broly3110
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 Monday, October 25, 2010
The title is self explanatory
Need for speed shift
Well let me begin by saying that the only NFS games that I can really say that I enjoyed are this one and Most wanted since in most of the other games the cars felt like boxes if you know what I mean,the "feel" of driving didn't seem right especially in Hot pursuit,anyone that drove a car even for 5 meters knows what I mean.
Story:
Well this game basically gets back to the whole "Screw the story I have races" kind of thing which isn't bad to be honest,I mean I really didn't like how in Most wanted you 1st got an awesome BMW that got stolen in your very 1st race,so you have to go get a weak car and all that "good" stuff,so no ill-mannered buffoon to steal your ride!
You begin with a "test drive" so the game sees how good you are,depending on that "test drive" the game will set the difficulty of the AI,the controls etcetera.
From there you will get access to the tier 1 of cars and of course some cash to buy a car,the basic drill in NFS games,you also unlock the tier 1 of races,there are many types of races,raging from the average "be 1st to finish" to "time attacks","drift races","versus","time laps" and so on.
In the main races you will also have rivals to defeat (red names).
You will also get invitation events in which you are basically put to do a certain race/races,obviously it's not like they will put you to make pancakes.
In this game you get a leveling system,50 being the maximum level,you evolve based on points that you get in races,you can get precision points,which you get by driving carefully without running off the road or bashing other cars and aggression points which you get by basically driving like a mad man.
You also get badges based on things that you do,like driving more distance with a Japanese or an European car,get many badges in a category and you get a master badge (if you beat all the rivals for example)
Controls,now this is my major thing when comes to racing games,I really can't say that I enjoy racing games that have cars that control like cardboard boxes on skates,you basically don't have the "feel" of the weight of the car,well Shift has that unique feel to every car and you will be able to tell the difference.
They went more to realism than arcade style racing,although you have to be precise when taking a curve or else you will just spin out of control,this is the only major control problem I had,sometimes the car seems to get "soap tires".
Now lets talk about the AI,they announced that the AI will make "human" mistakes,they do but the problem is that even at the easier settings the AI gets many unfair advantages.
For example at the curves,that is the place where I expected the AI to make the most mistakes but they don't,at the you curve we humans have to slow down and kind of draft our way through the curve while the AI takes it like it's just a straight line it even accelerates in that curve,if you try to do that you'll just get projected in the closest wall.
Along the races you will get a little help from a green line which turns yellow/red when a curve approaches it will also make the car automatically slow down,although you won't get it unless you are on the easier settings.
You can tune and customize your car in basically every way possible,from the way you want it to steer to the weight distribution.You can also buy parts like turbo,nitrous,spoilers and customize the color and over all look of the car,although the body kits are preset so you won't be able to fully customize its look.
A minor complaint is the weather,I really like the 1st person view but at least make it rain,when I was 9 I had a rally game in which you could go through snow,rain,deserts and with every race the weather changed so it really had variety.
Another minor complaint I have are the vinyls,lets say that you put one on the left side than you want the exact same on the right,you can't mirror it to the other side,although this gives you more freedom but I really don't like asymmetric stuff.
Pros:
-Graphics (I know I know but graphics are a nice addition)
-1st person view(its more like a personal pro but yeah)
-good controls
-variety of game play
Cons:
-unfair AI
-Controls can get "meh" around the curves
So I will give it 4 and a half tires out of 5 (improved scoring system for the win)
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broly3110
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Sunday, November 07, 2010
Burnout paradise
This is an arcade style racing game from Criterion Games and EA,the fact is that I usually don't like arcade style racing games since many of times you don't need skill,you just need luck to get a power up,much like that slam blue shell in Mario Kart.
The only arcade racing game that I can say I really enjoyed is Carmageddon,yes it had power ups,some lacking in identifiable function and some complete trash,but still,you needed both skill and luck to win in it,Carmageddon had a part in my decision to try out this game,since in this game you basically get to crush cars left and right,which is very reminiscent of Carmageddon.
Story:
You are thrown in an open world known as Paradise city,you also get a car (obviously) and a driver's license which you will upgrade from class D to C and so on by winning a certain amount of races,one unique thing is that if you have a web cam connected you can take a picture of yourself and put it on the license.
