Race Driver: GRID
I picked this up for my Xbox 360 yesterday and have since become quite addicted to it. I do enjoy most racing games except the ultra realistic ones where the slightest mistake results in utter failure. This one is no exception. It has real cars plus the fantastic damage modeling used in DIRT last year. There’s a wide variety of racing disciplines in the game, including:
- Open-wheeled single-seater circuit racing
- European touring cars
- American muscle car street racing
- Stock car racing
- Japanese drifting
- Japanese Touge events (i.e. head to head hill climb/descent runs)
There’s a few more that don’t come to mind right now also. Graphics are fantastic looking and the car handling feels good to me. The 360’s controller suits driving games perfectly as usual, and the game supports steering wheel peripherals also.
The game is also available on PS3 and PC, both in shops and on Steam.
9/10
muppet on August 6th, 2008
It’s not one of those games where you’re faster around a bend skirting along the crash barriers than you are slowing down and taking the right line is it?
Though NFSU2 can be forgiven for this because it had such splendid drifting and customisation.
Steve on August 6th, 2008
No, its not. I think it strikes the perfect balance between arcade racing fun and stick-up-your-ass realism. You will slow down a lot by hitting walls etc and the damage modeling is great. Trying to make progress by smashing your way through the opposition usually results in wonky steering, crap performance, etc. I had a rather amusing crash in it yesterday where my victim lost 3 of his wheels and I trashed my car entirely. It tells you how many G’s the impact force on your car was after you trash it too
I wish more games had real cars with a proper damage system. Gran Turismo always pissed me off when you could slam your car into a wall and it always emerged without a scratch. Pfft.
That said, I’ll probably still buy a PS3 just to play GT5…
muppet on August 7th, 2008
Yeah, gotta love the wonky steering alright… trying to correct a pull to the left or right.
Sounds similar to the first Toca ‘Race Driver’, takes you right to the edge of having to drive properly without being an arse about it.
Though I tended to spin out the American muscle cars when I first tried them.
Steve on August 7th, 2008
I found the muscle cars alright in this one. They’re a bit tail-happy but manageable. The Koenigsegg CCXR however, is determined to murder me. I get how the Stig spun it off the TG track now! It feels like its rear end is constantly trying to overtake its front
I’m actually finding the open wheel racers great fun. You can really feel the difference in performance between them and regular touring cars - you can brake much later etc, but they’re also much more fragile and won’t take much shunting at all.
<3 this game.
James on August 7th, 2008
Is this game as realistic as Forza 2? Because that game just depressed me. One moment on the gravel and… game over. I am a massive DiRT fan though. I find the whole simulation experience far more satisfying. The muscle cars sound interesting though…
Steve on August 7th, 2008
No, not by a long shot. Hell, you can rewind the race a few seconds (a limited number of times) when you screw up in Grid
I really enjoyed Forza 2 up until the endurance races and the ridiculously fast cars that my feeble mind is not capable to keeping up with. Never did bother messing with suspension setup, gear ratios etc.
I think if you enjoyed Dirt you’ll enjoy Grid too.
muppet on August 9th, 2008
I’m not enough of a petrol-head to enjoy/understand the finer points of performance tweaking.
Can’t my in-game guy just pay someone else to do it?