There are just a ton of driving games out, or coming out soon; really, this is like zombie games at this point. Just like zombie games, which do you choose though when presented with a lot of options?

I played three demos (DiRT 2 , Forza Motorsport 3 , and Need for Speed: Shift ) last night and came up with a decision for myself.

Now before people get up on their high-horses and chastise me for only playing the demos let me preface this by saying that demos are made to get people to buy games. They usually feature the best a game has to offer. They are also used by millions to decide whether or not to buy a game. This makes my opinion using these demos perfectly valid.





Need for Speed: Shift was fun and was actually the first one I tried last night. I loved the sound of the cars even if they did all sound a little too similar. Driving felt very much like an arcade game and not a sim, even with the cockpit view. You can drift like you're on dirt and seem to hold a line like you're on rails no matter what. Fun game but too much arcade feel for me.



DiRT 2 was the most fun out of the three. A bit arcade-like but more realistic than Need for Speed: Shift. You also get the cockpit view like Shift and you get the rewind button just like Forza Motorsport 3. Driving and drifting in the dirt is challenging and the demo made you work for it but in a good way. The demo also had two very different tracks which showed you what the game would be like driving different cars in different situations; the other two demos did not give you this kind of track differentiation. Out of the three games, driving fast felt the most fast in DiRT 2; what I mean is that the sounds, sights and car handling gave the best illusion of speed.



Forza Motorsport 3 was good; this is an evolutionary game, not revolutionary. It drives just like Forza 2. It sounds just like Forza 2. The game is still very much a racing simulator and is the more serious game out of the bunch. Lot's of tracks to choose from and a lot of cars. If you want to know what it's like to actually drive a particular car this is the game to get.

They were all fun games but money is tight and so is my time. So, for Xbox 360 I'd give DiRT 2 a try first and buy Forza Motorsport 3 later on when the price drops or when you can get it used. I'd rent Need for Speed: Shift but I wouldn't buy it.

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