High Octane, But Unsatisfying
583241
The latest movie from Sly takes us in the direction that we are all supposed to believe that he is a F1 racer. Now a washup (what a cliche) he is called upon to assist a new racer in winning the championship. The whole problem is that Sly is too defiant to follow the rules.
The movie is directed by Renny Harlin, a man famous for blowing things up. This film affords him the opportunity of crashing numerous cars. Something that he makes full use of. This movie is supposed to be a twisted romance movie, with the occasional race thrown into keep the whitetrash at bay. The fact is that the racing action is all that any of the audience will care about, so why bother with a romantic theme.
This is a movie that does not need to have any sort of plot, but the film maker tries to make you care about every race, and every character. The real fact is that by the time of the big final race, you just do not care who wins, since you do not feel an honest connection to any of these characters. All this audience wants from these people are for them to get in their cars and drive around in a circle really fast, and to see them crash.
This film had a lot of potential, it does have a rotten washed up actor, but the director can do much better. It may be the fact that Sly wrote the screenplay, but the movie just feels disconnected in some way. There should be more to it (not much more, it is about racing, but something, anything) and when nothing is put in place, this movie starts to fall apart on itself.
4050266
With the populararity of the Grand Turismo and other racing simulators at an all-time high, it was only a matter of time  before motorcyles got the treatment as well. In fact the fans have been clamoring for some kind of satisfaction regardless of incarnation. The result of such a demand is Riding Spirits. And while some of you may not notice  its incredible resmblance  to a certain award-winning franchise, it's quality of gameplay doesn't quite stack up. Graphically inferior  to glitzy modernday racers, and no where near as fast as it should be, RS can't be compared to it's counterparts. Despite it's detailed apperance though, its hefty number of cycles, tracks, options, and features are sure to appeal to some. A more than acceptable finished product to be sure it could have been a lot better.
1807833
I'm more of a fan of games like Forza,  so I get limited enjoyment out of this.  The graphics are great.  It's fun for a while but the traffic pulling out in front of you at key points during races gets enraging when you're used to more standard race simulation.
2578377
Im being honest here, i don't understand how this game got good reviews here ... I didn't like this game as much as I thought I would.
The value of the Cons outweigh the value of the Pros tremendously.
The Pros that were enjoyable were the awesome graphics, the system of advancement is mature and the ability to race with your own music.
The problem is the major cons. While there are stylish things in the game, the GAMEPLAY (TOTALLY) [is bad]. It feels like I'm driving a turtle, The cars don't go fast at all. I thought something must be wrong as I couldn't believe how slow the cars go at top speed. It's so slow it's almost silly.
and I agree about the controlling the cars as some others said, its a nuisance. I mean it shouldnt be so ridiculous. I just want to race, go fast and have fun. If you played Splashdown (awesome gameplay) you will know what I mean.
The cars don't race smoothly and it isn't practical for a game. For example, you cant turn with even medium speed. You have to let go of the gas way ahead and brake completely (almost coming to a full stop) when turning.
The bottom line is that yes there are cool things about the game but nothing is more important than the gameplay and it totally [bad]. As a note, I rented this game and i certainly wouldn't buy it.
If you want to know what i mean by awesome gameplay for racing see "Splashdown". The engineers did an awesome job, somehow they've combined difficulty with fun and awesome speed. I completed the career and have played it so many times and I can play it all day because the racing itself is just pure fun. That's how a race game should be unlike Project Gotham.
I would've gave the game a 1 but I gave it a 2 only for cool graphics, and music support.
2994389
Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad game. Just seems to be one of those EA Sports games that (lately) seem to have become solid performers, but are not ahead of the curve anymore.
The main problem with this game is its attention to details (or lack thereof). I generally like my racing games as realistic as possible. So I enjoy racing with the FIA rules turned on, and the lick. Unfortunately, in this game, this simply is a pain. Example: You collide with one of your oponents, pushing him of his ideal line (so he at least touches the grass). This means that immediately, yellow flags are shown. That's fine with me, except that that there is a chance to now be ahead of the car you collided with (particularily if the collision was bad enough to cause the other car to stop) and that's passing under yellow, which gets you a 10 second stop-and-go penalty. Huh?!? Am I supposed to stop behind that other car?!?
Another problem is the pit-crew. Let's say you planned your pit stop just a bit past halfway. It then begins to rain just short of that (which, BTW, it does way to often... several times during every race if whether is turned on, what's up with that?!?), so you have to enter the pits to get new tires. While you are at it, you can also indicate that you want to make the remainder of the race your last stint. But for some reason, the pit-crew forgets to give you enough fuel, so you run out on the last lap. Makes you wonder why you told them you didn't intend to stop again...
