Shift 2: Unleashed

 PlayStation 3
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 121 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 121
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 121
  3. Negative: 32 out of 121
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  1. Misterobotto
    May 21, 2011
    9
    I was actually seriously disappointed by this game when I first played it on release day. There was just something off with they physics, which is a deal breaker for me. I'm happy to announce that EA has recently patched the game, and it's awesome. I love the gran turismo series, but there is just something about Shift's brutal, visceral racing experience. Oh... and I'm not a big fanI was actually seriously disappointed by this game when I first played it on release day. There was just something off with they physics, which is a deal breaker for me. I'm happy to announce that EA has recently patched the game, and it's awesome. I love the gran turismo series, but there is just something about Shift's brutal, visceral racing experience. Oh... and I'm not a big fan of the helmet cam... but you can't really fault them for adding a feature.… Expand
  2. Nessy
    Apr 6, 2011
    9
    All in all it´s a really good game, better than i expected. Graphics are nice, especially the lightning is way better than in Shift 1. There´s a good variation of tracks, night races and a ton of events to play in career mode. The handling has been improved and feels somewhat between Shift 1 and GT5.

    Unfortunately it´s not so tight and realistic as    All in all it´s a really good game, better than i expected. Graphics are nice, especially the lightning is way better than in Shift 1. There´s a good variation of tracks, night races and a ton of events to play in career mode. The handling has been improved and feels somewhat between Shift 1 and GT5.

    Unfortunately it´s not so tight and realistic as GT5 or Forza 3. (Played both for months)
    The AI is a bit aggressive and in terms of difficultly the game seems a bit unbalanced.

    Nonetheless it´s a great racing game.
    Intense and sometimes frustrating but always motivating.    … Expand
  3. philgreg
    Aug 27, 2011
    10
    The main concern about this game is that it takes a lot of tweaking to get it working properly. I have never played it with a controller so I cannot comment about how it drives with one, but with a wheel one has to do many adjustments to get it to feel correct. Because of this I would not recommend this game to someone who wants to just pick it up and go. If you have patience and areThe main concern about this game is that it takes a lot of tweaking to get it working properly. I have never played it with a controller so I cannot comment about how it drives with one, but with a wheel one has to do many adjustments to get it to feel correct. Because of this I would not recommend this game to someone who wants to just pick it up and go. If you have patience and are looking for a solid simulator using a wheel, then I would highly recommend this game.
    There are a few problems I see that people keep complaining about in this game. 1) It is too hard. One must understand that the Shift series is a simulation based racing game, not arcade like most NFS games.
    2) Cars are impossible to drive or they don't feel like they should. This is a problem most people are complaining about. The main underlying cause of this is the car setup. For some strange reason the stock set up of every car has the spring rates at 0 and the tire pressure at 50 or so. Due to this, it makes all the cars feel like they are boats. With this floppy set up it makes the car very unstable and uncontrollable in a corner or a slide. To fix this problem one must tune the tire pressure down to around 30 and purchase a suspension that can adjust spring stiffness and adjust it to at least 3 for normal cars and higher for race cars. Every car has to be fixed in this way, which can be annoying to some. After they are fixed you will find that Shift 2 has extremely good physics and car dynamics.
    There are many internal settings for the wheel that can be adjusted, this makes Shift 2 more dynamic and customizable if you know how to adjust these settings properly. I found that the easiest way to adjust the wheel is to set it up so that it drives and turns properly with a normal car, which will have the highest degree of turn. After that, one must go to tune setup for every car to adjust the steering sensitivity for that particular car. The higher one tunes the sensitivity on a car, the less one has to turn the wheel to make that particular car turn. By doing this one can adjust race cars to turn with less degree of movement in the wheel than normal cars, without having to readjust the wheel every time you change cars.
    In conclusion there is a very good game hiding inside Shift 2 but it takes some adjustments and digging to find. If you have to patience to work out the problems then it is a fun and solid racing game.    … Expand
  4. The_Pun_One
    Apr 7, 2011
    10
    There is no such thing as too many race games. NFS SHIFT 2 is on the top of my shelf right now. It follows in the line of Pro Street ( I know it was buggy but I loved it ) and of course the first SHIFT. It's a great sim/arcade mix and has enough car customizing to keep me happy between races. I actually like that I cannot win the race the first time out every time. The AI and damageThere is no such thing as too many race games. NFS SHIFT 2 is on the top of my shelf right now. It follows in the line of Pro Street ( I know it was buggy but I loved it ) and of course the first SHIFT. It's a great sim/arcade mix and has enough car customizing to keep me happy between races. I actually like that I cannot win the race the first time out every time. The AI and damage is more fun then GT5. 10 baby ... 10!!… Expand
  5. MaverickSWAT
    May 18, 2011
    8
    Shift 2 is a huge step from from the first game, but not quiet as sim as it could be. With that said, I have way more fun playing Shift than I have playing GT5 or Forza 3. The track list is simply the best out of all the console racers out on current gen systems today. The ability to works upgrade any car is a huge upgrade over the first game. It has the best damage model when compared toShift 2 is a huge step from from the first game, but not quiet as sim as it could be. With that said, I have way more fun playing Shift than I have playing GT5 or Forza 3. The track list is simply the best out of all the console racers out on current gen systems today. The ability to works upgrade any car is a huge upgrade over the first game. It has the best damage model when compared to GT5 and Forza 3. The few faults have to do with the physics. The cars still seem a bit floaty compared to GT and FM, but nothing like the first game. The learning curve can be a bit steep for new players, even with all the assists and on the easy difficulty. It's a step in the right direction, but I feel that it could have done better and blown any other racing game out of the water.… Expand
  6. PatBenedict
    Apr 3, 2011
    8
    Another reviewer mentions `There is nothing here that warrants a purchase if you already own Forza3 or GT5. '. In case you have GT5 (no forza of course on the ps3) and are wondering if there is indeed anything that this game has going for it that GT5 doesn't, the following come to mind:

