- 7,195
- Lisboa
- FLAT_TWELVE
Right, I have been very eloquent about online events, but I just realized I haven't almost written anything about what I think of this game.
Before I do it, a few things need being said (you can call it a "disclaimer")
:
1. I am not a fan of any racing franchise, but I have loved racing games that made me buy the "next installment" on release day, only to be sorely dissapointed. Happened with GT4, happened with GRID (I loved and played GT3 and TRD3).
2. So, although I was a dedicated FC player, I regarded SCC with great suspicion, even more because the BETA I knew failed to impress me. I said many times, among friends, that SCC Beta was inferior to FC and I still think that.
3. Meanwhile, Shift was released and arrived in Portugal before SCC. I lost all my online FC "buddies" by then so I also bought Shift, hopeful that indeed NFS had changed significantly. Plus, it had the RING, and that is always a big selling point as far as I'm concerned.
4. It so happens (at least from my point of view) that Shift is the horrible mishmash result from the cooperative work of SMS and EA. I got myself to level 18 (I think), unlocked Tier 4 but I stopped as soon as I stumbled upon a (Tier 3 IIRC) race at a track shaped like an 8 where we are supposed to crash every 30 seconds, every time we come to the crossing in the track. Yes, you read right, the 8 shaped track has a crossing, not a bridge over a tunnel !!! A game featuring this is no racing game to me, Nordschleife or no Nordscheife. And, to add to it all, I found the physics both too forgiving and also a not quite right, making the discovery of the cars behaviour in limit situations very hazardous because so unpredictable. I'm not one of the most skilled players out there, far from it, but it annoyed me to have so much oversteer with litle inputs and, at the same time, so much capability to recover from impossible situations. So, with all respect to all that feel this differently, after two weeks of "trying to play", I decided to quit Shift and put it on the same shelf I once put Grid (this one took me just one day to shelve it, I gave Shift a fairer chance to reveal itself).
5. And this is how I ended up buying SCC, a game I was so suspicious about.
So, sorry for this lengthy introduction, only now starts my review of SCC, after owning this game for about one week:
1 - Physics - to my surprise, SCC is a major improvement over FC. I didn't have courage yet to try the McLaren (I hated that car so much in the Beta game I still can't touch it), and I didn't like the Zonda that much. But, compared to what I experienced in FC, I'll say this:
a) Road cars got completely revised (the FC PIG Maranellos come to mind) and now act much more accordingly to their real-life counterparts. Before anyone asks, I know what I'm talking about, I experienced a real life 575 Maranello a few times and I just KNOW the car isn't like it was in FC. If it was, I would have probably killed myself just trying to drive it.
b) oversteer physics (the biggest flaw in FC's physics) got also revised and oversteer is, in general, now much more progressive and induceable. Not irrealistically easy, like in Enthusia or GT5P, but it sure feels very real.
c) wheel feedback, a big "Plus" in FC, got even better. Now, I really don't have any deadzone problems. Now, I don't have to pick the strongest setting available to have the most precise steering possible. In fact, I'm using the FFB on "Low", something unthinkable in FC.
And this was made keeping, at the same time, all that made FC's wheel feedback the best. A true feedback of what was going on with the car (weight-shifting, locking or understeering wheels). I experienced (and suffered) during the BETA the several attempts eutechnyx did with the wheel feedback. No deadzone but no feel also; Feel back but huge deadzone and too strong FFB, you name it .... and I was almost shocked in disbelief by understanding that they really "nailed" this for the final build.
All things considered, SCC kept the visceral feel of FC's physics, but improved them in several aspects that make SCC - physicswise - a game clearly superior to its "franchise" predecessor. And, probably, the best SIM available for the PS3 at this moment.
2 - Graphics - I know many have complained about SCC graphics. Well, I don't. The background scenery is very poor, but I rarely have the chance to look at it anyway. And the tracks and car interiors are, at least from my POV, much better, with more natural and less-saturated colours. If anything, I still think there's too much annoying details bordering the tracks. Too many trees, too many leaves. Maybe a better resolution would help, I don't know, but I'm quite at peace to what I get. Anyway, what do I prefer? To gaze at the mountains I can see in the swiss track of GT5P or to check my braking markers at Silverstone, probably taken out by jjaisli in the previous lap? (just kidding, Jeff, couldn't help it
)
3 - Sound - FC set, when released, new standards about in-game engine sound (that's where even the best games to that date fell short). I think we can witness some improvements in SCC (one example: the onboard sound of the Corvette C6R is jaw-dropping), but clearly SHIFT wins hands down in this department. Anyway, a few things have been corrected from FC, most notably you now can set the "other cars" sound level so it won't sound nearly has loud as your own, something that made my life miserable many times while in close bumper-to-bumper racing. Overall, I'd say SCC has GOOD sound, just not GREAT as Shift has.
