Not your fav racing sim
EA has released some of the worst driving games you'll ever play over the last few years. They didn't look good, handled badly, had poor AI etc.
When they announced that they're going to release Shift, I was very sure that this will flop for sure. After all, the market is pretty happy with FM and GT, why will they need NFS? Plus, that new EA branch consisting of former EA Blackbox employees, who didn't make any good games over the last few years. Their last good game is probably the NFS MW.
Shift spat right into every critic's face. It proved me wrong.
Now let's look into the game
On the good side:
1. The cockpit view is definitely the best out there. While it's still far from the actually feel of driving in a real racing car, this is as close as it gets. The screen turns black and white upon impact, blurs out, and you can hear the driver panting. You can feel the force of radical speed changes, such as an immediate apply of E-brakes before a turn.
2. Visually good.
3. It's awesome when they reward you for being agreesive.
4. It appeals to both arcade gamers and serious gamers, all thanks to its assist systems.
5. Somehow managed to make it more fun playing in cockpit view, while still not bad on behind-the-car camera.
On the bad side:
1. While it did live up to its expectations, that's pretty much it. No surprises at all. What you see in the trailer is what you get.
2. Races may get repetitive after a while
3. Poor damage models to say the least. Comparing with GRID's car damage models, this is like nothing.
4. While the game does look good in overall, it's mainly the environment that catches the eyes. The car models don't look stunning at all, comparing with GRID.
5. Career mode feels weak. It felt more like completing objectives rather than actually going through a racing career.
6. Nothing original at all. The cockpit view is just their main focus, there's noting creatice about that.
Conclusion:
This game worths the money. Go check it out if you're jonesing on a decent racing sim. If you're not all that fascinated about cockpit views or even refusing to give it a try, then there's noting much too offer really.