    1)* User interface is far superior to to GT5, not mired in unnecessary `Ok' prompts and loading between    Another reviewer mentions `There is nothing here that warrants a purchase if you already own Forza3 or GT5. '. In case you have GT5 (no forza of course on the ps3) and are wondering if there is indeed anything that this game has going for it that GT5 doesn't, the following come to mind:

    1)* User interface is far superior to to GT5, not mired in unnecessary `Ok' prompts and loading between screens. Anyone who has played GT5 for a while knows how irritating the process of upgrading a car can be. Not so here- upgrades can be done (and undone) extremely quickly.
    2)* Most (all?) cars can be race modified.
    3)* More customization of the appearance of cars, and no bizarre `you can use this colour of paint only once' nonsense.
    4)* Superior track selection. There're a *lot* of courses here.
    5)* The autolog feature is clearly very different to anything on offer with GT5.
    6)* More consistent graphics. GT5 of course has incredible graphics at times (especially the premium cars), but also many puzzling low points- things like jagged shadows, aliasing problems screen tearing, several tracks that look like ps2 hd and so on. For me the most serious disadvantage of these graphical problems issues is that they can distract the player, and undermine the sense of immersion. I've been pleasantly surprised on many occasions by Shift 2. It may not be the strongest game graphically on the ps3 but the developers seem to have a lot of skill in creating that feeling that you're really there, at these locations.
    For instance you can almost feel the dry air and heat of Dubai, huge skyscrapers hazy against the horizon; palm trees against a beautiful sunset at the Dakota Raceway. Very nice!
    7)* Effective cosmetic/physical damage model - there's really no comparison here to GT5. As far as gripes go, the handling for some of the cars seems to be very twitchy (for those with GT5, think the Lotus in the Top Gear challenge), perhaps in general the driving experience is not as strong as GT5 but I've found it to be perfectly enjoyable with quite a few cars.

