'Shift 2' tries to be one of the best sim-racing titles, but is hurt by two very large problems.
'Shift 2' is a game that really wants to be a 'Gran Turismo' or 'Forza Motorsport'. While those two franchises are the pinnacles of sim-style racing, it is nice to see another developer throw their hat in the ring. And to be honest, 'Slightly Mad Studios' did a good enough job that you will feel like you are playing one of those two other games........until you get slightly bumped by an AI opponent which sends your car into a tailspin that just wasted 3 laps of perfect driving.
The CPU AI is very aggresive, even on the easiest difficulty. And the punishment for any sort of collision is usually severe. When you combine that with the flighty handling, it can make 'Shift 2' very frustrating to play.
Combine the above two problems, with the smaller list of vehicles, unskippable cut-scenes that are extremely cheesy, terrible music, lack of track variety, & "been there, done that" feel to the career mode, & you have a game that screams 'rental'. It is fun to play and looks nice, but it never does anything that makes it a much purchase.