PC Gaming News - NFS SHIFT Dated, more
More Mass Effect 2 Details
This listing over on Amazon.com clearly shows a list of features highlighting the upcoming sequel, although the list doesn't really get too detailed. Have a look:
• The second act of BioWare's epic sci-fi trilogy continues the story of Commander Shepard and humanity's first steps onto the galactic stage
• Success--or failure--depends heavily on the crew you assemble and their loyalty to you and the mission
• Stunning graphics and a refined dialog system will draw you into the story like never before
• Numerous improvements to the intense, third-person shooter combat
• Deep character customization options let you create your own vision of Commander Shepard
Need for Speed SHIFT in September
Electronic Arts finally set a date for Need for Speed SHIFT, releasing the game for the PC (and PS3, X360, PSP) on September 22 in North America, and September 17 in Europe. Currently in development by Slightly Mad Studios in collaboration with Black Box and Patrick Soderlund, the game features the largest roster of high-performance cars ever in the series including the Pagani Zonda F, Porsche 911 GT2 and Lotus Elise. Here more: "Players are thrust into the loud, intense, and athletic experience of racing a car from the driver's perspective through the combination of perception based G-forces, the hyper reality of the cockpit view, and the all-new brutally disorienting crash dynamic. Need for SpeedSHIFT features an accurate, accessible physics-based driving model that allows you to feel every impact, every change of track surface and every last bit of grip as you push yourself to the edge."
Massive Ubisoft Sale on Steam
Valve Software reports that every day this week will feature a select Ubisoft title, available for a special price. The first Ubisoft game to receive a price slashing is Assassin's Creed, offered at 50 percent off its regular price for an entire 24 hours. Check Steamgames.com throughout the week for savings on additional Ubisoft titles.
Hearts of Iron 3 Goes Beta
Paradox Interactive said that it has closed the beta test recruiting process for the upcoming World War II strategy game, Hearts of Iron III. “We at Paradox were stunned by the response we got for the Beta testing, with over 10,000 people registering an interest in contributing. It made it one of the hardest selection process for Betas we have ever had, as there were just so many well qualified candidates to chose from," said Johan Andersson, Lead Developer on Hearts of Iron III. Hearts of Iron II is expected to ship later this year, however fans can head over to YouTube (link) can check out a presentation held earlier this year in Stockholm.
Death of Spies: Moment of Truth Announced
1C Company is currently working on a sequel to its popular stealth-action title, Death to Spies. Slated for a Q3 2009 release, Death of Spies: Moment of Truth sees the return of Semion Strogov, Captain of the 4th department of the Soviet counterintelligence service called SMERSH as he experiences "even more complicated and exciting military operations." By order of his supreme commander, Strogov must capture spies, saboteurs and gather information about their actions using unique technologies and devices.
A Vampire Story 2 Announced
Autumn Moon Entertainment officially announced the A Vampire Story 2: A Bat's Tale website, thus revealing the actual game in the process. The point-and-click adventure sequel follows the comic adventures of Mona de Laffite, French opera starlet-turned-vampire, and her wisecracking bat, Froderick. "The game will feature over twenty-five 3D characters, over forty hand-painted locations, fifteen hours of game play, and will include dialogue written by two ex-LucasArts game designers, Larry Ahren and Jesse Clark. Their experience from working on so many LucasArts classics such as Sam and Max: Hit the Road , Monkey Island 2 , Full Throttle , and Curse of Monkey Island will be a welcome addition to the already experienced Autumn Moon team."
More to come!
EA should remove the 'F' from SHIFT, it would be an accurate description.
Wish they sold big titles for that cheap more often.
Course, the other problem is, it's Steam.
But not too over the top arcade. Burnout is the choice for fiery explosions, split second decisions, and wacky courses.
Wow, how can you not like Steam?
Are you serious? I stopped at carbon. That game was so cartoony and retarded, they took out seperate customization! i.e front bumper,rear bumper, mirror, roof scoop. Thats what made me love NFS! But now its "body kits!"
I remember that when I bought underground 2 I thought 'oh, same game again, just with a map', and when I bought carbon I realized, oh nothing's changed at all. Sad.
I hold no grudge against EA, unlike many, but I don't like it when they keep releasing games that aren't really new games. Hot pursuit was 'new' as it hadn't been seen before. Porche was new, and the best nfs ever. Underground was differently new. Prostreet was new too, but only because it was so exceptionally bad. imo it's time they make a realistic driving game, or another one line porche, or one with damage effects, not just damage visuals. Or perhaps it'd be enough to just make a simple need for speed game where they'd use the autosculpt feature to play with downforce, grip, weight etc. I always found it odd that adding all those skirts and spoilers didn't affect anything. In reallife I know that my alfa 156 used more fuel after adding all the styling stuff, and I felt a difference in speedy corners. With physics engines available, there's no reason not to add real physics to some extend. They could just 'precalc' the drag and downforce when you do the sculpt, and use it as static data in the actual gameplay.
I liked the addition of styling, but in general I find the games prior to that better. imo nfs5 (porche) was the best game. It featured used cars, new cars, career, challenges and all the online stuff the others did too. And it featured handling impacting damage. Anyway. nfs6 was the last nfs game where I felt handling was reasonable. Now it's a bit like burnout - just hit the handbreak, and the car will take the corner for you. Even doing wheelspin when doing so .... also in a rwd car
LOL. So true.
* hot pursuit
* porsche
* hot pursuit 2
* underground
* underground 2
* most wanted
* carbon
* pro street
* undercover
and very likely this new when it comes out.
does that make me a fan?? hehe
You might've missed the most remarkable experience in need for speed then!
After nfs2 was released, they released a new version nfs2se - which supported 3dfx. That switch to 3d hardware might've been the best thing they ever put in the game! ofc that's normal now, but back then I remember I was amazed by those bees being stuck on the 'screen' when driving your mclaren f1 in the outback or whatever the track was called.
Also I believe only the first 3 nfs games had hidden levels. Kinda missing from the later versions. All they have are promotional skins that nobody truely want anyway.
Having played NFS, NFS II, Hot Pursuit, Highstakes, Porsche Unleashed, Hot Pursuit 2, Underground, Underground 2, MostWanted, and Carbon I still find the original games to be the most fun. While I did enjoy most of these other games the all night tracks in the Undergrounds drove me crazy and Carbon was just a cheap and ripoff of MostWanted.
Most Wanted was actually more enjoyable then the Undergrounds as they had the cop chases back as well as a bunch of other game modes that were pretty fun.
I didn't even bother playing the games after Carbon as I heard they were all not very good.
I also enjoy Forza and Forza 2 on the Xbox and am looking forward to a similar type game on the PC that is more simulation but still lets you modify your cars.
I really home Shift is close to Forza or the GT series which I also liked when I had a PS2.
Yes, they really disappointed me, so far ive been playing Forza2 and loving not going back to the current NFS titles.
I'm not entirely hating the NFS titles. I like a little arcade style racing now and then, but a true racing simulation is hard to beat. NFSMostWanted was a very fun game I thought. Carbon was very dark and wasn't fun to play. I gave it another chance and went with Pro Street and learned my lesson well. I will go back and play NFSMW occasionally, but Carbon and Pro Street can collect all the dust they deserve!
At least the store let me return my underground 2 game back then (replaced with max payne 2 which wasn't as disappointing) ... but I can't return games now that I'm using play.com
Yup, i stopped at carbon,tried out pro street, then bought forza2, defenitly MW and Underground are good games, but the latter are horrible.
Anyone play R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 for the PS1? Great maps, simple racing, and a fun soundtrack. I still break it out on my PS2 from time to time.