    In summary then, Shift 2 offers quite a few things for Ps3 users that GT5 does not, and I recommend it as an enjoyable, *immersive* experience!    … Expand
  7. dmonee
    Mar 29, 2011
    10
    This is why i'm sick of these aggregate sites. First and foremost, is the numerical score associated with a game. Then there is the reason behind the score. Why dock a point from Shift 2's score because it's not GT5 or Forza? Because it's violent and nerveracking, and not what real racing enthusiasts will enjoy. Really? I'm a racing fan and think this game is the best mix of sim and arcadeThis is why i'm sick of these aggregate sites. First and foremost, is the numerical score associated with a game. Then there is the reason behind the score. Why dock a point from Shift 2's score because it's not GT5 or Forza? Because it's violent and nerveracking, and not what real racing enthusiasts will enjoy. Really? I'm a racing fan and think this game is the best mix of sim and arcade racing EVER! It takes all the boring **** from Forza and GT5 and throws it away. Then they add a ferocity and an edge, let's not forget the best **** view in a racing game, and one that will be copied by everybody from here on out. Things thatve never been done before, BUT! gotta knock it! Gotta control the situation and make buyers balk. This game may not look like GT5 and Forza, but it's close. It's got 3rd party graphics. But, Gameplay! EWWW weeeee! Most fun i've ever had with a racing game. Customization, paint, drifting, etc....It's all here, oh yeah, awsome crashes, nighttime races on any track. You will see why graphical compromises we're made. Just a real fun, exhilerating experience. Go racers GO!!!!!… Expand
  8. Giggidy78
    Apr 14, 2011
    10
    Personally, being a racing fan and loving any games of this sort I've only noticed two major problems with shift 2. One being the ridiculous AI. The competition feels more like the movie "deathrace" than anything else. As soon as you turn into a corner you have some kamikaze psycho slamming your car off the road. Besides that.....trading paint is near impossible. You so much as brush upPersonally, being a racing fan and loving any games of this sort I've only noticed two major problems with shift 2. One being the ridiculous AI. The competition feels more like the movie "deathrace" than anything else. As soon as you turn into a corner you have some kamikaze psycho slamming your car off the road. Besides that.....trading paint is near impossible. You so much as brush up against any car at any speed and your car flies off the road like you were picked up like a tornado and the AI car drives away like nothing happened. The steering seems a bit clumsy also. Ya spend more time correcting the oversteer than anything else. It's way too sensitive. Other than that the game would be fantastic. The helmet cam option is awesome(can't wait to try to drift in that mode....hope it doesn't give you that lost feeling like in shift 1). Well I too hope they correct these issues. They seem like they're heading in the right direction but this needs a bit of tweaking. So If you guys are listening WE NEED A PATCH!… Expand
  9. glenrivman
    Apr 25, 2011
    9
    Now this is how it's done ,Gran Turismo can learn alot from this game,O.k initially the handling was too sensitive ,so it needed to be tweaked,once i got the handling sensitivity sorted i was hooked,This is what gaming is all about , youv'e got great graphix , a.i is agressive maybe too agressive at times , sense of speed is awesome, overall presentation is really good,some might think aNow this is how it's done ,Gran Turismo can learn alot from this game,O.k initially the handling was too sensitive ,so it needed to be tweaked,once i got the handling sensitivity sorted i was hooked,This is what gaming is all about , youv'e got great graphix , a.i is agressive maybe too agressive at times , sense of speed is awesome, overall presentation is really good,some might think a tad cheesy , but for me it adds to the overall xperience ,love this game one of the best racing xperiences around at present.So bring on SHIFT 3 for PS4????… Expand
  10. Seano
    Apr 5, 2011
    9
    Don't believe all the negative comments. I am a complete racing game fan and have completed all the major titles. Pgr4, Gran turimo 5, grid. dirt 2. forza 3 etc. Does shift 2 stand up to the others. Yes it does. In fact some aspects are way superior to the others. In shift 2 it feels as if you are actually moving at high speed, something gran turismo and forza failed to do. When drivingDon't believe all the negative comments. I am a complete racing game fan and have completed all the major titles. Pgr4, Gran turimo 5, grid. dirt 2. forza 3 etc. Does shift 2 stand up to the others. Yes it does. In fact some aspects are way superior to the others. In shift 2 it feels as if you are actually moving at high speed, something gran turismo and forza failed to do. When driving career mode the A1 drivers actually have a mind of their own and avoid crashing into your car. They are constantly looking for opportunities to overtake without knocking you off the track. This is something that no other racer has managed. Graphics are good but not the best. I suppose you can't win e'm all. Highly recommended.… Expand
