Race Driver: GRID
A Review - By Gaetano Prestia
Race Driver: GRID is probably one of the more difficult games I’ve ever had to review. While there are a few great aspects about it, it ultimately ends up being an increasingly uninteresting game the further you get into it. It’s all fine and dandy if you start a game off and are immediately drawn in by flashy menus and great graphics, but if the gameplay and length can’t hold you in for the entire length, you’ve got a problem.
The best way to sum up GRID is to compare it to a brand new flashy sports car you get when you’re 21. When you get it, you’re over the moon and can’t believe how amazing it handles and looks. By the time you’re 25 and preparing to settle down, you try to remember what it is exactly that drew you into this hot but pointless vehicle. In other words, you’ve outgrown it. For an actual car, 4 years of ownership isn’t much. For GRID, 4 months is too much.
For those unfamiliar with the history of GRID, it’s pretty much the love child of the TOCA and Pro Racer Driver series’ and the brother to last years DiRT. What you get with GRID is the attempted handling gameplay of its parents and the awesome presentation audio from its brother. It’s all about family down at Codemasters.
As expected, career mode is a lengthy mode in which you travel around the world and aim for podium finishes in order to achieve reputation points and cash. It’s the same old style of mode that you’d expect from a racing title. There’s also a multiplayer mode that can support up to 12 players online. All unlocked tracks and cars are available online and just like in the single-player, you can build your reputation up and start your own online team with your own garage and major sponsors. GRID also has the licensed endurance-based Le Mans championship to take part in, which is minimised down from 24-hours real time to 24 minutes, with one minute equaling one hour. This championship is probably the most enjoyable aspect of the entire game as it lets you achieve some insane speeds not otherwise achievable in the career mode and the endurance aspect adds a little challenge to the mode.
A great thing about the gameplay is the ability to backtrack to particular areas of a track if you write-off your car. Using the “Flashback” feature, you can rewind back the race to a time before you crash and re-start (or continue) so as not to re-start the entire race again. It’s a great feature that was used, albeit with less success, in Full Auto. You can rewind back a few seconds and the precision is quite impressive. The number of times you can do it though is limited to what challenge you’re playing on, so be careful around those bends!
GRID’s main (and major) problem is its inconsistency in car handling. It’s difficult to categorise GRID as either an arcade or simulation racing title, as it seems to switch between the two throughout the course of races. The damage accumulated on your car is very realistic, but the acceleration, breaking and turning mechanics are far from impressive. In fact, they’re quite off. Cars take off like Superman but then break like 4WD’s. Codemasters probably claims that this isn’t meant to be a simulator, but if you compare this to other arcade races like Burnout, it’s definitely not an arcade racer. So where does it lie? The car handling doesn’t replicate the weight, style and length of the actual cars so therefore it can’t be a realistic sim if it doesn’t handle appropriately to the actual car.
Codemasters have disappointed by appealing to a new range of gamers instead of developing a game that appeals to both new gamers and fans of the genre. What they’ve done with GRID is develop a game that doesn’t achieve anything new, but instead focuses on aspects that have been done to death, like drifting and street racing. It’s not realistic enough to be a sim-racer, and not accessible enough to be an arcade title. What GRID should also have had (along with what is already included), is a whole bunch of other events that appeal to genre fans, hardcore gamers and casual gamers. Instead, it’s a game with inconsistent handling and a lack of game modes.
The major drawcard about this title is its presentation. Codemasters have improved on the fantastic looking DiRT title from last year and developed a very impressive looking racing title. The environments are incredibly detailed, from the street crowds to the buildings. One area in particular that stands out is the level of detail from the in-car view, which looks quite astonishing. It’s a little more challenging to handle the car from this viewpoint, but it’s definitely worth mastering as the car interiors look fantastic.
What can Race Driver: GRID offer? Well, a really, really nice presentation. It can pass as a solid racing title for a few weeks, but beyond that, once you complete Career Mode, play online for a bit and check out Le Mans, there isn’t much to bring you back. The handling disappoints on so many levels. It’s not terrible and can still pass as an average racing-game experience, but it fails to be considered either arcade or sim and that screams of inconsistency.
Gameplay
6.0/10
It’s not accessible enough to be an arcade title and not challenging enough to be a sim. Car handling doesn’t replicate the style of the cars and there aren’t enough game modes. Career mode can be a fun for a bit, but it gets old, fast.
Graphics
9.5/10
Flashy, sexy and impressive. The attention to detail is fantastic and the car interiors look amazing.
Sound
9.5/10
An almost perfect audio mix. Great car effects, crash sounds and banter.
Value
6.0/10
There’s just enough to do, but it’s been done before. Where are the new modes, more realism and challenging championship modes? How many times must gamers be subjected to drifting and street racing game modes?
Overall
6.9/10
GRID, on its own, is a decent game. No one can really argue that. But there’s nothing new to applaud. If it wants to be a sim, it handles too inconsistently. If it wants to be an arcade title, it’s not accessible enough. If we compare it to PGR3, GT5P and Forza, GRID stacks up with Juiced 2 as a “been-there-done-that” type of game. We need something new.
Submitted by Gaetano
03/07/2008
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