There are two types of racing gamers out there. The first simply likes to go fast in a flash car, and this type of gamer is well catered for with a large number of arcade racers released every year. The second is the Sim racer, the type of gamer that could spend hours re-adjusting the gear ratios on their Aston Martin DB9 to improve their time on the Nurburgring by 0.01 of a second. Shift 2 is aimed squarely at these dedicated folk.

Shift 2 starts with a bang, literally. A very impressive (and very loud) cutscene is presented as you load the game for the first time and it is this cutscene (which details a spectacular crash) that serves the basis for the main menu for the game. The presentation here is all very slick and polished showing that a lot of love has gone into making this look great.  As you select items from the menu the view rotates around the car giving you a nice 360 degree effect, detailing the car that is the focus of the menu.

From here it is a short jump to the career mode. This is where you are presented with one of the most grating aspects of the game, the FMV tutorials. These videos are all force fed to you with some of the most “extreme” American language I have seen since Dirt 2. The presenter (American racer Vaughn Gittin Jnr) wears thin very quickly and after you hear him sprout the same advice for the 100^th time, gouging your ear drums out may seem like a pleasant alternative.

Thankfully once the racing starts, the game comes into its own. The main highlight here is helmet cam. This feature is amazing for both its realism and the fact that no one else has done it until now. To race in this mode you must be prepared to look to the left and right as you turn, use your rear view mirrors and adjust your line of sight as your car goes up or down a hill. Basically it mimics the viewpoint of a real racing driver better than any game I have seen. This of course makes the game much more difficult to play and in a game that already punishes you for the slightest mistake it means that only the truly dedicated (or mad) racing fan is likely to use this perspective.

The driving at first takes a lot to get used to. The cars can feel like they have no weight and tend to slide around the track a lot. Don’t hesitate to search online for a solution, as a few of the aforementioned racing nuts have provided a brief tutorial on how a car newbie should tune the steering settings to make the game more enjoyable. Once you have your car set up properly, the difference in the game will be immediate. Cars will have weight, corners can be approached correctly and lap times that were originally out of your each will be suddenly achievable. However all the tuning in the world won’t necessarily help with drifting.

One of the big PR points that has been pushed with the game is drift racing. This is the single most frustrating part of this game. The mechanics of drifting require high powered RWD drive cars that have enough trouble going in a straight line let alone sliding around corners with precision and speed. The slightest steering error here sees your car spin out of control and one spin means that you have no chance of winning the race. The PS3 controller just doesn’t seem precise enough to control these beasts and you tend to spend more time spinning in gravel than drifting round corners. With a more precise controller such as a steering wheel the experience may be better but as it is, drifting is simply a recipe for anger.

The rest of the racing modes are quite well put together. There are various different classes of events based on the type of car you need. Everything from racing in a 1984 Toyota Corolla in the classic Japan cup to a fully worked Bugatti Veyron in the G1 championship. The trick to winning in these events is your ability to upgrade and tune your car. You’re given a detailed explanation of what each part does and what it will improve, allowing even a tuning virgin to quickly grasp what needs to be added or adjusted to improve times. When you take a standard show room car and turn it into a genuine racing monster, it gives you a real feeling of satisfaction.

Multiplayer is another highlight of the game. Online racing is both fun and rewarding with the Autolog system (as seen in the recent Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit) once again making an appearance. This system allows you to compete with your friend’s times and adds extra meaning to every race you compete in. The actual online racing is quite smooth as well. Along with the standard single race options there is a Driver Duel Championship mode which is basically a 1v1 knockout tournament. If you win five races in a row against one other randomly selected driver you win the championship, with any losses meaning you’ll have to start again. It is a nice system that suits the style of racing Shift 2 offers well.

With a strong career mode, excellent presentation, detailed tuning options and entertaining online mode Shift 2 should be well placed to sit atop of the racing Sim leaderboards. Unfortunately it is let down by some control problems, crushing difficulty and a few underdeveloped modes, meaning Shift 2 is still not the complete package that its rivals offer. Hardcore racing fans will find a lot to love here (especially the helmet cam) but for everyone else, Forza and GT offer more bang for your racing sim buck.