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Need for Speed: Shift (iPhone)

That Rev Chap — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:34:00 +0000

The anti-Ridge Racer, basically. Smooth, polished, content-rich, with a proper game structure. All things that Ridge Racer Accelerated is not. But, on the other hand, it all feels a bit clinical, it’s very flat so far and the drifting mechanic is awkward and, possibly, broken. Again, that’s the opposite of Ridge Racer.

It’s not a bad game, certainly, but after being violently mugged by the scar-faced Ridge Racer, it doesn’t feel especially exciting. Here is an image that explains the difference between the two games:

Mind you, I’m still using the first car class – I’m thinking that pulse-pounding high-speed thrills may well arrive at some point, when I’ve unlocked some more cars.

Anyway, this is likely to be my last entry until after Christmas, maybe the new year, so have a happy time everybody and I’ll see you on the other side.

Need For Speed Carbon Demo (360)

That Rev Chap — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 22:19:00 +0000

Put it in the bumper-cam view and it was much, much better than it was when I tried it last week. Framerate still rubbish, but the racing was actually quite fun.

Bouyed up I tried the drift mode. Three times. Just in case I was missing something. I don’t think I was. Terrible, it was. Too hard and no fun at all.

Need For Speed: Carbon Demo (360)

That Rev Chap — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 08:40:00 +0000

Bloody awful.

I played it yesterday when I was off work sick and could only stand it for about a minute before the horrible framerate made my head feel like it had split in two. (Before playing it merely felt like my head was in danger of splitting in two.)

You can play around and customise bits of your car before racing, but beyond the spoiler I doubt anybody would notice any difference during the racings. (Especially in the in-car view, obviously.)

Anyway, the framerate is no better than Most Wanted last year and the racing seems significantly more annoying and handling much more sludge-like.

I am not impressed.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

That Rev Chap — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 23:07:00 +0000

Another boss down.

Only got a paltry ten gamer points for defeating her.

Ah well, it’s the winning that counts, not the prize.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

That Rev Chap — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 23:33:00 +0000

Okay.

It really does have a terrible framerate which actually makes it harder to play than it should be.

But despite that it really is a very good game indeed.

When you get into a proper police chase it’s bloody marvellous. Like a slightly more refined but less funny GTA, or something.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

That Rev Chap — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 14:38:00 +0000

I still don’t know why I’m playing it.

There’s so many things wrong with it and yet it just remains fun.

Why? Why? Why?

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

That Rev Chap — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 22:44:00 +0000

So I’d finally decided that I did like it despite it’s horrible, horrible graphical horribleness… and then it went and froze up on me at the exact moment a police chase ended. Obviously a software rather than a hardware problem, but it did lock up the whole Xbox.

Oh EA, how do you manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like that, eh?

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

That Rev Chap — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 19:53:00 +0000

I can’t decide whether this is good but flawed, yet still fun or whether it’s utter rubbish, yet still fun.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

That Rev Chap — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 18:19:00 +0000

Hmm.

Hmm indeed.

See, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 was a fantastic game and people on forums and reviews have suggested that this was a return to form for the series. So I downloaded the demo and it seemed like great fun, except for having a horrific framerate. But on forums people said the full game didn’t suffer from the same issues and reviews didn’t mention it.

Which just goes to show that people are LIARS, because the framerate is rubbish. It doesn’t fluctuate too much, but it’s very low indeed. Well, if it’s not the framerate there’s something that makes the game look terribly bitty. It just doesn’t look smooth.

But I got used to that after an hour or so. Well, an hour and a half. I even almost got used to it.

The other odd thing is the colour scheme. It’s an autumnal look, giving everything a sepia tinge, which makes shortcuts and obstacles more difficult to spot than they should be. Very odd decision. I mean, it looks nice and fancy, but there’s something to be said for big bright colours, especially as it would help the actual driving.

So, is there anything good about the game at all?

Well, yes. The cut scenes are terrible, but amuse me greatly and are more entertaining than merely competent cut scenes would be. So that’s okay. And it’s structured nicely, with a certain amount of challenges to be done (in any order) before you can take on each boss. Excellently, you can either cruise round the city looking for the challenges or just bring up a quick menu and jump to any one you want. And there’s massive product placement for a brand that doesn’t even exist in this country, which is excellent.

Oh, yes, the driving/racing? It’s the very model of simple arcade handling. Pretty much spot on… except that, at least at this early stage, it lacks any sort of real character. It’s not like Project Gotham or OutRun 2, where the driving has some sort of soul to it, these cars just react like, well, old school video game cars, really. It’s not that the driving’s bad – it’s not – it’s just soulless. (Well, it is an EA game, I suppose.)

I mean it’s good, competent fun. But it hasn’t got my pulse racing yet and the graphical badness, in terms of smoothness and everything, take away some of fun. I’ll give it more time, but on first impressions, it’s looking like this isn’t anywhere near as good as Hot Pursuit 2.