Race Driver: GRID
Codemasters
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Review by Hayden Meikle
4 stars (out of 5)
You could call this another small step in Codemasters' bid to become the king of the driving video game universe.
Or you could simply appreciate GRID for trying to build on the company's history of producing excellent simulation games by adding elements of the arcade.
Codemasters carved out a large chunk of the driving game market years ago with its successful V8 Supercar (or TOCA) series, which offered multiple layers of competition, dozens of vehicle styles and some of the world's great tracks.
Then it struck, er, paydirt with Colin McRae: Dirt, a jaw-droppingly beautiful and enjoyable rally romp, and followed that by announcing it had signed the exclusive deal to produce the next Formula 1 game.
Next up is GRID, an interesting successor to the V8 games that also takes on the arcade driving territory currently dominated by Project Gotham Racing.
Like the earlier Race Driver games, GRID has two main modes: you can either jump into the seat for a burn in one of several disciplines, or you can embark on a career and attempt to drive your way to top of world motorsport.
There are the usual muscle cars, open-wheel cars and sports cars, but the developers have made a big effort to offer some unique modes.
There are drift battles and demolition derbies, as well as something called pro touge, an intense one-on-one battle on tight mountain roads.
The game looks a treat.
GRID uses the same engine as Dirt, so the tracks unfold in brilliant detail and the cars, especially when they sustain damage, look gorgeous.
Everybody loves a good crash in a video game and GRID offers plenty.
The game wants you to feel on the edge of your seat, so occasionally you won't feel at all in control.
The inevitable result of that is the occasional plough into a wall of tires at 150kmh.
Happily, there is a new tool called Flashback to help the beginner driver deal with off-course disasters.
After a major smash you can rewind to an earlier part of the race and start afresh.
Use of Flashback is limited but it's a nice addition, especially as the difficulty level in most races in fairly high.
Career mode is where the game gets its longevity.
You accept offers to race for various sponsors, rack up the dollars and move on - the usual sort of stuff.
I didn't think it was laid out quite as clearly as in the old V8 games, but that was a minor complaint.
GRID has touches of arcade, but is definitely aimed at the more experienced gaming driver.
It falls just short of the standard set by Colin McRae and Forza Motorsport 2, but it's a very worthwhile addition to any library.