The pit-crew instructions also are bad. Example: They tell you to come into the pits at the very last lap. Duh! Or let's say you are just shy of being lapped when someone else wins the race. Of course, this puts the winner right behind you. In that case the pit crew will radio you that Xxx is pushing hard and is coming up along side while he is maintaining position. Hu? I thought he already won?!?
Graphics would have been considered cool a little while back, but the xbox can certainly do much better. C'mon EA, go the extra mile and fix these things! A little more attention to detail, a little better AI and a smarter pit crew, and this would be an awesome game!
3022716
This is my own fault for getting such high hopes for this game.  I was hoping for a more realistic racing experience, which you just don't seem to get in NFS games.  The game turned out how it was drawn up, so I cant rate it poorly, because it doesnt suit me, that wouldnt be fair.  The online mode is ok.  Hoping for more realistic play.  Damage that actually effects the car, more realistic crashing.  A 200+mph crash may slow you down 1-2 seconds!?  Great car graphics/details, but it just gets boring after an hour.
3268513
Once you realize you have to pump the trigger to keep the car moving at a pace that won't keep throwing it off the track it's just okay. The speed is way too fast otherwise. Not as much fun as just letting it go normally.
4532113
I purchased this unit for my 2007 Chevy Avalanche hoping to get better performance, crisper shifting, and maybe even a little better fuel mileage. It was easy to update and install, and I really loved the custom display that helped to monitor my vehicle functions. First HUGE dissappointment was setting it on the #2 economy setting. My truck knocked terribly on regular unleaded gas, which was not supposed to happen on the economy mode. I had to run premium in my truck even to use mode #2. It did run somewhat better but the gains were just modest, at best. I tried all the higher performance modes and really couldn't tell a big difference. Even the shift improvements were only modest.
 Bottom line: For the fairly high price tag on this programmer, I expected to have a huge change in the way my truck ran, but that didn't happen. And btw, the dash pod that is included with the programmer WILL NOT fit an Avalanche. You have to contact the company and request they send you the pod to fit the Avy, which will be the same as a Surburban, Tahoe, etc. The Chevy pickup dash is configured differently...
1064232
I really enjoyed NFS Underground when it first came out. It had loads of customization, a great soundtrack, fun levels, and a great variety of cars and upgrades. Of course, when this game first came out, I was extremely excited. The ads were very interesting, and the idea of the open-world was cool. Unfortunately, when I played this game for a few days worth of time, I felt disappointed and there were a few glaring problems for me: Awful dialogue, the cars sometimes feel as if you're driving on ice, the god-awful comic book-esque cutscenes, and a (mostly) bland soundtrack. However, I liked the (albeit very few) new cars, the drift mode in this game with the opponent cars drifting with you, the beautiful visuals, and the short load times. As a standalone game, it's not that bad or anything, but as a sequel to one of my all-time favorite racing games (next to GT3 and ATV2), it felt as if EA took two steps forward and three steps back.
3931860
I love the Need For Speed genre....but, I am not impressed with this game. I do/did enjoy the storyline, but, the races are pretty much fixed. I hated the fact that in order to win certain races, you have to change the car class (or you are serverely handicapped).  Now, I am a bit whiny about this, because where you expect not to need a car class change, you do, and it isn't apparent and certainly, not obvious, until you lose the race(without cheating) that you are so commandingly leading.  Then, you can only change during the race... seriously, come on.  Not the greatest NFS game, but it is better than Carbon and Street Pro.  Get it as cheap as you can.
1041904
#1the graphics are superb, #2 the realism of the tracks are realistic,#3 the cars are beautifully renderd. I am sorry, but I must give this sim 2 drawbacks, #1 need to improve the al driving ability, #2 need to improve the steering ability of the players' car, for example I personnaly use a microsoft sidewinder precision 2 force feedback joystick, but in this particular sim, I have a lot of trouble handling my car, trust me, correct these problems, and you will have a top notch race sim,probably one of the two best sims, the other being Viper racing.
3905570
Eh. PS4 hasn't offered us much as far as driving games go. This is certainly a video game version of real driving. The "story" is terrible. I don't think they even tried. But for driving fast in cool cars this is about as good as it gets on PS4. That's not saying much. They have a long way to go, IMO.
241573
I am a great fan of Cake, and quite honestly, the new record has some wonderful moments.  Why only three stars?  Because it should have been better.  At less than 37 minutes (10 full songs and a teaser), I didn't feel I got my full money's worth (where's Napster when you need it?).  McCrea decided to lay off on the trumpet on most songs in favor of synthesizer. That quenched some of the Cake-ness.  In other places they lost their ecclectic-country feel in favor of heaviliy produced electronica.  A couple of songs ("Shadow.., "Commissioning..) sounded strangely like the dissapointing lack-luster release by ex-bandmates Deathray.  I get the feeling that McCrea was holding back - like the too short teaser "Arco Arena". There are some excellent pieces here however, and fellow Cake fans should like it.  The production and mixing (debut credits for McCrea) was nice and clean.  They did a Great car stereo mix!  I was just expecting a little more and some growth from the previous releases.
631590
I've been playing versions of Gran Turismo since the 1990's.  It really is a franchise that started a new genre or realistic racing games.  Unfortunately, this version has been way over-hyped.

