G4TV

Somewhere between your run-of-the-mill brain dead arcade racer and that gearhead fetishists wet dream known as Gran Turismo, there is a magical place.  A place where people like you and me can learn to appreciate, and yes, even love automotive racing.  That place is Grid.

Welcome to the game Grid

Codemasters is no stranger to racing game and in Grid, the latest effort in their Racer Driver series. They have referenced every trick in their well worn book and written a few new pages to boot. Grid strikes a beautiful balance.  There’s challenge, but little frustration.  There’s a logical progression mixed with lots of variety.  It can be simple or it can be hardcore.  Go ahead and choose your poison.  The game doesn’t care as long as you’re having a good time.

The meat of the game is in the single-player “Grid World” where you enter various races from all over the world, collect cash, entertain sponsors, buy more cars, and hire a teammate.  The obvious end-goal here is to win each of the 50 events.  What keeps Grid fresh throughout is the variety of event types.  One minute you’re tooling through the streets of San Francisco (a Quinn Martin Production!) in your muscle car, the next you’re in an open wheel event in Germany, and the next you’re doing some drift tournament in Japan.

The Fast and the Furious

I’m not crazy about drift events, but if those don’t float your boat, there are plenty of other things to do including several grip racing styles like touring, GT, and pro muscle.  There are also several white knuckle Touge events, some awesome awesome awesome demolition derbies (which are awesome), and the Le Mans 24 endurance race. Whatever events you decide to compete in, placing well will earn you reputation points.  Each enough and you’ll unlock the next tier of events.

As you progress through the 3 tiers in each region, you’ll be able to plaster sponsor logos all over your cars.  These can help you earn serious cash should you achieve the objectives each sponsor requires.  Where you place the logos on your car has an effect on how much you can earn so as you gain more sponsors, it’s a good idea to juggle them around depending on your own personal racing strengths.

Racing games have long been the place to go when you want to show off just how cool the graphics are on your system. Grid does not disappoint.  These are some of the most convincing and beautiful racing visuals seen in a modern video game.  The clean, sharp, anti-aliased looks makes what goes on during the race all the more delicious.  The racing in Grid can be downright dirty at times.

Cars Smash!!  Cars Smash Good!

Grid has a very convincing visual damage model.  Smack into another car and you’ll be treated to bits and pieces of glass, metal, and rubber flying every which way.  Do enough damage to your car and you’ll see your speed, power, and handling decrease significantly.  Even crashing into a barricade can have a lasting effect on the race as any debris will remain on the track (and thus a potential hazard) for the remaining laps.

Should you crash (and you will), all is not lost. Grid employs a gameplay device they call flashback.  If your race suddenly takes a turn for the worse, simply rewind to the point just prior to when things went south and pick it up from there.  You only have a limited number of flashbacks per race, but they serve to mitigate well the frustration normally found in racing games.  Interestingly, using flashback doesn’t feel at all like a cheat.  It more like a tool devised to help players continue doing just what they’re supposed to be doing – racing.

The rest of the game’s features follow suit.  You don’t tweak your cars (sorry kids, this ain’t GT). Team management is simple and to the point.   The interface is downright elegant with the menu tree purposely streamlined so you spend less time clicking around and more time on the track.  For example, the act of purchasing a new car could have been located in completely separate part of the game menu.  But the developer wisely placed all purchasing decisions on the screen where you’re choosing what event to try next.  If you got the right car, you can just hop on into the race.  If you don’t, you automatically get taken to the purchase screen where you can choose from a selection of cars that match the event you’re interested in.  The only real misstep here is the inclusion of an eBay branded screen where you can purchase and sell used cars.  It doesn’t fit well and feels like really obvious product placement.

Pole Position

Sitting around comparing features between the big racing games is really a rather pointless endeavor.  In my mind, a good racing game is clear on the goals it wishes to achieve.  Grid obviously wants to offer the player lot of variety and it certainly succeeds.  Many will balk at the game because it doesn’t offer a million different models of car.  Those who do are missing the point. Grid is all about the fun and excitement of the race.  It’s racing with a capital ‘R’ minus the frustration.  You won’t find a more fun racing game this year.

Review by: Greg Bemis