GRID Preview
Whoa. GRID just sped away and left my brain in the dust. And this is coming from someone that’s not particularly fond of racing games.
GRID comes from Codemasters, the same blokes that brought us Dirt, the off-road Colin McRae inspired rally racer. GRID, however, takes to the streets in stylised yet traditional races on asphalt, not cross-country as Dirt did.
And what difference it made!
The demo offered over Xbox LIVE features three tracks based on three different classes of cars:
- Europe Touring cars at Jarama Circuit
- US Muscle cars at San Francisco
- Japanese Drift Racing at Yokohama Docks
All three circuits proved to be very impressive. But the “whiz-bang” starts immediately at the menu. If you’ve played Dirt, then you’ll know where I’m coming from. The menus are incredibly dynamic featuring what appears to be an entirely separate graphics engine designed specifically for them. But the superfluous candy doesn’t end with the menus.
One other notable feature that, although not seemingly impressive by its mere description, is the ability to enter your full name into the game and the game will actually tailor in game chatter by speaking your first name, if it’s available from the list included. The voice over and your pit crew will address you by name during races and in the menu system. In practice, this little feature is pretty captivating and put a smile on my face every time I was addressed.
When the race starts, the pole position is introduced on the real time track and your first and last name are fully rendered over your car. Yet another very impressive and flashy feature that has the cumulative effect of making you feel as though you’re that much closer to what’s going on.
All this and I haven’t even touched on the gameplay itself. As mentioned, all three circuits were very impressive and share some fantastic attributes. Notably, the graphics are immediately striking, dare I say stunning. Car models and the sense of speed are stand-outs here, as is the damage sustained to your car over time.
Like Dirt, GRID features a real-time damage system that is reflected both visually and practically. Visually, your car gets beat up with some remarkable detailed damage. Parts will hang and then fly off leaving wreckage strewn about the track. That wreckage appears to stay on the track leaving mild obstacles to watch out for on subsequent laps.
Practically speaking, if your car takes too much damage it will become increasingly more difficult to drive, typically over steering in one direction. I found this out the hard way, because I suck. If you take too much damage or get involved in a particularly brutal crash, your car will be completely out of commission.
But here GRID takes a page out of Prince of Persia’s book, and offers a rewind ability to get you out of trouble. With a limited number of these rewinds, you have to use them sparingly and strategically. That said, this was probably the least interesting of the features that the demo had on offer, and needed a few kinks worked out as it did not seem to work as well as it should.
The competition, even on the medium difficulty setting, was fierce. This made for some intense racing. The other drivers drive quite aggressively and do not seem to hesitate to bump and grind your car into spin out or wall. Spinning occurs very easily as the driving engine is quite sensitive. At one point I spun around in donuts completely unable to get a grip. Even so, I was treated to some ridiculously good looking smoke effects billowing from the tires and engulfing my car completely. Again, this game looks fantastic.
The height of the driving experience came with the race in San Francisco. You’ll start down close to the water’s edge making your way uphill then across and back downhill. The US muscle cars, living up to their namesake, powered about the track, 12 cars deep, bumping and grinding and taking it to each other like champs. Competitors don’t just zero-in on you, they go after each other just as aggressively.
I would often hear cars checking each other just behind me, followed by the wailing screech of tires then the bang of crushed glass and metal after impacting the course barriers. This occurred often. And what with the very sensitive controls, GRID demands your full-on attention at almost all times. One little mistake and you’re ruined.
Flying up and down the hills and through their intersections was thrilling to say the least, as the cars barrelled over the jumps and crashed down with convincing weight and force – sparks fly out from underneath the chassis and the crunching sounds of impact are convincingly harsh.
Taken as a whole, the race was chaotic, eventful, and thrilling.
My perspective on the relative worth of a racer like this compared to Forza Motorsport or Gran Tourismo is, admittedly, light on the details. But taken from a guy who isn’t particularly fond of racing games, I can tell you that this game’s initial showing was a pleasant shock to my system. GRID is set to straddle hardcore simulation elements with an incredible amount of arcade flash and thrills.
Everyone should be looking out for GRID come its June 3rd release date.
peachey @ May 22, 2008