Review - Grid 2 |
Paul Fiander
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The announcement of Grid 2 caused quite a stir among a vocal minority of cockpit drivers. This was due to the development team deciding a memory sapping view that was only used by around 2% of its users (from Codemasters in-game telemetry) was better left out of the game. This kind of decision although a let down for some, makes perfect sense for the development of the game overall. There are still four other views to use, so those who prefer a more first person perspective are catered for, albeit through a slightly watered down visual that places a camera on the center of the windscreen.
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An example of the Bonnet view available within the game.
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The Grid 2 logo in all its finery
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This helps to give Grid 2 it's place among racing titles. It's an arcade racer through and through, from the drifting to the way the career mode works. The implementation of a hardcore (cockpit) view may have sold a product to a market that this game may not have suited. Instead we have a highly accessible title that is built for pick up and play fun.
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Muscle cars play a big part in the game
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One of Codemasters strong suits is making games that can give a challenge to all levels of play. This is done in Grid 2 by the creation of five difficulty levels and the use of mechanical versus visual damage. Although not new the mechanical damage option alters the way you are able to negotiate corners and traffic. The risk of rolling the car and thus losing the race will make your choices count more, adding pressure to the game and increasing the difficulty. Conversely you can have visual only and use the car like a dodgem and still win the race. The difficulty levels relate more to opposition AI in terms of their racing pedigree and aggression on track. By mixing these two systems you are able to make the game you want to play raising the scope of players that can enjoy this title.
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McLaren cars are always a pleasure to look at
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The sense of speed is represented well within the gameplay
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The career mode has you being courted to become the face of a new racing series called the WSR (world series racing). It's a great way of getting you to race in a host of events from all over the world. The racing is split into seasons and each season is based in a geographic location. From the US to Europe and Asia, each continent had its own specific races for you to master. By winning events you gain fans and then racers are drawn towards the WSR increasing the scope of the tournament. It's similar to the career system in the Dirt franchise, although unfortunately not as flexible. This is due to the way you progress to each continent and so are committed to race in this location only. Again it fits with the whole idea of the narrative and you can play the races in free play the and later through timeline but I preferred the way the career progression worked in the Dirt 3 title with you being able to jump back and forth to career events. This is a personal preference and by no means does it break the game.
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You are able to compete in a good mixture of events, which are introduced methodically in each season. The premise for the introduction is, you are challenged by your backer to win over a group of racers who specialise in a particular event. This introduces you to a particular race mode and gives you the reasoning behind your inclusion in this series. It's a neat way of expanding the options of a race game and makes the narrative feel cohesive. The race types include a endurance mode lasting for five minutes plus where the winner is the person who has driven the longest distance. This is obviously the person in first place but it allows comparison with friends via a table at the end of the race.
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Even Cabriolets have a place on the starting Grid.
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The Elimination Races can cause havoc as everyone scrambles to keep out of last place.
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This leads into the community and social aspect of the game. The in-game currency for the single player is based on how many fans are following you on an unnamed social network. The more events you win the more followers you earn and so rank up. In reality the social aspect of the game is run through Codemasters Racenet system. This gives you weekly rivals to race online against based on your settings and skill. It's a great idea in theory to try to improve the community as you have focused opposition to race against. Unfortunately at the time of writing neither of my rivals has been playing at the same as me so I have yet to race either of them. The game also sports the usual tables after a race so you can compare your times/scores to your network friends. It's pretty standard in racing titles but would be missed if it were not there.
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Youtube integration further extends the real world social aspect of the game.
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The net code for online racing holds up really with hardly any problems allowing a great level of racing
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For true social interaction you have to go online and this has been made an easy experience by the development team. It has nearly all the races from the single player and the same with the cars. However the online portion of the game is not linked to the offline so you have to rank up online to be able to buy cats and upgrades. Its not too difficult to rank up but can feel slightly uneven when racing people with upgraded cars. However one nice touch is that the game lends you cars if there is a race using cars in a tier which you do not have. It helps keep the party together which is at least thinking about the community side of the game. Unfortunately this is rather undermined by the developers selling the game with a number of store specific DLC’s attached to their game. My copy was purchased from the Playstation store giving me the Indy pack the same is true of Jon however Aaron purchased his copy from Game giving him the Brands Hatch pack. So to not run the risk of breaking the party up we had to disable all DLC. This type of selling seems divisive to a game that could flourish with a good online community.
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The negatives however do not end there. As you may be able to tell from the above paragraph I purchased this game on PS3 and to say its a graphical disappoint is putting it mildly. There is the occasional bit of screen tearing which I can just about live with but when its mixed with the edges of cars looking pixelated thats where it starts to unravel the game. These kinds of details are very important for a game where you spend most of the time concentrating on the car in the centre of the screen. From what I have seen the PC version is a huge jump up meaning the PS3 version is even more disappointing. Its an odd thing as all the other Codemasters titles I have played have never had this lack of visual quality. Its not game breaking but it is not that far off.
All in all I can recommend Grid 2 even on the PS3 (unless you’re a graphics whore). Its a great pick up and play game with its heart firmly in the arcades.
All in all I can recommend Grid 2 even on the PS3 (unless you’re a graphics whore). Its a great pick up and play game with its heart firmly in the arcades.
Wrap Up
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The Good - Good Online experience, Fun Gameplay, Good mixture of events, Good community aspects through Racenet.
The Bad - Graphics (PS3 version), Mixed DLC packs divisive in online play, career mode not as flexible as other titles. |
Score - 4/5 |
Images courtesy of Lunch PR
Game - reviewer's own copy
Game - reviewer's own copy
