OK my thoughts;

Pros:

- Engine sounds. Just amazing really.

- Soundtrack. Unbeliavably good. The ambient/orchestral remixes are so epic. Especially in the menus when combined with racing sounds. Sets the atmosphere perfectly. Really good.

- Graphics are good like expected.

- Customisation.

- Good variety of cars.

- Some interesting fictional tracks.

- AI. Makes mistakes. Quite fun to race with.

Cons:

- The weight transfer feels horrible on the slower cars. And I really do mean horrible.

- Random swaying. I mean, what the hell is it supposed to be? Playing with a wheel is impossible because the car sways around on the straights as if its a boat... Keyboard minimised that. Not sure if its just how my wheel is set up, or if its something to do with the physics. I have feeling its the latter one though.

- Some of the real life tracks are quite wrong. Especially the scenery. There was no need to add random shit EA. Just kills the atmosphere of the track completely. Some parts of SPA look horrible IMO.

- The cutscenes. Woah... Why am I made to sit through a 5+ second intro on every race? Worst part is that its unskippable.... Just ridiculous.

So, the physics...

Well, they're deifinitely better than Shift 1. No doubt about that IMO. Good enough to be called a sim? Well, I think you know the answer yourself...

However, it is quite fun for what it is; a game. There is something for both simracers, and arcaders. I like it, and thats a big improvement for me considering I deleted the first Shift in a matter of hours.

Quote from DevilDare :

<snip>
So, the physics...

Well, they're deifinitely better than Shift 1. No doubt about that IMO. Good enough to be called a sim? Well, I think you know the answer yourself...

However, it is quite fun for what it is; a game. There is something for both simracers, and arcaders. I like it, and thats a big improvement for me considering I deleted the first Shift in a matter of hours.

To the point of it becoming actually enjoyable for someone that was totally put off by the (apparently still present) hovercraft-drifty-turn-in nonsense in Shift1? Or should I probably just forget about it?

I'm a bit like Jibber in that I'm slightly torn between wanting the game because it looks pretty good as a game, but also fairly convinced that the gameplay/handling/fizzix is basically more of the same and I'm not keen to hand them £40 to be proved right.

Should probably wait for a demo on PS3.

Quote from DevilDare :

- Soundtrack. Unbeliavably good. The ambient/orchestral remixes are so epic. Especially in the menus when combined with racing sounds. Sets the atmosphere perfectly. Really good.

Indeed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-GcWq83oR4

Quote from sinbad :

To the point of it becoming actually enjoyable for someone that was totally put off by the (apparently still present) hovercraft-drifty-turn-in nonsense in Shift1? Or should I probably just forget about it?

I'm a bit like Jibber in that I'm slightly torn between wanting the game because it looks pretty good as a game, but also fairly convinced that the gameplay/handling/fizzix is basically more of the same and I'm not keen to hand them £40 to be proved right.

Should probably wait for a demo on PS3.

I enjoy it, heck it even enjoy how it drives.

It's strange because the steering lag and wobbly wheel problem does not exist with my game, same console, same wheel, I just don't know why, I will put up some videos with my real driving input to show it is totally drivable.

Quote from DevilDare :

- Engine sounds. Just amazing really.

Seems like I can't agree with this one. From the gameplay videos I've seen, at least some of the cars feature quite bad audio samples. They don't sound like you're in the car, more like they have recorded the sounds with a microphone attached to the tip of the exhaust. And many of the samples sound like they may have been started with a good quality sample, but edited in a bad manner (powerful EQ, too much volume or something similar) and so they have ended up with a sample that breaks quite a lot, thus destroying the sound quality. BTW I dunno if sound breaking is a right term, some Finnish guy with good English skills might help me? The term I'm looking for is when "ääni särkee".

Also they seem to still use the same straight-cut transmission sound sample files what Gmotor games already used many years ago. It's not bad quality but not quite realistic either.

-EDIT- Did some googling, maybe the term I'm looking for is "distortion".

Quote from sinbad :

To the point of it becoming actually enjoyable for someone that was totally put off by the (apparently still present) hovercraft-drifty-turn-in nonsense in Shift1? Or should I probably just forget about it?

I'm a bit like Jibber in that I'm slightly torn between wanting the game because it looks pretty good as a game, but also fairly convinced that the gameplay/handling/fizzix is basically more of the same and I'm not keen to hand them £40 to be proved right.

Should probably wait for a demo on PS3.

Well like I said, I deleted the first Shift in a matter of hours because it was so horrible. This though, this will stay on my HDD as I will no doubt launch it form time to time to chill on.

Again, its not perfect. The floaty feeling is still there, well, kind of... Its not as extreme as in the first game. You can definitely feel contact with the tarmac.

The weight trasnfer on the other hand, yeah, that needs to be fixed...

Quote from speed1230 :

Indeed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-GcWq83oR4

Yep, simply amazing.

Quote from JJ72 :

I enjoy it, heck it even enjoy how it drives.

It's strange because the steering lag and wobbly wheel problem does not exist with my game, same console, same wheel, I just don't know why, I will put up some videos with my real driving input to show it is totally drivable.

Hmmm.

You're on a console?

