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This week I have mostly been playing
Topic Started: Apr 2 2006, 06:11 PM (37,807 Views)
Diddly
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Shift 2 It has been a long time since I have actually felt excited while playing a racing game. Mainly down to the sound design and rawness of this game.

Loved Shift but it was ruined by some ridiculous bugs and glitches, hopefully they actually let someone test this one before it hit the shelves. Looking forward to playing Shift 2 and Tiger 12 tomorrow.
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Retrovertigo
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Haven't encountered any bugs in Shift 2 yet - the only one I'm aware of that people are seeing, is playing online sometimes people are being spun out as someone passes them - they feel like they were hit - whereas the person passing will think they did a clean pass. Obviously a lag/netcode issue and this isn't the only game I've seen that in. Haven't experienced it myself despite having played online for a few hours.

The following settings helped improve car handling (provided by someone at GTplanet) - although I was happy with it anyway. Definitely tightens up the steering though:

Steering Dead Zone: 3 <-- Key Change
Accelerator Dead Zone: 5
Brake Dead Zone: 5
Steering Sensitivity: 50 <-- MOST CRITICAL CHANGE
Acceleration Sensitivity: 50
Braking Sensitivity: 50
Speed Steering Sensitivity: 100
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Diddly
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I wasn't too unhappy with the handling as it was m8, although a bit sloppy I reckon it's just their way of excentuating the difference between standard cars and tuned ones, so you see the benefit of tune-up parts and race conversions.

But thank whoever posted that^setup for me will ya?, I reckon it's the equivalent of spending several thousand on a car, and definitely tightens things up nicely. I wonder if the GT1 cars might be just a bit too responsive with those settings though.

Loving the game so far (although I did have to have an argument with it right at the start as it insisted I use a automatic box for some reason). Immense attention to detail, the tune up parts make much more sense than GT5's, and the body kits look a darn sight prettier too. As for the crash damage, well... there's no comparison, Turn 10 and PD must be hanging their collective heads in shame. Jeez, you even get wheels come off and marbles off line on the track in Shift 2... :applause:
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Retrovertigo
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Haven't tried the GT1 cars yet, fastest car I have used so far is that Police Lambo. Around Spa and Monza it feels fantastic - really on the edge, almost out of control but not quite. Just how it would be if I drove one of those things around there. Some racing games flatter driving too easily. Forza would have me believe I could jump in anything and tackle a track no problem. Not this game though.

And yeah, 30fps means they can put in all the details. I saw a video comparison of Shift 2 vs GT5 around the Nurburgring, and the difference is amazing. Not to mention the sound of course, which adds so much to proceedings. Really enjoying it a lot.

Edited by Retrovertigo, Apr 6 2011, 11:20 PM.
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Diddly
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Motorstorm Apocalypse PS3 - Amazing that Evolution Studios managed to spend all this time (it's 3 years since Pacific Rift!) retaining all the faults of the previous Motorstorms and end up doing little more than producing a rip-off of one of last year's better arcade racers, admittedly with slightly nicer graphics. The game still hides obstacles like it's a funny thing to do, and after a crash resets you in places from where it's impossible to make the next jump-thus turning one crash into two, again, like it's a "funny" thing to do, or something that none of the fucking Beta testers mentioned - and YES, we did. May have been more bearable if you could have sat back and watched a replay of a successful race to cool down, but nope, still no fucking replays, although you can "take a photo." :huh: Still has bollocks handling and loads of difficulty spikes. Buy Split Second Velocity, it's cheaper, just as spectacular and way better.

Need For Speed Shift 2: Unleashed X360 - Possibly the stupidest name for a game this year but what may yet become my favourite ever "realistic" racer. Seems to be much more solid than last year's game and remarkably bug-free, but it's the pure believability, instinctive viscerality that I love. Makes Forza 3 look and feel like Mario Kart. Makes GT5's cars look good, but the tracks are vastly superior and the cars themselves manage to look much cooler thanks to some smart modelling and individual body kits that took more than 2 minutes to model. Aftermarket parts and tuning actually make a difference too, and fiddling with your cars makes much more sense than in GT5 (which was full of anomalies and contradictions) - you can even save individual setups for each track that load automatically when you compete at that track - GT5 has none of this. It also has the best crashes in any racing game this side of Burnout Paradise. No more "who kicked a plastic dustbin?" noises and bumpercar physics, get it wrong in Shift 2 and it's going to HURT, and you're probably going to want to watch a replay, which you can, because IT HAS A REPLAY MODE (you can even save 'em).

