the first time. I did play the demo (PS3) that I found pretty hard to control.
Anyway, I digress.
I pre-ordered, and it arrived at home on Tuesday afternoon, but I've been away on business until tonight. I also have a G25 wheel, but I find it enough of a PITA to set up, that I rarely actually pull it out, and decided to play the first few races in SU2 with the DS3....
I've been following the threads here, so I kind of knew what to expect. As everyone said, the GT-R was a complete mess. I managed to take first in the race after two tries, bit I did so by learning how to compensate for how crazy the handling was, and not really by being a good driver. If the GT-R represented how the rest of the game was to play, I would have shut it off. Pure frustration.
After the shakedown races, I bought an Infinity G35, and put the basic body package on it for some down force, and managed to come in 2nd or 1st place in a lot of D class races. I went back and played the races I didn't win over again until I had won, and got to feel more at home with the driving style this title required.
I wouldn't say it's better or worse than any other racer I've played. They all have a style, and this one is just a bit different....
I did make a change to the setup and turned some other assists off, and that helped me with the control, but I can't remember what options I changed.
The AI in this game is, IMO, better than GT5. It actually wants to win. When I screwed up, there were cars there, waiting to take the lead. That was refreshing, and added to the excitement of racing. I don't like rubber banding AI, and this didn't feel like that to me. If I had driven perfectly, I would have been fine - but my screw ups opened the door for my competitors to breeze by me - which is as it should be.
The downside of the AI is that as clean as I want to try to race, I found the AI to be somewhat dirty. I'd do anything I can to avoid hitting them, and they'd ram right into me if I crossed into the racing line.
Mostly, I think this is going to be a really fun game. GT5 is great, but it always felt like a grind redoing races, and I hated ever being in 5th place because it felt so meaningless back there. With NFS: U2, I don't mind being anywhere on the track, because I feel so connected to the action, and my motivation is to just get past the next driver before the end of the race, regardless of what place I might end up in.
