Race Driver: GRID Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 9th June 2008

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We hit the GRID with this review of Codemasters latest racing game.

Race Driver: GRID Details:

	Racing
	PC/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Nintendo DS
	Codemasters
	Codemasters

Out Now

1-2

Codemasters Race Driver games have gone through many changes since their original inception that was based on Codies Toca games. Some of them have received less then favourable reviews, so many wouldn’t know what to expect from their latest game, Race Driver: GRID but there’s on thing I can guarantee many people wouldn’t have expected to be so good.

Race Driver: GRID is pretty much what you expect from any racing title, it features a career mode called GRID World, single race events and multiplayer support that allows you to take part in ranked, unranked, custom and quick events.

The aim of the GRID world mode is to race for teams in various different events until you earn enough money to establish your own racing team. As you race in events you also earn reputation points which the amount you have in a region dictates at what level you can race at within that region. You can also earn bonus cash by completing objective set by the team. These usually include goals such as finishing in front of a rival team or finishing within a set place. This is a good way to bolster your earnings on top of your appearance fees.

Once you earn enough money to establish your own racing team, its then up to you to bolster your teams reputation by competing in various events. As you compete you can attract the attention of new and bigger sponsors for your team. Whether your sponsors pay you for displaying their logos on your car depends on if you meet that sponsors objectives for each event. Making deals with sponsors allows your team to earn money to buy new cars and recruit more drivers allowing you to compete against other teams. Other aspects you are able to manage include things such as car branding and team colour schemes.

The games career mode is split into seasons with each teams world standing calculated on how much they have earned for that season. At the end of each season you are also presented with the option to race at Le Mans 24hr. You can race at Le Mans with your own team if you have sufficient funds or take up one of the many driver offers which allow you to earn extra cash for your own team. This is a nice touch as if you can’t afford to run your own team at Le Mans you still have the option to take part.

As the seasons progress you get to take part in more and more different race events. Race Driver: GRID features a huge number of different competitions including GT Racing, Drift Challenges, Demolition Derby’s Touring Cars, Pro Tuned and Muscle car races to name but a few. There are just too many different race types to list making the game feel packed to the brim and adding lots of replay value.

Many racing games pose little challenge to the seasoned gamer, however GRID will test your driving skills in a number of different disciplines some of which are easier to master then others. AI drivers will also push you all the way to the finishing line so there are no easy victories to be gained in this game.

Another factor adding to the challenge of race events is the games damage system which can severally retard the performance of your car with parts crumpling and falling off with each impact. Severe impacts will often result in a sudden end to your race as your car will be wrecked. While this may sound severe to some, Race Driver: GRID employs an excellent flashback system to avoid frustration. The game allows you to rewind the race via its instant replay system and then resume from a point of your choosing. The number of times you can perform these flashbacks per race event varies depending on your rank so you need to use them wisely and overall it is an excellent system that avoids the frustration of having to go through an entire race again because of one mistake.

One of the most important factors with any racing game is that the controls are responsive and Codemasters have implemented this brilliantly with an excellent control system that allows you to put the car exactly where you want it to go adding a very realistic feel to the game.

Race Driver: GRID features very extensive multiplayer support allowing you to participate in unranked and ranked races with a range of different disciplines to take part in. The game implements an excellent system that allows everyone taking part in the event to cast a vote on what discipline you race and then on what circuit instead of the host simply deciding on the games settings which is a refreshing change. Performance wise GRID’s multiplayer support is flawless as I never experienced any lag or slow down.

Visually GRID looks amazing and is easily one of the best looking racing games currently available. Cars look absolutely fantastic and the damage effects are brilliant as panels seem to peel off as you would expect them to in real life. Motorsport fans will also easily be able to identify many of the games tracks as these have also been recreated with the up most detail.

Sound is also of the highest quality with excellent engine sounds that are all authentic to the individual cars. Crash sound effects have been done brilliantly with glass shattering and metal scraping and crumpling. The game also includes good crowd effects that will cheer and boo depending on what’s happening during a race.

The Race Driver games may not have always been the blockbuster games Codemasters wanted them to be, but this latest instalment most definitely is. GRID will appeal to both hardcore racing fans and general gamers with the amount of differing races available. GRID definitely moves to the front of the racing pack as one of the leading racing games.