You can get other cars from a junkyard,you unlock them either by winning events or by crushing them on the road,you will be announced when a certain car is in the town so you know what to crush.I have the Ultimate box edition which gives you some extra stuff which includes bikes,the bikes are quite hard to control.
From there you get events which you will have to complete,in some you will have to do a traditional race to the finish line while in others you will have to survive the whole trip without getting crashed by other cars that follow you.
Race:self explanatory,you have to get from point A to point B by any route you want giving you the sense of liberty so you won't crash in discomforting almost invisible barriers that blend so well with the scenery,NFS MW I'm looking at you.Although I found a weird glitch in which although I was about 2 streets away from the other drivers I was on the last place.
Take down/Road rage:I put them both here since they are basically the same thing,you have to crush a set amount of cars in a time limit.
Stunt run:In this you have to do crazy stuff,jumpos etcetera,to get points.
Marked man:You have to survive from point A to point B while some cars follow you.
This being an arcade style game I expected a ton of power ups,fortunately I was mistaking,the only thing that gets close to being called a power up is the booster thing,the boost differs for every car type,the good part is that unlike other games *cough NFS world cough* it's not limited to lets say 2 seconds after you activate it and you don't have to buy it.
The cars are split in 3 categories,speed,stunt and aggression.All 3 are quite unique in the feel of driving and the boost type,for example the aggression car gets boost based on how relentlessly you drive,the stunt on how many tricks you do and the speed one gets only if you drive fast although you can't activate it unless its full.
Controls,because again this is the part where I get picky with racing games,the controls are good giving you the "feel" that you drive a "real" car which gets a big plus from me,if its an arcade style racing that doesn't mean that its an excuse for cars that don't have "weight" whatsoever,again I dislike cars that control like cardboard boxes *cough NFS world cough*.
The damaging system is pretty nice and very realistic to...most of the times,I happened to barrel role and land with the top of the car on the ground,then I got flipped over and the car could still go,I don't think that a human could still drive after getting squished.
Speaking of which,if you brake the windows you will notice that there is no driver...pretty odd...there are also no pedestrians whatsoever (unless you count the traffic) besides the radio guy.
Depending on how bad you damage the car you will still be able to drive it after a crash,that is named a drive away,sometimes it will show you how you barely miss a car preventing you from crashing in it.
Now for the nitpicking part,the only major things that I can say that I hated are the fact that speed cars can drift quite a lot and at the marked man those cars that follow you are very unfair,even if you have an aggression type car you will still get moved around quite easily,which is ironic that a SUV gets thrown in the wall by a small racing car.
And they are very smart,for example I took a shortcut that was full of jumps,and quite long for that matter (yeah a long shortcut,what's next?Interesting school?Although it is shorter than the actual road which is full,and I mean full of twists and turns...who designed that road anyway?),the cars are supposed to ignore the shortcuts and take the normal road after you,they did take the normal road,but somehow where still on my tail when I entered back in the normal road.
Another weird glitch that I discovered was when I took a shortcut one of the cars that is supposed to follow you didn't do what it was supposed to do,that being following you only on the normal roads,one of them followed me in the shortcut,when I turned back and saw him,the car just turned back and left...I'm not kidding,the car was like "OH stuff YOU SAW ME!1!" and left.
The AI can be quite smart without giving the impression that its "cheating",the other cars do make mistakes that a human player would,like running in other "pedestrian" cars,unlike the cars on other games that state that the AI will make human mistakes *cough NFS Shift cough*(that's a bad case of coughing don't you think?),besides those cars that follow you.
Even those cars give a good example of good programing,the glitch that I found being a prime example,instead of following you and possibly ruining you on the jumps,which even if you don't want you can f up easily,it just literally goes back,with the speed of light yes but still.
Pros:
-good controls(with 1 exception)
-fair AI
-gameplay variety
Cons:
-you can get crushed quite easily
-speed type cars are hard to control at times
So I will give it 4.85 speed booster things out of 5,since it deserves more than 4.5.
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Perpetual Traveler
