'Pole position for GRiD?'
 Developer:Codemasters Racing Studios
Publisher: Codemasters
Category: : Racing
Multiplayer: 1-12 (Xbox Live/PSN)
Official Site
Platform: X-Box 360
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Date posted: 20 June 2008
Written By: Ian
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A nEw racIng GAmE
Codemasters clearly think they're down with the kids, with their recent title 'DiRT' (review can be read here), now followed up with "Race Driver: GRiD", which uses the same engine and principles of arcadish (think PGR- i.e. not realistic, but you need to know what a brake pedal is) racing, mixed with beautiful graphics and an impressive damage modelling system.
DiRT worked out pretty well, but had terrible multiplayer options. Can Codemasters build on this start and deliver an excellent racing experience, or is this title going to be lapped by faster competitors?
GRiD Gameplay
Lets start off here. I may be gushing about GRiD so far, and if you've noticed the score already, then you must think the handling is good. Nope. Think again. GRiD deserves its score despite handling that can only be described as rubbish. It's better than in the demo, thankfully, but the handling is just odd.
Everything feels a little bit floaty, even with the excellent rumble features on. Handling feels even lighter than in, say, PGR, yet I would say that using your brakes are even more essential than in that game, which makes it, therefore a really odd combination.
However, it never feels terrible, and the handling is, at least, responsive, and good at providing feedback through rumble, especially as you can spin quite easily if you put on some mega drift or outrageous cornering manoeuvre, or worse, get shunted by/shunt a competitor in a passing attempt.
However, despite the handling, the depth and breadth of gameplay is astounding, especially in this content-lite generation (despite the fact that there are only 45 cars- boo!).
There are 15 tracks, many of them licensed and including Spa, Istanbul and Nurburgring from the F1 calendar, and many tracks have multiple routes and reverse options. This is pretty impressive. More impressive is GRiD World, the main career option.
You start out in GW as a rookie, racing for teams, that offer a bit of cash, and a little reputation, but once you earn $40k, you can buy a clapped out old Mustang. Then, the fun begins.
At this point, you can still race for other teams, but when all the rewards lie with your own team, why would you bother so much? You can customise the paint jobs and decals on your cars, and whilst the game lags behind Forza by quite a way, it is probably the next most successful game in that respect out there.
Eventually, you can hire a team-mate, who will also get you points and wins, and get sponsors on board, which you can plaster on your cars, which, in a nice touch, also gets you more money for completing their specific objectives. If your team-mate is crap, then fire him and pay for a better one, with better AI. He'll also talk to you during races, giving out status updates- another cool touch.
You can use your money to buy new cars in order to compete in different classes or different event types all together, but rather than having a set-price, you can buy cars on Ebay, which is another nice touch, even though at the same time it smacks a little of product placement.
However, it does work well, as you can also sell your cars here too.
  
Winning races for your own team gets you respect in one of three regions, and more respect equals more races to compete in. There are 51 trophies to win, and thanks to multiple races, this will take you a long time.
In addition, at the end of every season (about 5-6 events) you can take part in Le Mans 24 hour race, which is nicely simulated by racing for 24 minutes, and features a full day to night to day cycle. This is really cool, and is a good test of the skills and concentration gained in your last season.
The game is a bit more difficult than Forza, GT5P or PGR in the fact there are no clear braking zones or racing lines to hit. But, the game is spiced up a bit by having 'flashbacks' which you can use up to 4 times depending on difficulty if you have a big crash or make a stupid mistake. The fact that they are limited also makes you think carefully about when and where to use them. But, if you think you don't need them, then turn on 'pro' mode and get more respect!
Still too easy? Turn on manual gears, or turn off traction control and get yet more respect. This customisation of difficulty is a nice touch, and adds further depth to an already solid single player. Nice.
Graphics & Sound ?
GRiD builds on DiRT's excellent graphics, then goes some more. You can now get up to 20 cars on track, and the frame rate is much more stable than that of DiRT's, running at a rock solid 30 all the time. The sense of speed has also been much improved too.
And if that wasn't enough, the textures are nicer, and the cities look fantastic, filled with vibrant details and colours. Some of the F1 tracks are a little duller, but such is the nature of a track in the middle of the countryside, and compared to other titles rendering the same tracks, GRiD is normally provides a graphical experience equal or superior to it's rivals. The only thing lacking are the gorgeous weather effects that are found in PGR4. Sure, that title is leagues ahead of others, but even the addition of rain would have been nice.
GRiD also delivers on the sound front. Perhaps surprisingly, the music doesn't seem to be licensed, but does its job perfectly well, mainly coming in with some tension inducing beats to up the ante at the end of races. It's inoffensive and perfectly reasonable, even if the lack of any proper music is unusual.
Perhaps the reason for this is that the sound shines. The engine effects are great, with deep bass, then the tyres screech nicely too, and the whole atmosphere feels like a proper, dirty, oily race!
It's the speech, however, which steals the show. When you first start, you chose your name from a list. Then your manager and pit-crew will always refer to you by name! This sounds simple, but it is at the same time really cool, and something which could so easily be added to other games.
It adds a personal touch and helps you to really feel immersed in your own team. Your pit team aren't always perfect, as they sometimes call out accidents that seemingly never happened, but the fact that all that detail is there in the first place is the most important thing, and it really adds to the realism and atmosphere.
  
Multiplayer?
Thankfully, GRiD features fully-fledged multiplayer, and what a relief this is after the disappointment that was DiRT. Up to 12 can play, which is really impressive for a 360 racing game, where the standard is still generally 8.
Most importantly, the graphics and frame-rate hold up, and to top this, the experience seems to be generally lag-free, even with a full room. Whilst you can't fill up rooms with AI, there are already a lot of people playing online, even before the US release, so finding a decent sized room is not difficult.
Damage can be either on or off, but I'd recommend it be left on, to dispose of most of the idiots that you can get in racing games that use other cars as cornering devices. That way, it forces you to be more tactical and cautious in overtaking and cornering, and leads to a tense experience.
You can also set up multiple races, which is cool, as fighting it out over a series is always nice. You then gain experience points based on your finishing position and the number of people in the lobby, which works really well too. GRiD is without a doubt, the best online multiplayer racing experience in a long time, perhaps even ever!
Conclusion
"Race Driver : GRiD" is not the perfect racing game, and long term fans will probably be upset at the move into a far more arcadey territory than the previous titles.
There also is, whatever Codemasters says, a serious problem with a lack of cars. True, the 300 or so in Forza mean I'll never drive them all, but 45 is too few. A PGR-esque number of 75 would be more appropriate.
But, for all that, GRiD is astonishingly beautiful, performs well, and had an excellent multiplayer mode.
If you are a fan of arcade racing games (I'm looking at you PGR fans) you owe it to yourself to buy this game. Yes, it panders to Americans like GRiD, but it is also deep, long, fast, furious and seriously addictive and well thought out, and is as such, the racing game of 2008, no questions asked.
Race Driver is Dead. Long Live Race Driver.
-Ian
Ratings
Manual:
85 % |
Graphics:
92% |
Music & Sfx:
94% |
GamePlay:
89% |
|
This game scores
on our 5-point Rating System
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