IVG writes : Shift 2: Unleashed can be best described as Hollywood’s take on motorsport racing. It’s the first and is most likely to be the only one of its kind. Slightly Mad Studios have set their sights set deep in simulation racing territory, rather than just bordering on the thin line between arcade and simulation racing. They call it ‘the most realistic racer ever’, so there is no doubt about who their target audience is even though the game carries the ‘Need for Speed’ tag.
A breakdown of the best PS3 racing games according to Rantgaming.com. Games are rated based on replay value, graphics, gameplay, and controls
I'm not impressed with much in terms of racing this gen. Graphics have been really raised racently, and it wasn't by the "two kings" (GT and Forza) in racing. Shift 2 and the upcoming Project Cars are now DOMINATING racing games graphically, GT5 and Forza 4/H do not even compare. But physics and gameplay-wise, most everything's been "off" aside from a select few. My short list would be.
#1 GT5. It's still rocking everybody in terms of gameplay and variety. It's got every kind of 4 wheeled racing almost from Karts to F1 and everything in between. GT needs to step it up graphically now though. Forza is the LEAST of their worries there.
#2 Motorstorm Pacific Rift. Just the #1 most fun and intense arcade/off-road racer ever made or ever will be made. SOOOOOO much variety compared to the bare bones (but great) first game, and a way better racing game than the 3rd game which was more like Split-Second than MotorStorm in THIS Motorstorm Fan's opinion.
#3 F1 Championship Edition. This PS3 exclusive launch game is imho still the best F1 game this gen in terms of the racing.
#4 FerrariChallenge/SuperCar Challenge. Alot of people havn't heard about these, they got VERY little attention. They sucked because not alot of cars, but it's a fact that System 3 put into these PS3 exclusives (they were on Wii too, but they weren't as advanced) the most advanced, realistic physics to ever be in a console racer. The same physics they put into their PC sim. Good graphics for the time too. Very under-rated.
#5 Shift 2. This is only here because I think graphically, it's a sneak peek at the next level in racing sim graphics. Project Cars is improving on that. But Shift 2 has HORRIBLE physics and I disliked playing it. If Project Cars can get the physics more in line than Shift 2, and have enough of a garage to have the variety in the racing while keeping the online field fairly even like GT5 does, it will truly be the next level of racing sims, and something may actually pull me away from GT5, which nothing has based on gameplay.
Also: WipeOut HD- awesome game, awesome value, it's expansion makes it an even better value, top notch quality.
John Bedford (Modojo): Modojo rounds up the best of the price-drops for Wednesday 4th July.
Origin have released a new set of 50% off game in week 2 of it's Best of 2011 Sale.
pretty high score
Too low a score. It's no iRacing or netKar Pro in the simulation aspects (but it's not really too far behind the ISI engine sims), but I've been enjoying the PC version immensely for weeks - although it took some time to dial in some good force feedback settings for my Logitech G25 through the Profiler software (it didn't feel too well with the typical recommendations), and additionally the default setups for most cars are way too soft.