Race Driver: GRID takes players to dramatic and beautifully realized race locations over three continents to compete in a variety of racing events. Packed with the most powerful race cars – new and classic, circuit and drift – players compete to conquer the most prestigious official race tracks and championships then beyond to compete in challenging city-based competitions, and then on through to road events and urban street races. The drama, the rivalries, the aggression and the crashes; this is not a game about collecting cars or spending all of your time in the front-end tuning suspension settings or designing liveries. Codemasters wants to make racing exciting again.
Gamers compete on Europe’s greatest official race tracks in prestige Marques including Aston Martin, Koenigsegg and Pagani. Iconic cities across the U.S, including San Francisco, Washington DC and Detroit – each with their own atmosphere and events – play host to diverse street races, where high-performance V8 muscle cars set the pace in aggressive, closely fought pack competitions. And in the Far East, Japanese racing culture sets the tone where night races, including Drift racing, takes drivers through neon illuminated cities and to outlying mountain roads. There’s also the opportunity to compete in races that operate on the fringes of legality in the back streets and industrial areas of Yokohama.
The team at Codemasters have gone back to the drawing board once again to come up with GRID, but is it the future of racing or just a pit stop along the way? Find out in this GRID video review.
GRID’s main features are:
* New and classic, track and street – conquer the greatest racetracks and then go beyond with road races and urban street competitions.
* Drive Exotics, imports and beefy muscle cars, all of which are all available to race in hugely varied events with grids of up to twenty cars aggressively competing for the lead.
* Drive in either Europe,the US or Japan.
* 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.
* 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.
* Race your cars online in high-adrenaline multiplayer, multiple car events.
* The game’s multiplayer content features 32 exhilarating online race events on 80 circuits at 15 intercontinental locations.
* 12-player races for multiplayer.
To quote the video review: “With a sleek look and smooth-running mechanics, GRID is a successful compromise of realism and arcade playability that offers a variety of racing activities within a consistent framework. While not all that innovative, the game brilliantly implements a race-saving instant replay function and incorporates a strong strategic element with its sponsor management. Customization and vehicle lineup are limited, but in line with a focus on providing a satisfying race, which is exactly what you get from GRID.”
Design — 9.0
Gameplay — 9.0
Presentation — 9.1
Overall — 9.0