Game Review: Shift 2 Unleashed

When NFS: Shift was first released in 2009, I was initially surprised: Here was a prime opportunity for EA to diverge from it’s overtly unrealistic, though still somewhat enjoyable traditional NFS franchise (including titles such as NFS: Hot Pursuit and NFS: Underground) to concentrate on something more adventurous. It promised a gritty and raw racing experience, but instead attempted to play the middle ground and please everybody. Big mistake. It failed miserably to achieve greatness due to a sorely lacking physics model and workable game structure. Long gone were the heady days of NFS: Porsche Unleashed, where the driving came first, followed by the glitz long after.

Fast forward to 2011, Shift 2 no longer bears the NFS name, instead emphasising the parallel directions that the Shift and NFS IPs are diverging into. Shift 2 once again promises everything including the kitchen sink: immersive simulation-type physics, realistic helmet-cam, the latest range of exotics, real world locations, tuning options, celebrity endorsements and more. They’ve even gone on record slagging the definitive leaders in the genre, GT5 and Forza 3, stating they have ‘too many‘ cars (600-800 odd vs the 140 in Shift 2) and that Shift 2 provides an ‘authentic driving experience’ with ‘the greatest physics engine’. Set the bar high enough?

So what’s the problem then? Well first off, it appears to be fairly standard EA fare. A catchy intro, lots of promise, detailed and well-modelled vehicles. The in-game graphics are precise and saturated, with finer details like rubber marbling that litter the corners and lots of trackside details. Sounds are brilliant and the helmet cam is a nice touch. The car interiors are also meticulously modelled.

But then, you drive it. What’s immediately obvious is this is FAR from the greatest physics engine, it’s not even close to the middle of the pack. Immediately, questions begin to form, such as ‘Did they actually play any of the other games on the market?’. A driving game that places so much weight on the shoulders of a comprehensive driving experience is destined for failure if that experience is let down by a sub-standard engine.

The cars are floaty, tyres often responding randomly, the cars ‘rotate’ instead of steer with the front wheels, input is laggy (more on this later), there is very little feel of weight transfer happening, or any type of connection between the steering and the wheels. You struggle to make fine adjustments, then when corners approach you have no choice but to vaguely point it in and hope for the best. This is not a game which you can apply practised finesse, real-world racing knowledge or one where you yearn to keep driving.

Allow me to elaborate. Back in NFS Shift, the physics were also wonky. The cars behaved strangely and no amount of tweaking could make it quite right. Some people even resorted to importing tyre models from other games (such as the far more realistic RFactor / GTR games) to great success. I did such a thing and found it to behave much more closely to my real-life racetrack experiences, making a somewhat playable game. This proves that either technical incompetency or deliberate sabotage/fence-sitting is to blame for the sloppy physics.

Shift 2 suffers from the exact same problem. They’ve developed a physics model which on the surface has all the right things: You can press a button and bring up real-time telemetry with grip-circles, suspension deflection and all the rest. However, if you have driven on the racetrack before, played rFactor/GTR/LFS or even played Forza 2/3 or GT5 extensively, then you’ll immediately notice something awry. The problem: they’ve attempted to devise a set of physics rules to appeal to everybody, from the beginners / arcade racers all the way to the hardcore sim fans. A true physics model should as accurately and unflatteringly duplicate the real life behaviour of cars and tyres, not be a mish-mash of compromises to suit the target market. In addition, the input had a strange lag, where at times, there’d be about 250-350ms delay before adjustments were recognised, making it difficult to even drive in a straight line at times. Was this the crippled physics engine attempting to laughably simulate weight transfer?

I tried a variety of cars from different classes, with a variety of modifications on a variety of tracks. I spent much time trying all combinations of control tweaking in the settings (such as deadzones, sensitivities and calibration). I tried with/without the variety of electronic assists. I also tried multiple controllers, including a Microsoft 360 controller for PC and a generic USB dual-stick controller. Each iteration, I would get closer to fixing the issue, but it would never be quite right. Infuriating to say the least. Why should this even be necessary?

A search online revealed this to be a common complaint: the vague floaty behaviour was a function of the both the input processing component of the game, as well as the tyre models used, with community developed mods already available to counter-act this strange behaviour and restore a more ‘immediate’ feel to the steering. I tried a few, with mixed results, but even then, it still lacked response. I also disliked having to find various ‘band-aid’ solutions to a problem that shouldn’t exist in the first place. This reminded me of the ‘drift’ mode in NFS Underground, where the cars had a completely different physics model to the normal race, effectively adding 4WD propulsion to all cars, an extra loose tail end (but never spinning out) and effectively bastardising the experience. Acceptable in an arcade racer, unforgiveable in a ‘sim’ racer, which is what Shift 2 is purporting to be.

Which then leads me to my final point, that no matter how detailed the modifications list is, how extensive the car listing it, or how pretty the graphics are, how much motion blur you throw in, how much you slag the competition, or how detailed the AI is, a driving sim that isn’t fun to drive, is not worth the time playing. There are already a ton of those.

Though if you’re after a arcade racer that does very little to forward the genre, Shift 2 fits the bill.