Shift 2: Unleashed - Limited Edition

I actually enjoyed this game a lot on the PC. Once i got the controller dynamics dialed in so that the handling characteristics weren't so annoying the game play came to life. This game really needs to be used with a good controller or a full on Race wheel set up like other Race SIMs. The handling characteristics are pretty spot on once its properly set up, and the Graphics are very good when pushed anything higher than 1080p. Many gamers that pride themselves on playing the most developed Race SIMs may state this game is nothing, true it is more arcade based than Sim, it can easily bridge the gap to both genres.As always the storyline for NFS games are pretty crappy but if you turn off the Voice over audio and just play through the tracks you can easily get hooked to pushing the cars to the limit.The AI is the best I've played against in recent racing games, not to hard, but not to easy either, though it doesn't take much to mess them up, if you play fair then they act rather intelligently and hard. The really extreme Works cars are insanely fast and hard to race with if you haven't perfected your skills or your car. While the GT cars are quick as well, the handling characteristics are a lot smoother and easier to control. Drifting is horrid and needs an extremely well tuned set up, even then its really annoying to fight with the auto drift characteristics. It seems like they tried to mix the dynamics from Carbon and Pro street, which ends up in a complete mess, I haven't wasted my time trying to perfect my drift skills as the drift matches are more of a bonus rather than a necessity to win in order move forward.Edit- After long hours of Drifting practice and car tuning i have come to like drifting. But only on the major tracks like London street circuit and Florida street circuit. Most of the other circuits are either to small or not meant for drifting.With all that in mind this game is still one of the best creations in the NFS line up. It can easily rival that of Codemasters Grid, and other Race simulators for PC. Though it has some minor game dynamic quirks, which plague many other Race simulator games as well, this game plays pretty smooth. The Helmet Cam is by far the best viewing angle and i can tell that EA(cough...Slightly Mad Studios) has put some time and energy into crafting a pleasant racing experience. This viewpoint can be fully taken advantage of with a large monitor or multi-screen set up!Overall this game is a must try, certainly at the price its currently at, you can't go wrong with this game. Best bet is to get it through Origin as you may have the best luck playing with people online, and service help.Pros-Graphics/Cinematics-Tracks-Tuning-Cars-Camera options-AI-Modding!Cons-Cheesy unnecessary storyline-Control Physics need to be finely tuned to perform well.-Not enough races/Races to short(on average)-Minor Quirks and glitches-Needs Fast computer (high rated GPU & RAM)-Poor Drifting Physics ( has to be extremely well tuned to work)-server matches non existent?( JOIN UP PEOPLE!)

I love these need for speed games but each version demands more power in your computer than the previos one :( So, you really need to have a powerful graphics card and at least 3 or 4 GB or RAM memory, (and a really good processor like core i5). Even with my i3 intel processor I could not play this one in my laptop.

Due to a problem with the EA server, the Limited Edition content can no longer be unlocked. In the past, when you logged into the game to create a new EA account or used an existing EA account to activate the game, the Limited Edition content would be added to your game. This is no longer working, Unless EA fixes this bug, there's no point in buying the Limited Edition versus the standard edition, since the extra content from the Limited Edition can no longer be unlocked. This may be due to the fact that EA / Origin / Steam no longer offer the Limited Edition, only the standard edition. You can read about this at answers dot ea dot com, click on "other need for speed games" twice to get to the actual forum about older Need For Speed games.

I've been a long long time a Gran Turismo's fan (since PlayStation 1). But this game is more realistic: behind the wheel, it's not a game, you feel the pressure. My only complaint until now is that in the collisions, the opponent cars are like glued to the track while you can easily (normally) loose control and sent out of the track: improvement needed. Get a Logitech G27 for the ultimate experience.

After installing and re-installing could not get the game to play. It could notfind a certain file to permit it to boot up.

I installed Need for Speed Shift 2 on a PC with a 4-core AMD PhenomII processor and Win 7, and the game did not run at all. After the so-called Installation, the shortcut on the desktop and the items in the Start menu did nothing at all. After I uninstalled the game in Control Panel and tried to re-install it, the AutoRun program brought up a screen which included a Play button, but no Install button. This happened even after I deleted all of the Electronic Arts files off my hard drive and rebooted the computer.And it was impossible to find any help about this problem on the Electronic Arts website.I will never buy another Electronic Arts program ever again.

One of the latest in the Need for Speed series, Shift 2 does not fail to deliver on intense racing action and incredible graphics.

In spite of the bad reviews I still bought this game thinking the controls can't be THAT bad...I was wrong. I'm using the mono force wheel and pedals and trying to steer is a nightmare...almost impossible to even track a straight line...the car flies from one side to the other with minute steering corrections. Turning off steering assist in the settings helps but only minimally. Frustratingly unplayable...I gave up.