Watch, as an opponent with the same exact car passes me in a straight away.
Shift 2 is a simulator that takes you around multiple events that vary in objectives from race to race. Early on in the game, you get to adjust your settings for either your controller or steering wheel. Unfortunately, I have no idea how it controls with a steering wheel. So I made various adjustments to the AI and driving, and I found me a nice balance that I could work with. There are a great amount of options to choose from, whether it is for driving, sound, or display. It will take you some time though, considering that it controls like nothing else you will ever play in the genre.
People coming fresh off of Gran Turismo 5 (such as me) will be thrown off guard by the games ridiculous handling. Like I said, it handles unlike any other simulator you have ever played. It has this stiff feeling that will take you a while to get used to. What's worse, every car seems to handle differently from the last, making it entirely unpredictable without a lot of practice with the car. All I can say is, thank God for the numerous tuning options. Tuning is vital if you ever hope to get first place in any of the later events. You can buy plenty of parts for your cars and change them up to your liking, and unlike Gran Turismo 5, you will feel a substantial difference in handling with each number that you change.
There are plenty of variables when you change the tuning options of your vehicles. You can even select which tracks get special tuning options, meaning that you can save various settings to the many different tracks. But unless you are very familiar with each of the tracks, you probably won't take advantage of this feature. What I recommend is getting a feel of the tracks and trying to do your homework with the games numerous locals. I love how much variety there is between the tracks and objectives that you can complete, and thanks to a clever leveling system, it encourages you to master each of the tracks corners and sections.
The leveling system is similar to many other multiplayer components leveling systems. It gives you experience points (XP) for doing certain things during the race, like perfecting a corner turn, or overtaking and opponent. When you level up (to a cap of 20), you get some goodies, like cash, car designing options, and even cars. Again, it encourages you to do the best you can while racing, and to race properly, and not destroy every car that tries to pass you (not like you can in this game, anyways, I tried). And that brings me to what can be considered a "game-breaker", the AI.
The AI in this game is ****ing brutal. I'm not even kidding. I guess Slightly Mad Studios decided to make up for lost time Gran Turismo 5 lost with its boring AI, by making the AI way, way too difficult. There were even times where the AI would willingly knock my ass off the course, all because I passed them in a fair manner. During the Eliminator (a race that eliminates last place until there is only one person left, and we all get the same car), the AI passed me in a straight away, while driving the same exact car! And when you're driving with different cars, it'll feel like the AI stocks NOS into their damn cars. It is literally the most frustrating aspect of the game, and is the worst in the genre.
What makes this AI worse is the handling. Like I said, it takes some time to get used to, and it takes a hell of a lot more time to get used to the aggressive nature of the AI, and two negatives do not equal a positive. This is where tuning comes into play, again. Making proper adjustments to your cars performance will give you favorable results, like whether or not you want your car to turn better than accelerating or vice-versa. It's a considerable advantage to the AI's relentless assault on your self-esteem.
None the less, driving is fun once you get the hang of it and have a car worth racing. There is a lot of variety in events during the main mode, like drifting, hot lap races (where you take preselected cars and race for the best time), and others. You unlock them generously as you level up. You can also take on challenges that are recommended by a feature called Autolog. Returning from the Hot Pursuit reboot, the Autolog lets you recommend events to friends and it acts as a leader board for you and your friends to compete with. (Autolog will be reviewed once PSN is up)
Multiplayer is as smooth as one would hope, and it's really fun when you get a game going with people who want to race properly. There are measures taken to make sure people don't just fool around the whole race with penalties that will render their car useless. Match making is automatic, and there is a filter for people looking for specific race types. The game rarely lags, and the rules for each of the events and tracks you race on differ.There are also tournament modes that let you, well, compete in tournaments. I haven't tried this feature out yet though. Friend inviting works as you'd expect it too, and voice chat and everything is stable. It's a polished experience that has some serious legs due to the constant rewards in both cash and XP.
Presentation wise, I'd go as far as to say that this is the best in the genre. Tracks look phenomenal, and glow with a realistic sense that makes racing on them feel like you are actually there, and it's awesome. Cars look amazing as well, with the more expensive cars being very stylish and realistically presented. The overall style of the game is the thing I appreciate the most. It looks very slick, and it is easy as hell to navigate through the numerous amounts of options that are given to you. Atmospherically, this game also succeeds in giving off a stylish presence that makes racing energetic (especially during drifting events). The added helmet view, that moves your characters head for turns, is also a neat feature, but I always stuck to the traditional helmet view for the best looking and sounding experience.
Sound is also very noteworthy, for what it's worth. Cars sound great, and I always felt this sense of satisfaction from perfecting a turn and hearing that engine rev. There are plenty of sounds for all of the engines, and they all sound appropriate. The pep talk from the professional drivers is pretty cool, and they give you pretty good insight on how things work in Shift 2 if you aren't really familiar with everything. The soundtrack is a bit lacking, in both quality and quantity. There are only about ten tracks, and they don't really fit with the mood of the game. Unfortunately, there isn't an option to choose music from your hard drive, which makes Iridescent a sad penguin. They don't even play anything during the races. It would've been nice to have the option…
In conclusion, if you haven't picked up Gran Turismo 5 yet, I'd buy that first, and then this. Shift 2 is a great follow up that won't please everybody, but if you can handle a few inconsistencies and brutal AI, then you are bound to have a good time tuning your vehicles and racing them against your friends.
+Great presentation all around
+Fun racing with a ton of variety
+Plenty of content to last you a while
+A ton of options to tinker with for controls, AI, and sound
+Awesome tuning options
+Great multiplayer options
-Handling is unpredictable
-AI is brutal
-Hit and miss sound track
-Absurd difficulty curve at times