Grid 2 Review
Reviewed By Daniel Finn
Developer Codemasters
Publisher Codemasters
Platform Xbox360, PS3 & PC
Release Date Out Now
GRID 2 has a lot to live up to as the sequel to the amazing GRID released way back in 2008 which at the time was very well received by both the fans and critics. So how does it compare?
Codemasters have put all their effort in making racing games and this shows. The gameplay is great mainly due to Codemasters’s new system they call “Truefeel”. Truefeel aims to hit that sweet spot between simulation and arcade accessibility, and they definitely nail it. At times the lines blur between the feeling you get from playing a sim and playing an arcade racer.
As you would expect the graphics are clean and crisp. The attention to detail ensures that the cars and tracks all look amazing even at night. The same level of detail is not present inside the cars but it would be nit picking to take anything away from the game for that.
There are ten styles of races including the standard race, time attack, eliminator, checkpoint, drifting etc. There is also a “liveroute” race type that sounds like it could be interesting but ends up feeling like a long point to point race.
You have 4 tiers of cars to choose from, the slow tier 1 to the racing tier 4 with each car having its own unique feel and design which dictates the races it can enter.
There is a limited amount of customizations available for the cars apart from changing the vinyl style and colour. The car selection is a bit on the small side with 51 cars spread out across all four tiers.
The career spans 5 seasons and three continents, starting out in America you are taking part in a new racing league known as the WSR (World Series Racing). You are tasked with racing against local clubs to try and convince them to sign up for this new league. Once you are finished in America you are off to Europe and then to Asia to repeat the process until the league has enough teams and exposure to gain an TV deal with ESPN for the final two seasons. The story is not mind blowing but for a career mode in a racing game it is quite fun.
Earning “Fans” unlocks the final race of the season. As you win races across various clubs, WSR events and by doing extra promo events you earn fans. Promo events can range from normal races, endurance races and challenges like the overtaking challenge.
Codemasters bring back the rewind feature that lets you rewind mid race to just before you screwed up on a corner and crashed so you can have a second shot at it. There is a five use limit on it so you can’t abuse it. The cars feature realistic damage so this can end your race when you run out of rewinds.
Overall : Grid 2 boasts the high quality and polish that you would expect from a codemasters racing title but it is slightly lacking on the content side. Once you have finished the career there is not a whole lot more to challenge yourself with offline but if you’re a racing fan you can find plenty to do in the online modes and pit yourself against the best in the world.
Score 4/5
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