  11. SzpaneRR
    Apr 2, 2011
    8
    I thing this game is really awesome. I was play in Forza 3, GT 5, but there we have something alternative to boring races. I know, someone don't like Shift 2 cuz it's the driver sim, not car.
  12. mathew071294
    May 5, 2011
    9
    shift 2 is a very good racing game clean graphics very smart AI they react to your presence on the race track it is the most realistic racing game in history the all new helmet game is awesome your drivers head turns to go around the corner fantastic display of speed very good engine sounds this game was made for 7.1 surround sound Gran Turismo 5 your time is up plus it has the awesome auto log
  13. Gamer44
    May 26, 2011
    10
    this game is awesome the driving is awesome the cars awesome the graphics awesome on of the best racing games ever everything about this game is awesome this is one game were I found no cracks or let downs overall:AWESOME AWESOME
  14. onewarmslime
    Feb 24, 2015
    8
    I don't get why people b!tch about this game so much. Yes, the handling isn't great (it's hard to drive the faster cars even on a straight line) and they've probably done this to make it more exciting but honestly I don't mind that much. Just set the difficulty to easy and the handling mode to "normal" and you're set. If you have a steering wheel you can probably play the game just fineI don't get why people b!tch about this game so much. Yes, the handling isn't great (it's hard to drive the faster cars even on a straight line) and they've probably done this to make it more exciting but honestly I don't mind that much. Just set the difficulty to easy and the handling mode to "normal" and you're set. If you have a steering wheel you can probably play the game just fine even on the default settings. The graphics are unreal, there's a ton of cars and almost all of them sound super-realistic, and there's a ton of events too (too bud there's no soundtrack). So all in all this isn't as good as Hot Pursuit but it's not nearly as bad as the reviews make it to be.… Expand
  15. venneer
    Oct 17, 2011
    8
    The game is fantastic once you LEARN IT. The controls are very touchy but they work flawlessly if you take interest in learning them. The AI is very aggressive, which I love. The races are exciting and you feel like you EARNED every win you get. The "Helmet Camera" view is wonderful and makes for very engrossing driving. Sound is also amazing, they made everything very loud and visceral.The game is fantastic once you LEARN IT. The controls are very touchy but they work flawlessly if you take interest in learning them. The AI is very aggressive, which I love. The races are exciting and you feel like you EARNED every win you get. The "Helmet Camera" view is wonderful and makes for very engrossing driving. Sound is also amazing, they made everything very loud and visceral. What I also liked is the fact that the game "cares" if you are driving right or wrong. I played GT5 recently and I could cut any corner however I wanted, do whatever and the game wouldn't penalize me. Shift 2 throws bonus to players that master a track, the corners and drive skillfully, as well as has some pretty strict rules about trying to cheat your way throw. Drift is completely broken though. And the music is just god awful, better shut down entirely.Overall, it might not be an accurate simulation, but it is one hell of a FUN game to play once you get the hang of it… Expand
  16. Pelusa
    Nov 6, 2013
    10
    First of All, I have played GT5, F2010, F2012, F2013. and they don't give a smile after you played, but SHIFT 2 does. This is best semi-simulation racing game, where I got the chance to have fun. I enjoyed the attention to detail to delivery the best racing gameplay experience ever. Slightly Mad Studios did a great job by offering the fantastic feeling of simulation, when I accelerated,First of All, I have played GT5, F2010, F2012, F2013. and they don't give a smile after you played, but SHIFT 2 does. This is best semi-simulation racing game, where I got the chance to have fun. I enjoyed the attention to detail to delivery the best racing gameplay experience ever. Slightly Mad Studios did a great job by offering the fantastic feeling of simulation, when I accelerated, chanced gear, touched track kerbs, braked, went off track. I personally like aggressive AI because It made difficult to pass or keep the position. Engine sound are the best, sound track selection is not my preferred, but it is OK. Online Multiplayer needs to be improve with a racing lobby.… Expand
  17. Jonzz0000
    Dec 9, 2014
    10
    Very good racing SIMULATOR.
    Traction, braking, weight distribution.. Gravity.. everything but pit stops and gas.
    GT5 is far too too much like a Dealership Magazine than an actual racing simulator. This game is for the people who enjoy the actual Racing aspect.. and not the Racing 'experience'. (Pit Stop, Tire wear, fueling etc). There are some issues.. Animation delay. The car    Very good racing SIMULATOR.
    Traction, braking, weight distribution.. Gravity.. everything but pit stops and gas.

