Flying Game Review: GRID

GRID Review

How can I begin explaining the experience I've had with this game? Well for starters, I've played and enjoyed 1980's Pole Position, 1990's Rage Racer and Gran turismo, 2000's GT3 & 4, Burnout Revenge and finally Forza Motorsport 2. Grid got the best of them all put into one smooth gorgeous looking game(almost movie like realism with the crash animation, cars and environments). The sound design is also excellent. The sense of speed in this game just blows my mind away. Imagine going in the narrow streets of Milan, Italy at 180 mph! What a rush!!

Some people say this game is not a true simulation because of the inaccurate physics , but then my answer is that your competing AI drivers in Grid are trying to win unlike GT's ones. They spin out, fly up in the air sometimes--it's funny to see a driver that just passed you do that--and crash. In the Gran Turismo and Forza franchises, at least in the beginning of the career mode, the other drivers behave like wagons in a train and also the game doesn't have crash physics. Additionally, nobody communicates/talks to you any time in the game. Granted in Grid your pit manager becomes a bit repetitious but at least someone is talking to you unlike games that people consider simulation of the racing world. Another thing gamers complain about is how difficult Grid is and I must partially agree. Personally, I had to set the difficulty to the lowest setting to be able to win most of the races (I'm not that good at games). How does that compare to GT's hardness? Well I remember trying the International A licence in GT4, and it was plain ridiculous. You had to race against time for 10:00 minutes in a narrow winding road without ever leaving the pavement. What the crap! One last point, purist argue that in Grid one cannot customize the limited amount of cars. But when I played Gran Turismo 4 or Forza 2 what I really wanted was to get hold of the best cars. Also, customization is a double edge sword: Sometimes it helps you win the race and sometimes it doesn't. Grid dispenses with the ordinary vehicles and supplies the drivers with the hottest wheels on the road.

Grid is a very hot looking piece of software simulation or arcade if you will, and a lot of fun!

GRID Feature

Contains 3 distinct regions featuring US, Japan and Europe
3 distinct racing styles that include Muscle cars, city racing, drift racing, traditional circuit racing
Progress and create your own race team, hire co-drivers, and attract real-life big sponsors
20 car grids, bigger than any other racing game, fully licensed cars and tracks, all fully damageable
Slicker, sexier, presentation similar to a Hollywood film

GRID Overview

GRID is all about 40 of the most incredible race cars ever created with the finest AI. GRID is about revolutionary damage to vehicles and environments that affect your race and blow your mind. GRID is about the most complete replay packages, letting you relive the moments of your glory or destruction in jaw-dropping hi-res slow-motion.

GRID Specifications

GRID™ Is all about the race- that period from lights to flag; full of tension, pressure, noise, and action.

GRID will take players to beautifully realised and dramatic race locations over three continents to compete in an unprecedented variety of racing events. Packed with the most powerful race cars – new and classic, circuit and drift – players will compete to conquer the most prestigious official race tracks and championships and then go beyond to compete in challenging city-based competitions, through to road events and urban street races.

In Europe, race gamers will compete on the greatest official tracks in prestige Marques including Aston Martin, Koenigsegg and Pagani. Iconic cities across the U.S. – including San Francisco, Washington DC and Detroit and each with their own atmosphere and events – play hosts to diverse street races. Here, high-performance V8 muscle cars set the pace in aggressive closely fought pack competitions.

In the Far East, Japanese racing culture sets the tone where night races, including Drift racing, take drivers through neon illuminated cities and to outlying mountain roads. There is also the opportunity to compete in races that operate on the fringes of legality in the back streets and industrial areas of Yokohama.

Key Features

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RACE: Codemasters Studios' history of creating stellar racing titles, combined with AI and the ability of the EGO engine allow them to deliver GRID - a pure and cinematic race experience
A GREATER, MORE DIVERSE, WORLD OF RACING: New and classic, track and street – conquer the greatest racetracks and then go beyond with road races and urban street competitions
JUMP BEHIND THE WHEEL OF SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING CARS: Exotics, imports and beefy muscle cars are all available to race in hugely varied events with grids of up to twenty cars aggressively competing for the lead
THREE DISTINCT RACING REGIONS: Europe, US and Japan are all beautifully designed, each with their own individual takes on racing: U.S.A – In thunderous V8 muscle cars, race diverse courses on city streets in flat out, door banging racing action; Japan – Reject traditional Western racing and drift over to Japan for action the fringes of legality in industrial areas and back streets from dusk 'till dawn; Europe – Race the famous tracks dominated by Le Mans in some of the most technologically advanced cars ever created such as the Ferrari F430 GT, Lamborghini Murcielago GTR, Aston Martin DBR9, Koenigsegg CCXR and Porsche 911 GT3-RSR
EVERYTHING THAT COULD HAPPEN IN A RACE PROBABLY WILL: A GRID race tests a driver's skills at every turn -- crammed with high-impact moments such as, engine fires, tire blow outs, bump and runs, wild crashes involving flipping, spinning, and collisions with other cars and trackside objects
ENHANCED EGO ENGINE DRIVES ALL NEW HIGH IMPACT CRASH DAMAGE AND SEQUENCES: Physics models will ensure that collisions and crashes yield the kind of spectacle that a Hollywood movie director would ask for. Slow motion will be used extensively to give replays the blockbuster treatment
ONLINE RACING: Race your cars online in high-adrenaline multiplayer, multiple car events