GRID Review
- Posted June 6th, 2008 at 20:46 EDT by
- 11,682 views
- 23 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 9.0
- Avg. user review score:
- 8.1
Summary
GRID offers up an enthralling experience of fast-paced action and realistic tendencies in order to create the perfect hybrid racing formula.
We like
- Great online play
- Solid game mechanics
- Exceptional presentation
We dislike
- Lack of vehicles
- No tuning options
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
Welcome David, your car is ready in your garage. This is what I was treated to every single time I loaded up Codemasters' latest racing title, GRID. Whether your vehicle is one of the new Audis fresh off the lot or just a low-end Lacetti, GRID will welcome you into its world and prepare you for what it has in store – the race.
One of the first things you’ll immediately take notice of within GRID is the beautiful presentation style that it has to offer. The menu navigation is very user-friendly and actually helps pull you into the hype of racing. With a crisp and sleek menu, you’ll have the opportunity to enter the GRID World, take on Race Events and hop into a lag-free multiplayer experience.
I decided to jump right into the GRID World and in doing so, was thrown directly behind the wheel of a Viper with no warning beforehand. Once in the driver’s seat, my crew chief informed me that this race was how I would earn my Rookie License, and that all I had to do was finish the event without totaling my vehicle. It sounded easy enough and I revved my engine and peeled out into the start of my racing career.
Throughout your career, your crew chief will act as your spotter. He’ll let you know who is upfront, what’s going on behind you and if there has been a wreck somewhere on the track. Unfortunately, you can’t always trust your spotter to be 100% reliable and you’ll sometimes notice he spots things a little too late as you’re barrel rolling down the stretch after colliding into a spun out vehicle in front of you. While the dialogue does become repetitive, you’ll still enjoy the way it brings the atmosphere around you to life.
Your Rookie License will give you passage into the three regions of the global series which include Japan, Europe and North America. Each region has three tiers of licenses and comes with predetermined respect amounts you must earn before graduating to the next license. Before doing so, you’ll be given the chance to create your own racing team. GRID will allow you to customize your team name and up to three different team colors. Codemasters has also included the option of picking out a pattern design for your team’s vehicles, thought admittedly the options are limited.
Each region has six Championship events that will not only give you the opportunity to make some cash for new team vehicles, but to snag some paid sponsorships along the way as well. Getting the larger sponsors are pertinent if you’re planning on one day purchasing a multimillion dollar car. The direction in which you take your career from this point is entirely up to you.
The events that you'll be able to partake in range from touring to drifting, Le Mans 24-hour series to demolition derbies and so on. There are several different styles of racing you can choose to be a part of and there is definitely a little something for everyone. Unfortunately, while there may be a variety of styles to take part in, Codemasters didn’t provide vehicular variety in order to enjoy these events to their fullest. GRID features less than 50 total cars and each event style is limited to roughly two to five different vehicles. This may sound like it wouldn’t truly affect the gameplay itself, but that's only partially true. After a while of racing in the same car, a sense of repetitiveness begins to sink in.
I’m sure you’re all ready to hear about the filet of the title, the racing. For the last couple of months, Codemasters has fed gamers the ideal belief that GRID is not about collecting cars, completing objectives or being ranked #1 – it’s about the race. Truth be told, GRID delivers on that ideology 110%. The racing elements that you’ll find while enjoying the game are hard to compare to games before it. While the game offers the ability to take semi-simulation corners and both impart and receive highly-realistic damage, it also offers up the opportunity to go blazing speeds and drift around corners in an unrealistic fashion as well. GRID is truly the perfect ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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graphixmaster |
mcx- 8:51pm BST - June 6th, 2008
- 1
GRID is so much more fun than the recent Need for Speed. Rock on Codemasters !!!!
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Undying_Darkness
- 10:28pm BST - June 6th, 2008
- 4
i didnt enjoy the demo, but i decided maybe the full game would be better, i was wrong, took it back the first day i rented it. i think its horrible. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is alot better! hopefully the next need for speed is better, and Midnight Club will be a hel l of alot better than this.
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psycho_mantis |
makaveli_71- 10:20am BST - June 7th, 2008
- 6
if it had deep vehicle customization then this game would be around a 9.5
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bungledude
- 12:25pm BST - June 7th, 2008
- 7
I think it's a pretty fun game.Undying_Darkness,wtf are you smoking?
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Uncool |
Admodistrator- 1:47pm BST - June 7th, 2008
- 9
Undying_Fanboy ought to be your name. >_> You definitely did give this a try nor were you willing to. This game definitely takes a big step on the next wave of racers with beauty and finesse gameplay. Now its whether or not others will take what works with GRID and expand it.
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DemonOfRazgriz07 |
DemonOfRazgriz07- 4:06pm BST - June 7th, 2008
- 10
i agree with Undying_Darkness. i didnt care much for the demo either. so seeing as he felt the same way and ended up d
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Free_Agent
- 10:25pm BST - June 7th, 2008
- 12
Codemasters really are a great group of developers. I loved Dirt, and this game seems to be just as much fun. In some ways, I think this is better than GT5. Sure the realism of GT is what makes me love the game so much, but this is something that you can just pick up and play. It looks great, and runs great. Codemasters needs to teach Sony how to develop for their system. Not only that, but the fact that GT5 prologue is really just an overpriced demo, adds to my frustration with the PS3, and how Sony can't even develop for their own system(cancelling 2 first party exclusives) and the constant delays and bad ports make me believe that I will be buying this and most all future games for my 360.
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chilledbreeze7
- 4:23am BST - June 9th, 2008
- 15
For me, I MUCH prefer Grid over Gran Tris Prologue, its just far far more enjoyable to play! If it wasn't for the Double XP COD4 weekend I would been playing it non-stop over the weekend!
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TonixUK |
TonixUK- 1:34pm BST - June 10th, 2008
- 17
Without a doubt this is the best racing game ive played! i dont think anything else has gone in my drive since i bought this. The AI in this game is 2nd to none, the graphics though a little more gritty are in my opinion better than GT5. But most of all where this game wins for me is that it is fun!!!!
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gamewaffle
- 9:16pm BST - June 10th, 2008
- 18
Polyphony should sue this game for false advertising as it is nowhere near the visual quality of Gt5
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tigermack
- 8:49pm BST - June 30th, 2008
- 21
The reason why you guys like this game so much is because you don't know how to drive, GT5 is too realistic for you guys to handle.
Seriously, there's no way EVER you can brake that late into a corner and still make it through a turn without running into the gravel. Be real.
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Stoffinator |
Stoffinator- 7:41pm BST - July 2nd, 2008
- 22
This is a pretty good game, more fun then GT5P.
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myke6699
- 8:02pm GMT - February 1st, 2009
- 23
GRID has to be one of the most overrated racing game in recent years. Despite that sentiment, I love the game but everytime I play GRID with my PS3 controller while my Logitech G25 FFB steering wheel sits unused (despite the support for the wheel, it wasn't optimised to work with wheel at all), I can't help but wonder how much better this game would've been had Codemasters sweated a bit more and work on the handling and the physics. Even for an arcade racer, it could've been much better: just look at Midnight Club: Los Angeles which is another arcade racer. In MC:LA, the handling is completely arcade with no pretension to be between that and simulation. And on top of that my FF steering wheel works splendidly (not GT5 Prologue type handling but a lot better than GRID). In the end, a game that could've been a classic is wasted by what seems to me like a committee decision to appease both the casual racer and the "sim" crowd. At best I would give this game a 7 , still a good score but could've been better.
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