4 - Offline gameplay - I find it a bit confusing, there are tutorials for all tracks (skipped them anyway, I hate Tiff Needel's voice patronizing me since I got FC
), Arcade mode (didn't try it yet also) but the two main gamne modes are "Challenge" and "Tournament". I already realized "Tournament" mode is what in FC was called "Trophy" mode (you have one for each car available in the game) and, since I wanted to try all cars, I decided to start by doing it. Only then I realized that this "mode" doesn't give you "RACING POINTS" and you need these "RP" to unlock cars and tracks. "Tournament" mode only gives you money to buy those cars.
The problem is you can pick any car to go for it in "Challenge" mode, provided you unlocked/bought it already, and you will soon realize that the AI are very competent with some cars, and very incompetent with others, so when you find that you start to make your choices
Downside is, you hone your skills with one or two particular cars and you don't get the need (or will) to make many experiments.
Maybe I am being nitpicky about all this, but I like a more linear progression in an offline career mode, in a way that when you end it you got to experience all the game has to offer you. SCC doesn't provide it, because it insists in two completely separated offline modes (besides Arcade) so when you finish one of them you have everything unlocked and there's no real will (unless you want that elusive "Platinum Trophy") to try the "Other" mode.
5 - Online Gameplay - This is what I knew better even before having the game, because the BETA I was in was all about online. So, some features:
- Private lobbies? - YES
- Voice chat? - YES
- Kick/Ban option given to host - YES
- Lobby customization by host? - YES
(car, track, assists allowed, penalties settings, grid order options, collisions settings, number of laps)
- Settings changeable by host between races? - YES
(with the exxception of changing cars, but the announced patch will include this option)
But, much more important than the features, are two aspects where FC was clearly lacking: lag; lobby stability.
Well, SCC dealt with both problems quite effectively. Lag has been greatly reduced, apart from race-start, still pretty hectic/confusing. It still isn't as smooth as GT5P or Shift, but close racing is a lot less hazardous than it was in FC. And lobby stability, from what I can tell with the experiences I had in the Beta, is no longer the "Hit'n miss" ex+rience we had in FC. Some problems persist and have been reported, but anyone that played FC can appreciate the big improvement that eutechnyx has achieved.
And that's it for now.
Thanks for reading and please consider that English is not my native language. I am a better translator than Google but maybe I cannot express in a (to me) foreign language all that I want to say, lacking the appropriate words to do it.
Before I do it, a few things need being said (you can call it a "disclaimer")
:1. I am not a fan of any racing franchise, but I have loved racing games that made me buy the "next installment" on release day, only to be sorely dissapointed. Happened with GT4, happened with GRID (I loved and played GT3 and TRD3).
2. So, although I was a dedicated FC player, I regarded SCC with great suspicion, even more because the BETA I knew failed to impress me. I said many times, among friends, that SCC Beta was inferior to FC and I still think that.
3. Meanwhile, Shift was released and arrived in Portugal before SCC. I lost all my online FC "buddies" by then so I also bought Shift, hopeful that indeed NFS had changed significantly. Plus, it had the RING, and that is always a big selling point as far as I'm concerned.
4. It so happens (at least from my point of view) that Shift is the horrible mishmash result from the cooperative work of SMS and EA. I got myself to level 18 (I think), unlocked Tier 4 but I stopped as soon as I stumbled upon a (Tier 3 IIRC) race at a track shaped like an 8 where we are supposed to crash every 30 seconds, every time we come to the crossing in the track. Yes, you read right, the 8 shaped track has a crossing, not a bridge over a tunnel !!! A game featuring this is no racing game to me, Nordschleife or no Nordscheife. And, to add to it all, I found the physics both too forgiving and also a not quite right, making the discovery of the cars behaviour in limit situations very hazardous because so unpredictable. I'm not one of the most skilled players out there, far from it, but it annoyed me to have so much oversteer with litle inputs and, at the same time, so much capability to recover from impossible situations. So, with all respect to all that feel this differently, after two weeks of "trying to play", I decided to quit Shift and put it on the same shelf I once put Grid (this one took me just one day to shelve it, I gave Shift a fairer chance to reveal itself).
5. And this is how I ended up buying SCC, a game I was so suspicious about.
So, sorry for this lengthy introduction, only now starts my review of SCC, after owning this game for about one week:
1 - Physics - to my surprise, SCC is a major improvement over FC. I didn't have courage yet to try the McLaren (I hated that car so much in the Beta game I still can't touch it), and I didn't like the Zonda that much. But, compared to what I experienced in FC, I'll say this:
a) Road cars got completely revised (the FC PIG Maranellos come to mind) and now act much more accordingly to their real-life counterparts. Before anyone asks, I know what I'm talking about, I experienced a real life 575 Maranello a few times and I just KNOW the car isn't like it was in FC. If it was, I would have probably killed myself just trying to drive it.
b) oversteer physics (the biggest flaw in FC's physics) got also revised and oversteer is, in general, now much more progressive and induceable. Not irrealistically easy, like in Enthusia or GT5P, but it sure feels very real.
c) wheel feedback, a big "Plus" in FC, got even better. Now, I really don't have any deadzone problems. Now, I don't have to pick the strongest setting available to have the most precise steering possible. In fact, I'm using the FFB on "Low", something unthinkable in FC.
