Gaming Race Driver: GRID

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2008/06/10/race-driver-grid-review/1

We look under the hood of Race Driver: GRID, strip down its engine and make sure it's MOT worthy. Can Codemasters' new racer drive the fine line between simulation and arcade racer without spinning out? Prepare for a boot load more car puns as we find out!

 

"highly accurate simulation like the excellent Colin McRae DIRT,"

It's not April 1st is it?

 

GRID is what racing games should be about!

not those Ricerground series where it's all about customisation NOT racing!

pick a car, get in, and see who's got the real skill!

 

I see lots of drifting, where is the racing?

 

I thought from the demo it was better than DIRT, but then that's not really all that hard.

 

only thing somewhat accurate about colin McRae, were the course layouts, and the modeling of the cars + impact points..... i feel the game was rushed, especially with regard to how the cars handle on the gravel roads.... i prefer rallisport challenge 2 over it any day unless i want some good graphics to look at....

 

being a complete Petrol-Head™ i liked DiRT a lot but i certinaly wouldnt rate it as a sim, you can definatly feel the slight adjustment of a camber or toe in angle but its no GTR, having nearly finished GRiD i really like it but I've a few gripes, the lack of tuning is a shame (an option for stock motors would have been nice in terms of multiplayer) but It can be lived with, G25 support needs patching so that you dont need to reg-hack for victory and speaking of the g25, its supports the gate shift but WHERE IS THE CLUTCH?! im not a console tard, give me my clutch back!

other then that great racing game but we really need another MOTORHEAD

 

Nice review that. Well done, Harry.

I've just recently played the PC demo of this and it definately requires at least a joypad with analogue sticks. The graphics were quite spectacular and it looks like there are a few more notches of graphic quality in the full game. I found that a very bad crash in the demo resulted in game over, whereas serious collisions gave me a car that really wanted to give the crash barriers a good, hard sh*gging. Tbh, it kinda put me off the game a bit, as it was fairly strict in what you could and couldn't do. Nice to hear the full game can at least be a bit more forgiving.

The drifting course in the demo is barm-pot-crazy, I found it completely uncontrollable. Any acceleration I applied caused instant doughnuts, although in the games defense I hadn't dug out my joypad when trying this course. I would hazard that it's heaps more fun with proper control.

 

We all enjoyed DIRT here at Bit-tech (except for Joe, who doesn't "Do" racing games,) and certainly felt it was an attempt at a rally sim, although obviously it wasn't as complex as something like GTR2. However, it was pretty unforgiving when you lost it on a nasty corner, whereas in GRID you can just fire off a Flashback and take the corner a little more conservatively. I certainly feel that GRID is the best racer on the PC for a long long time, and it's minor gripes aren't worth docking it too heavily.

 

only women and children flashback, men dogfight for what ever position they can get afterwards. the trick to GRID is to fight at the right difficulty level where you are dog fighting for 2nd place, you'll only be alive when he spins out on the last lap.

 

I'm loving it. Definitely worth the quicker loading and graphical edge (not forgetting price as well) for the PC version.

I think it is very clever how they have handled the difficulty. I enjoy every now and then driving like a loon and the game allows me to do so - unrealistically sticking to the track as I power slide round a hairpin. However, if I actually want to win it does allow me to drive properly and take racing lines. Ace game, although I would give it an 8 simply because there should have been a bit more content.

 

i guess you play at Ninja difficulty with Pro-mode on?

only thing im not very satisfied with Grid is the way it handles AA, even at 16xQCSAA level, every edge doesn't feel right

 

Finally a PC racer worth playing...thank you!

 

Savage/insane no ABS/SMS/TC

I just want a damn clutch

 

Been playing this to death & it's fantastic.

Multiplayer has a couple of issues like not being able to set up a game that is easily findable by your mates, but there's a patch in a week or so I think.

The cheapest place to pick it up I've found is steam, which is nice as there's no evil system destroying disk checkery to contend with.

 

This is the first 'racing' game (I know some of the GTers will still say it's not 'real racing', sorry, but unless you're putting a REAL car around a track, then it's not 'real racing') that's actually kept my attention for more than a few weeks.

Played the demo to death, literally, and haven't stopped playing this so far.

Very nice review, Harry!

 

Real racers will race anything and will adjust to any engine/driving model out there.

 

Makes me want to buy a new steering wheel. My last one reached the stage where it wasn't worth using any more. And GRID with the keyboard = impossible. (At least for me...)

 

Had I a PlayStation 3 and Fanatec three-pedal wheel set, then this would be in that machine.

 

Alternatively, plug in a 360 controller. Works really well.