    GT5 is far too too much like a Dealership Magazine than an actual racing simulator.
    This game is for the people who enjoy the actual Racing aspect.. and not the Racing 'experience'. (Pit Stop, Tire wear, fueling etc).

    There are some issues.. Animation delay. The car reacts instantaneously but the steering wheel animation seems to have some delay.
    As well the A.I (even though they have been improved since SHIFT 1) are crazy.. but I drive like a crazy person in the game.. so it is like having a bunch of me's!

    10/10 due to the availability of an actual racing Simulator for PlayStation 3 being almost nonexistent.
    (F1 2012 is second best... pit stops, tire wear etc.. but not as much fun as this game)    … Expand
  18. Anthonylu123
    Aug 23, 2016
    10
    Shift 2 unleashed is the best Slightly Mad Studios racing game ever! Even better than the first Need For Speed Shift game from 2009. I can create my own custom liveries for my own race cars. Across a wide variety of career events for the big win too. I wish more players can challenge me as one of the LEGENDARY players in this game.
  19. Ardho
    Aug 28, 2021
    9
    I really like the gameplay, not too simulating, but also not arcade, my favorite circuit car racing game

Awards & Rankings

50
#50 Best PS3 Game of 2011
48
#48 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 52 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 52
  3. Negative: 0 out of 52
  1. Console Monster
    Jun 9, 2011
    85
    Overall Shift 2 is an excellent racing game that really tries to throw you behind the wheel of a professional driver. With great graphics minus a few debris issues and impressive car mechanics, Shift 2 will challenge the best of drivers during the single player campaign and online. Fans of Forza Motorsport 2 and Gran Turismo 5, or just racing games in general, should definitely think about getting Shift 2 to keep you busy.
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  2. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    May 27, 2011
    90
    It's official: Gran Turismo 5 is on notice. Like V8 Supercars 3 [Pro Race Driver 3] wooed us from GT4 back in the halcyon days of PS2, SHIFT 2 Unleashed is currently busy courting us with its incredible sense of speed, well-rounded garage, long list of tracks and impressive attention to detail... Forget what you think you know about where Need for Speed games stand in the racing sim landscape because the crew at Slightly Mad Studios has just taken a bulldozer to it. [May 2011 p.72]
  3. Videogameszone.de
    May 24, 2011
    87
    Shift 2 Unleashed is a wonderful racing game. Only the agressive AI and the sensitive drifts are a little annoying.
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