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters X360 - Looks a bit nicer and has a few control options (choking down on a club to allow for finer adjustment) and a caddy feature (he lines up shots for you, gives hints on putting line and improves as you master a course, which is a good thing because initially he's crap). I still have an occasional "Rory" but it still seems a bit easy on "Pro", whilst "Tour Pro" (or whatever the next difficulty up is) still feels to vague and tough and removes the post-hit ball spinning that, for me, makes the game more interesting than all the other golf games out there. Tried the PS3 Move version and all I got was a selection of aches and was 10-15 shots worse per round due to inexplicably inaccurate shots, and it also worries the cat.

Homefront Multiplayer X360 - Really enjoying it after initial doubts as it's SO different to Frontlines. The "battle points" system means you have to earn vehicles and other special weapons perks with kills and assists "within a game," which seems a bit tight to me, but means you appreciate them more and learn to use them more wisely. The matchmaking sucks because it puts level 75s in with rank n00bs and casual idiots like me, but the maps are superb, the most fun I've had this side of BF: Bad Company 2-waaay more interesting and varied than the online MP dork-sheep favourite, CoD:BO.


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Juz
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Yeah I'm playing Motorstorm too, and the lack of replays is astonishing still....as it still kinda replays stuff at the end of a race (or rather, shows you still whizzing around, just like it did before). Fucking stupid.

And I'm also playing Killzone 3, which is OK but has some fucking spazmoid save points that you THINK have saved after a certain point, but then haven't.....forcing you to do the same longish bit all over again if you get wasted.

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....and now the ridiculous "save points" have seen me return Killzone 3 back to Love Film. I got to a certain bit just before bed....watched a cutscene....saw the "save symbol" flash on the screen and called it a night.....only to have to play an entire fucking section all over again upon booting up the next day.

This was the 3rd of 4th time this has happened and coupled with the general "Meh-ness" of it all, and some tedious difficulty spikes (too many baddies can just "see" you wherever you are once you've triggered an alarm and will find you no matter what....even when crouching in grass to make you "invisible" LIKE THE GAME TOLD ME TO DO 10 MINUTES BEFOREHAND!!!!) meant that my attention span was wankered....much like happened with Killzone 2 as I recall.

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Diddly
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Didn't have the save point problem as I played it through in one sitting (just under 4hrs) and it makes Crysis 2 and even Homefront look a bit epic in that respect. But it's not the first game made so a "checkpoint" isn't necessarily a "save point" (for some inexplicable reason) I seem to remember ODST being very confusing on that score. Still liked K3 though, it certainly has a look and feel all of its own, and you're either gonna love it or loathe it. Couldn't get on with the "Move" option though, I kept thinking "fuck me, this'd be a lot easier with a joypad" (but I tend to do that most Move, Wii and Kinect games.)


NFS Shift 2: Unleashed - Again. Did I mention the AI? Surely the best outside of a PC sim, it actually feels like you're racing against human opponents-the bastards. They make mistakes, though they're unpredictable as to when and where, and will sometimes fight for the line while good-mannerdly letting you by at other times. It's not all spunky-dory though, I've found that there are some strange anomalies with the difficulty here and there ("Medium" seems a breeze for the most part as long as you don't fuck up) but sometimes tuning-upping your ride to the Nth degree seems to piss them off and you get a harder race with a faster, higher tuned and obviously more expensive vehicle, which seems odd as this is exactly the opposite to GT et al - but perhaps that's the point?

And OMG the night time racing! Actually kicks GT5's "very nice" headlight effect into touch, and you realise this when you're being followed closely and get dazzled and can actually see the silhouette of your car being cast by the car behind! You also really don't wanna smash your headlights in on some tracks as you won't be able to pick out the upcoming apex, although others are so well lit it don't matter. Other detail like the marbles that get thrown around by passing cars, and that when tailing another car its wheels'll throw crap at your windscreen. Awesome. :applause:
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Juz
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I've got NFS2 in the queue. Sent Motorstorm back as the "meh-ness" just overwhelmed me in the end.

That's 2 for 2 on PS3 exclusives that I've abandoned lately....
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Diddly
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I think you'll like Shift 2 Juz, it must be the most involving realistic racer in ages. Played a bit of SOCOM: Special Forces yesterday, that was probably the best PS3 exclusive I've played lately. Kinda old-SOCOM-ey/Ghost Recon-ey with a distinctly Uncharted 2 look to it in places (no bad thing). The campaign looks like being a bit short though, but that seems to be more and more prevalent.
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Juz
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Will let you know about feelings on SHIFT2 once I get it. In the meantime:

Bulletstorm

Think Retro already praised this mofo and it's well deserved. I now realise that my preference for FPS's lies firmly in the Duke Nukem style camp of sweary explodey non-serious shit just like this. As good as the COD's of this world are, this game just fucks them seven ways to Sunday.

