Race Driver: Grid (Race Driver Grid (Xbox 360))

Member Name: AndyCreighton

Product:	Race Driver Grid (Xbox 360)
Date:	09/10/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks great, Sounds great

Disadvantages: Annoying, No upgrade system

Race Driver Grid, or just Grid, is the latest racing game to come from Codemasters, unoffically its TOCA 4, but don't tell anyone. The game offers (almost) everything you would expect from a arcade/simulatuion racer and throws in a few twists of its own, including the Flashback system which we'll talk about more later.

The Career mode of the game, the heart of most simulation racers, is confusing at first but after a few races you realise how solid it is. Originally you only have a choice of racing for one of 3 driving teams in one of their cars, this continues for a bit and also allows you to jump into some great cars early on (including a Forumla 3 car). When you finish a race you earn reputation depending on the country you raced for and also some money, earn enough reputation and you'll progress to the next stage of the career. This is where everything opens up to you, your handed your first car and have a whole host of races avaiable to you. And that money you earned, how would you like to upgrade your car with it? Well you can't, that's right, Grid comes with no upgrade system whatsoever. It's a strange call by Codemasters and to be honest I think it brings the game down substantially and really limits the depth. Once you buy a new car, that's it, that's how its going to be for the rest of your career. Luckly your garage will quickly fill with cars, but an upgrade system would have been nice.

There is a large choice of cars in the game, but not really initally. Its almost annyoing that you can only use some cars in some races. I know it worked for Forza, but Grid has gone over the top with it and its just frustrating to spend your hard earned money on a car so it can only be used in one race in your tier. But the cars themselves are nice, a good selection of Hot Imports and American Muscle. Even your starting car, the Mustang is a great car, and IF you could upgrade it I would have kept it throughout the story. Every car handles differently, from the powerslides of a Shelby to the percision driving of a Porsche.

The visuals are awesome. Every car ir perfectly designed, every track is as it should be, all based on real locations and with lovely back drops. The cockpit view is the best looking, however I also find its particulary hard to drive in this view, more so than other racing games, so I shy away from it and stick to the behind the car view. The sounds are up to par with any of the other racers to date, the engines sound great, the screech of the tyres sends shiver down your spine, just like it should. I cant fault the game on presentation at all.

But beware, this is a hard game! Its not one you will finish in a matter of hours, but will take a long time to complete. Is this a good thing? Normally, but I'm not too sure on this occasion. The reason why the game is so hard is not down to computer AI, or a lack of horsepower, it lies in your cars ability to stay on the road, the slightest nudge from another car, or even a back wheel on some grass will, 90% of the time, lead to a crash or spinning off the track. This gets tedious as once you're behind its very hard to pull back. The game saves itself slightly by introducing a "Flashback" system that lets you jump into an Instant Reply to about 10 or 15 seconds ago and rewind to that point. Meaning if you have a big crash, you can jump back to a few seconds ago and avoid it, however they are limited to a few per race. It's a nice method but it does not stop the game from being frustrating.

As a Career driven racer, Grid is a bit disappointing on paper, but makes up for it on the track (when your not restarting your race for the 11th time). Overall a solid racer that can get on your nerves sometimes, but hopefully not enough to deter you from playing it. Worth a go.

Andy Creighton

Summary: A decent racer thats worth a play through, albeit an annoying one