Before writing this review, I sat down and played Burnout Paradise, Need for Speed Shift, and Gran Turismo 5 back-to-back.  I've played Blur, but I didn't play it before this review (it's an awful lot like Burnout Paradise with weapons and power-ups in my opinion).

If you are looking for an arcade game that you can pick up and immediately have tons of fun, Burnout is still your best bet.  If you are looking for an arcade game that your friends can play without a week-long learning curve, Burnout is still your best bet.  If you are looking for a game with crazy speed and forgiving physics, Burnout is also still the best.  I've spent more time falling off the couch laughing at wild wrecks and near misses during Burnout than all other games combined.  It's crazy.

When you want to take things up a notch and get more realistic, Need for Speed Shift and Gran Turismo 5 fit the bill.  To tell the truth, I don't like games that take hours of play to unlock basic features/cars/maps.  But you have to do that for both of these games.  On the bright side, you can make incremental improvements to the car and install add-ons.

For all the hype and promises, I think Gran Turismo 5 fails in the graphics department.  Yes, the physics are good.  Yes, the car selection is amazing.  Yes, it's a great driving simulator.  But Need for Speed Shift still has much better graphics.  The graphics in Gran Turismo 5 are too crisp and metallic (even the trees and people).  Need for Speed Shift uses aliasing that is much more realistic.  The sense of speed is also far more realistic.  In fact, my knuckles are still white and my palms sweaty from running around the track at 100mph in a 1960's Shelby a few minutes ago.  By contrast, I find myself yawning when I race in Gran Turismo.  It feels very fake.

One other thing: If your new to Gran Turismo 5, be aware that-- even though the number of cars is large-- you won't want to race 75% of the cars.  No offense to the owners of these type of cars, but who wants to go on a world-class track and race a 1990's Mazda Miata with a faded soft top, a 1980's Nissan four-door sedan with 100,000 miles, or a 50hp European commuter that no one has heard of?  These cars make up the bulk of the car list and only after hours and hours of racing can you unlock cool cars like Ferraris or Lamborghinis.

Burnout is one-third the cost of Gran Turismo 5 as of today's date.  Need for Speed Shift is less than half the cost of Gran Turismo 5 as of today's date.  If they were all the same price, I'd be more kind in my review of Gran Turismo 5.  But even if price was not an issue, Need For Speed Shift is a better driving simulator than GT5, and Burnout is more fun than GT5.