Feels like Duke, Gears (unsurprising) and Painkiller (equally unsurprising) all rolled into one. Fantastic!!!!!!!
Edited by Juz, Apr 16 2011, 09:49 PM.
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Diddly
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Yeah I loved Bulletstorm, it kinda felt like I shouldn't be having that much fun playing a FPS... Yet another shooter that would have been elevated gaming godliness if it'd had a co-op campaign and a Halo-style replay facility instead of a half-arsed Horde-type multiplayer mode that no one seems to want to play.


Portal 2 (360) Had forgotten all about this one till it plopped through the letterbox, and I'm suspecting strongly that it might turn out to be one of my games of the year. From the strange but effective casting of Stephen Merchant as a sort of confidence-lacking 343 Guilty Spark maintainance bot who seems to be trying to help you (badly) to the devilishly clever physics puzzles, the ever-present sing-song sarcasm and thinly-veiled menace of GLaDOS's voice (the AI system that sets all the tests and the thing that you "killed" at the end of the first game) and nicer, more varied graphics, for fans of the original at least, this game seems to have it all (including a completely separate split screen and online co-op story in which the two of you control droids). :thumbsup:
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Just finished Fallout:New Vegas at last. Started to hate the game toward the end. Not because of any glitches etc (the only one I suffered more than once was the game freezing. But even Shift 2 is doing that to me) but because of the convoluted branches of the story toward the end. I admit it is partly my points whoring that is to blame. But I hate that idea of playing most of the game and being able to manipulate the various factions. But by the end having to play through relatively small segments, then reload and play out the other scenarios just to get the points.

I much prefer Oblivions style where I joined the guilds, did what I wanted with them, but could then just polish off all my points once the game was done. I have no inclination to go back and play those other sections. So yeah, annoyed about that.

I've also finished the single player segment of Portal 2 and ummmmm, probably going against ALL popular opinion here, but what is the big deal??

I didn't play the first one, but having read so many glowing reviews of it, I was looking forward to playing this, and was underwhelmed to say the least. I am seriously not trying to sound like I'm any kind of genius, but it was piss easy. I only ever got stuck when I struggled to get the camera just right to see the white walls which could be portal'd. Had maybe 2 or 3 puzzles that had me scratching my head for maybe 10 minutes, but I don't consider that to be out of the ordinary for a puzzle game.

Stephen Merchant was great in it though - an inspired bit of casting there. His accent is perfect for the character he plays.

I do like that Valve "look" about the game though. They do create quite believable solid looking gameworlds I think. I found myself playing it for hours, not because I was enthralled by it, but because each room was a nice bit sized snippet of gameplay, so I knew I could get it done and dusted without ever being frustrated of being a long way from a save point.

I might give buy my own copy and try multiplayer out though, as I suspect it would be pretty cool to play with someone else and see how their thinking works compared to my own.

Still on Shift 2 and loving it. Some frustrating races have popped up though (GT3 night race at Nurburgring, I'm looking at you) mainly because it feels like they haven't adapted the A.I to allow for racing in the dark. They seem to have an almost psychic ability to race absolutely flat out in the dark. I might setup a race there both during the day and at night and see what the lap times are. I am betting they will be identical. Small niggle though, and the DLC has more than made up for it. Loads of classic cars and 5 tracks to race on. Nice.
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Juz
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Think I played about 4 levels of Portal in the Orange Box and hated it. I make no bones about it: I'm just not clever enough to know how to work out the puzzles.

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Blakey
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Juz
Apr 30 2011, 08:13 PM
Think I played about 4 levels of Portal in the Orange Box and hated it. I make no bones about it: I'm just not clever enough to know how to work out the puzzles.

Thank the lord, I though I was the only dunce.

I've enjoyed Portal 2, but having reached chapter 7 the frustration is starting to out-weigh the fun for me. I really love the atmosphere Valve create in their games, and some of the environments have an enormous sense of scale, however I think it loses its way a little when you move away from the test chambers to 'behind the scenes'.

The source engine is certainly starting to show its age, and I really hope they're not using it for Half-Life 3 (if that's even being developed).
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