And this was made keeping, at the same time, all that made FC's wheel feedback the best. A true feedback of what was going on with the car (weight-shifting, locking or understeering wheels). I experienced (and suffered) during the BETA the several attempts eutechnyx did with the wheel feedback. No deadzone but no feel also; Feel back but huge deadzone and too strong FFB, you name it .... and I was almost shocked in disbelief by understanding that they really "nailed" this for the final build.
All things considered, SCC kept the visceral feel of FC's physics, but improved them in several aspects that make SCC - physicswise - a game clearly superior to its "franchise" predecessor. And, probably, the best SIM available for the PS3 at this moment.
2 - Graphics - I know many have complained about SCC graphics. Well, I don't. The background scenery is very poor, but I rarely have the chance to look at it anyway. And the tracks and car interiors are, at least from my POV, much better, with more natural and less-saturated colours. If anything, I still think there's too much annoying details bordering the tracks. Too many trees, too many leaves. Maybe a better resolution would help, I don't know, but I'm quite at peace to what I get. Anyway, what do I prefer? To gaze at the mountains I can see in the swiss track of GT5P or to check my braking markers at Silverstone, probably taken out by jjaisli in the previous lap? (just kidding, Jeff, couldn't help it
)3 - Sound - FC set, when released, new standards about in-game engine sound (that's where even the best games to that date fell short). I think we can witness some improvements in SCC (one example: the onboard sound of the Corvette C6R is jaw-dropping), but clearly SHIFT wins hands down in this department. Anyway, a few things have been corrected from FC, most notably you now can set the "other cars" sound level so it won't sound nearly has loud as your own, something that made my life miserable many times while in close bumper-to-bumper racing. Overall, I'd say SCC has GOOD sound, just not GREAT as Shift has.
4 - Offline gameplay - I find it a bit confusing, there are tutorials for all tracks (skipped them anyway, I hate Tiff Needel's voice patronizing me since I got FC
), Arcade mode (didn't try it yet also) but the two main gamne modes are "Challenge" and "Tournament". I already realized "Tournament" mode is what in FC was called "Trophy" mode (you have one for each car available in the game) and, since I wanted to try all cars, I decided to start by doing it. Only then I realized that this "mode" doesn't give you "RACING POINTS" and you need these "RP" to unlock cars and tracks. "Tournament" mode only gives you money to buy those cars.The problem is you can pick any car to go for it in "Challenge" mode, provided you unlocked/bought it already, and you will soon realize that the AI are very competent with some cars, and very incompetent with others, so when you find that you start to make your choices
Downside is, you hone your skills with one or two particular cars and you don't get the need (or will) to make many experiments.
Maybe I am being nitpicky about all this, but I like a more linear progression in an offline career mode, in a way that when you end it you got to experience all the game has to offer you. SCC doesn't provide it, because it insists in two completely separated offline modes (besides Arcade) so when you finish one of them you have everything unlocked and there's no real will (unless you want that elusive "Platinum Trophy") to try the "Other" mode.
5 - Online Gameplay - This is what I knew better even before having the game, because the BETA I was in was all about online. So, some features:
- Private lobbies? - YES
- Voice chat? - YES
- Kick/Ban option given to host - YES
- Lobby customization by host? - YES
(car, track, assists allowed, penalties settings, grid order options, collisions settings, number of laps)
- Settings changeable by host between races? - YES
(with the exxception of changing cars, but the announced patch will include this option)
But, much more important than the features, are two aspects where FC was clearly lacking: lag; lobby stability.
Well, SCC dealt with both problems quite effectively. Lag has been greatly reduced, apart from race-start, still pretty hectic/confusing. It still isn't as smooth as GT5P or Shift, but close racing is a lot less hazardous than it was in FC. And lobby stability, from what I can tell with the experiences I had in the Beta, is no longer the "Hit'n miss" ex+rience we had in FC. Some problems persist and have been reported, but anyone that played FC can appreciate the big improvement that eutechnyx has achieved.
And that's it for now.
Thanks for reading and please consider that English is not my native language. I am a better translator than Google but maybe I cannot express in a (to me) foreign language all that I want to say, lacking the appropriate words to do it.
) - I actually think it looks worse than FC, but there's no denying that consistent, predictable physics provide a deeper racing experience than the quirky, mish-mash of driving responses on offer from Shift.
Now I dont play it anymore...
the irony is great!