Sorry.  I wanted to love this game, but for me it's just "Meh."  Now I'm going to play some more Need for Speed Shift.
772959
I want to love this set but I just 'like' it. The look of the ambulance is kind of boring. Unlike many of the other LEGO city vehicles that come out nowadays, the ambulance seems rather boxy rather that smooth and modern like other vehicles. I also thought they could have used a bit more red for the colors to make it a little more exciting.

This vehicle is very similar to&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Lego-Space-Satellite-Launch-Pad-3366-2011-Release/dp/B0042HOTRC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Lego Space Satellite Launch Pad (3366) - 2011 Release</a>&nbsp;so if you have that already, it would be pretty easy to modify that into an ambulance if you don't want to spend the money on this.

I do like that it came with three minifigures and that one of them is a female (there aren't enough females in LEGO city, in my opinion.) The bicyclist also comes with a helmet along with the bicycle so you get some nice accessories for your city.

It's a great addition for your LEGO city. A very simple build so children shouldn't have trouble with it and for the price (if you buy at the retail price) isn't bad for what you get.
827771
I was expecting a subtle performance increase accompanied by some more fuel economy, but what I got was extreme time dialation and a paradox that I cannot escape.  It must have to do with the vortex created prior to entering the throttle body.  Obviously, the conservation of angular momentum compounds to create such dense space-time that only the most sturdiest of XJ's can handle the load.  Luckily, I already had replaced my ball joints!!  I'm kind of concerned about the AW4, because although I have thoroughly changed the fluid over time, as many have suggested, I still have not changed the filter.  When travelling at such high speeds, a funny thing happens when I turn on my headlights!

This product should be renamed.  Something more along the lines of, "Large Hadron Thottle Body Spacer".

This product fails miserably at increasing performance or economy, and I would rate it zero stars for that.  However, with all of the effects of time travel that I am experiencing, I will either win the lottery due to the "Back to the Future" effect, or I will win the Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering the particle that imparts mass on matter.
733420
I must admit, I'm quite fond of both the NFS:U games and the second in the series proves a worthy if somewhat fluffy sucessor.

The basic formula is unchanged: you buy, trick-out and race high performance cars through the moonlit streets of a thriving metropolis. The most notable difference in NFSU:2 is the wide-open city that spraws beneath your wheels. Some have said this aspect serves to distract from the flow of the game, but for the most part, I find it to be a welcome and generally enjoyable addition. To me, the racing engine in this game is nice enough to make cross-town trips less of a chore; not to mention the scenery is pretty nice.

Another flaw (though it depends how you look at it) in the new design is that rather than having tracks built to look like a city (as in NFS:U1) you have a city with built-in tracks.  Most oof the races in the game will put you in a closed-off section of the city. While this is nice for continuity, the "real-life" streets of Bayview are at times somewhat less enjoyable to race on that the specifically-designed city tracks of the original game.  The excess of sharp corners and the like are a contrast to the more race-friendly tracks of NFS:U1.

This brings us to the next aspect, the cars.  NFSU:2 features a metric buttload of machines for your tuning enjoyment, including most of the cars that were in the original. I've found that the "power bar" rating system is somewhat misleading, and recomend that you test out cars in Quick Race to really get a feel for their performance.  The rating system seems to be pretty static in nature, not accounting for a car's weight and size.  The physics engine in the game, however, does.  Meaning cars with identical ratings may often perform entirely diffrent from one another.

The only lingering disappointment with NFSU:2 is that while there are ALOT more customization options, many of them are firmly geared towards the flashy tuner style. While this is great for fans of flashy tuner cars, it leaves the more conventional players wishing they could find more than one style of spoiler that they like.  With as much as the game offers, there's really no excuse for such a lack of variety.

The AI is competent, if somewhat less adept than that which was featured in the original game. There is a slight void between "too easy" and "almost impossible" which leads to a bit less geniune intensity in the competition, and a bit more "how the heck did he suddenly pass me and get 5 seconds ahead?!".

I think that's a long enough review.  For all its flaws, if you liked the first and/or like racing game in general, NFSU:2 is still definitely worth a play.