I am playing it on the PC. Maybe its something with the PC version?

Quote from DevilDare :

You're on a console?

I am playing it on the PC. Maybe its something with the PC version?

On PS3.

I wouldn't imagine PC having more trouble when it has so much more resource on tap, however I had heard people saying the lag is better if you run less background programmes, you might just try some apps that disable background operations temporary.

other than that, I don't have any idea, the only major steering wheel setting that affects my game is the steering sensitivity, which I turns up to 100.

Vsync can cause quite a delay because it buffers frames before sending them to the monitor. Turn that off for quicker input response. Also, anti-aliasing.
Close unnecessary background processes with Taskmanager, try closing Logitech Gaming Software and try the input lag fix posted above.

It's funny how people like to fool themselves.

The game is clearly shit, yet nobody wants to believe it until they have tried it.

It's like meeting a bland and dumb, but hot woman in a bar. She starts flirting with you and whispers in your ear "let's go to your place". You get the impression she's a bitch, has a bad character and is probably not even good in bed... yet you are hypnotized by here awesome rocking boobs... so you ignore all the bad signs, and take her home...

...only to complain about what a stupid bitch she is the next day and how she wasn't even good in bed.

Good times!

Well I have about 10 hours of gameplay so far and I think it is genuinely good. It's a physics engine with potential but fed with dumbed down datas, however most of the case it is just dumbed down, there's nothing odd or unnatural about how it drives from my perspective.

Quote from jibber :

It's funny how people like to fool themselves.

The game is clearly shit, yet nobody wants to believe it until they have tried it.

And people like you say its shit without even trying it. So who is more dumb?

If you are looking for a new sim, then I think its pretty clear and obvious this wont be it. If you're looking for a new racing game, then this is very decent.

Whats so hard to understand?

I dunno, i liked the game.
Only about 2 hours (hoping to do another 2 tonight, let's see), but as a game, it pleases me.

The look and sounds is obviously top-notch, where the physics are obviously not. But i like the more arcade-ish play, it's a fast-paced fun game.

I haven't tried it online, but so far, so good. I don't feel ripped off or anything, so, that's good enough for me.

Quote from DevilDare :

And people like you say its shit without even trying it. So who is more dumb?

If you are looking for a new sim, then I think its pretty clear and obvious this wont be it. If you're looking for a new racing game, then this is very decent.

Whats so hard to understand?

Ohh come on!

I've played shift1. It was utter shit. Now people talking about shift2 say it's still not good, nobody is talking about how they love the physics... everybody has controller issues, tries to talk good about the game so they can justify their money spent, etc.

I don't think i need to waste my money to be proven right.

PS: I enjoy arcade games, i'm not a hardcore sim racer. What i don't enjoy is dubious physics and controller issues... because they are rather frustrating than fun (both for sims and arcade games).

What is so hard to understand?

lol the lag is so bad for me, that when i am turning left, to countersteer, the ingame steering wheel is turning right still

Quote from DevilDare :

I am playing it on the PC.

Quote from jibber :

tries to talk good about the game so they can justify their money spent, etc.

.

Quote from jibber :

Ohh come on!

I've played shift1. It was utter shit. Now people talking about shift2 say it's still not good, nobody is talking about how they love the physics... everybody has controller issues, tries to talk good about the game so they can justify their money spent, etc.

if you get the game working 100 % then and only then can you play it obv, then give it your full thoughts.

Having everything there is maxed out, yet I still see the "lowres" textures which can be seen for example on rims or front lights or overall my game look so anti-aliasing-free... I don't know if it should look like that or if I wanted more HDness for my eyes... I also can't stand the ******* drifting, the racing part is quite enjoyable even as an arcade, but I will never pass the game only because of drifting, nice. Eh.

Quote from Mysho :

Having everything there is maxed out, yet I still see the "lowres" textures which can be seen for example on rims or front lights or overall my game look so anti-aliasing-free... I don't know if it should look like that or if I wanted more HDness for my eyes... I also can't stand the ******* drifting, the racing part is quite enjoyable even as an arcade, but I will never pass the game only because of drifting, nice. Eh.

Yeah. The racing was quite fun. But after I tried the drifting I just rage quited... It's just freaking impossible!

Are the physics still different for drifting than they are in normal races? I found the "arcadey/simple" drift physics in Shift harder than "proper" physics because they didn't make sense.

Quote from TiJay :

Are the physics still different for drifting than they are in normal races? I found the "arcadey/simple" drift physics in Shift harder than "proper" physics because they didn't make sense.

Yes, they're shit IMO.

A little video I made about the steering lag issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld0SFWOgorM

Quote from TiJay :

Are the physics still different for drifting than they are in normal races? I found the "arcadey/simple" drift physics in Shift harder than "proper" physics because they didn't make sense.

Car countersteer by itself and it's really hard to drift since you don't control the car.

New Video. Drifting feels easier now. Just have to get used to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHvp-yLo_iQ

Drifting is this game is ****ing weird, 50degrees lock on the car makes me spin over easily... wtf?

anyone got a fix for shifting with a gated shifter? there is a nasty delay when i have auto clutch on, and with it off, I cant shift smoothly.