The first title of the series GRID was released back in 2008 and there were several chapters of the saga that followed. Codemasters has decided to revive the brand by offering a new game dedicated to car racing on next-generation consoles.
GRID arrived on the market at a time when it definitely is absence of racing game with a more arcade style, so the title certainly has an excellent opportunity to assert itself in the gaming world. Let's see together if the work done by Codemasters has convinced us.
Let's get on the track
As soon as the game starts we will find ourselves having to compete in some introductory events which will act as an overview for the various categories of races present. GRID indeed presents a career full of events to complete and in which to whiz.
The various events available are divided into specific categories, in which only certain types of cars can participate. GRID indeed presents both sports cars and supercars, muscle cars and more.
The tracks offer a good game variety and respect the various driving styles of the cars, in fact there are both more street circuits and track circuits, so as to maintain a good balance of differentiation throughout the course of the career.
Moving on to the heart of the game, that is the gameplay, we find a guide system mainly arcade, which is also enjoyable by those who have never played a racing game. The feeling is immediate and getting familiar with the driving of the various machines is certainly pleasant and fun.
GRID is in fact a title very accessible thanks to the good slew of selectable options. At lower difficulties the player is particularly helped and can certainly enjoy the pleasure of driving without having to pay attention to more realistic factors.
By increasing the difficulty and decreasing the aids available, the game is certainly more challenging, while maintaining a general arcade line and very unrealistic.
With some cars in particular it seemed to us that the steering wheel maneuverability was a bit too woody, but luckily in most cases we drove without any particular problems.
Password: playing dirty
GRID is a title that specifically points to spectacularity during the races and little to realism, and the consequence of this are adrenaline-filled races. The excellent work done on the AI manages to make sure that something unexpected happens during each race.
It is not uncommon for an opponent to be run over by another car, for there to be spectacular overtaking or to happen catastrophic accidents. All this makes the races always exciting and you certainly get bored a little.
It is also possible to enable an option that makes the damage suffered during the race "realistic" and not only aesthetic, but honestly even with the latter option enabled, we have never had to suffer so much damage as to make it impossible to continue the 'event.
The title pushes the player a lot to "play dirty" and it will be customary to try to push other competitors out, hit them from behind or give side doors. This is because the general setting of the races tends to make us respond to the enemy AI in this way (since they will be the first to try to put a spoke in the wheels).
Hitting the same opponent several times will activate a system of "Nemesis" in which we will become the favorite victim of the latter. It didn't seem very influential as a game mechanic and in most cases you won't be able to tell the difference between normal opponents and your nemesis.
There is also a system for giving orders to your teammate during the race, but even here the vast majority of the time you will not notice any difference. In short, both the nemesis system and the support system from the teammate they leave some time they find and overall the gaming experience is quite useless.
In addition to the career mode the game offers only multiplayer and a garage where you can view and customize the cars purchased. The customization editor is quite sparse and is a feature that only serves as a general outline.
Technical sector
GRID does a great job graphically in the car model care, but it's a pity that you sin about the graphic quality of the environments. In fact, many environments and background models during the races are only sufficient and are almost in contrast with the quality of the cars.
We played the title on PC with the highest graphic quality available and for almost the entire duration of our test the framerate remained stable, even if during a couple of races there were significant slowdowns.
The soundtrack is unfortunately not very incisive and leaves nothing memorable while the work done on the car sound it is definitely of better workmanship.
In conclusion
GRID is a title fun and cinematic which aims to entertain the players thanks to an arcade and immediate driving system. The title is certainly aimed at those looking for this type of experience so we do not recommend it to those who would like to play something more focused on the simulation.
Thanks to its variety of vehicles and tracks, the title retains a good balance throughout your career and take advantage of these characteristics to avoid remaining monotonous. Too bad for a graphic sector that stands out only in the care of the car models, some sudden drop in framerate and too sparse customization.
Overall GRID managed to achieve the result that the development team had set for itself and the title is definitely promoted.
