A Racing Experience Like No Other
There are plenty of racing games available for download nowadays. Whether you are into arcade racing, car driving stimulation, or even off-road racing, you can find one that suits you. GRID is yet another racing game from software developer, Codemasters Racing Studio. This game offers a racing experience that is cut above the rest. It skillfully combined both arcade racing and hardcore driving simulation and wrapped it up in a flashy, high-gloss package.
Hardcore Racing in a Gloss Package
Codemasters is known for providing hardcore racing games. For years, fans have been raving about the TOCA/Pro Race Driver series and the off-road racing game DiRT Rally. GRID sprang from these two games, as it takes the skeleton of TOCA/Pro Race Driver and DiRT’s groundbreaking engine and slips them into a high-tech skin with a modern soul.
This combination resulted in an intense racing experience that has everything a racing game should have. From speed and drama to precision, competition, and that sweet sense of hard-won progression, GRID can give it all with impeccable style.
Unlike other racing game, GRID is very much straightforward. There is no tutorial, and you don’t get to flip through a menu of cars and truck. Upon creating your character, you will be dump straight into a track for your first race. Once you finish the race, you will be an official freelance driver. And a freelance driver is what you’ll be unless you have enough money to own a car. But until the happy time arrives, you will have to make a do to hiring out yourself out to the highest bidder and race for them.
Once you have earned enough, you can build your team—name it, brand it, and choose your official colors—and join racing tournaments. There are three racing regions in GRID, USA, Europe, and Japan, and they are open for you the moment you get your racing license. The more reputation points you earn, the more race you get to join.
GRID has 45 car models that you can buy and join races with. However, if you are accustomed to the detailed livery creation in the Forza Motorsport series, you might be a little disappointed with the limited customization options in GRID. The game makes up for it by providing audio personalization, which gives you your personal staff who would praise you when you beat the competition and express their disapproval when you slam your car into a guardrail.
It’s All in the Camera
What players appreciate about the game, even at first glance, is its great graphic design. From the montage alone, GRID showcases a slick cinematic tone that will carry throughout the game itself. The game does not only provide the standard driving views—cockpit, bumper, hood, and two, third-person views, but also comes with a full replay system that allows you to pause, fast-forward, rewind, and change views of your performance.
But perhaps the best component of the game is the cinematic replay camera that gives you an excellent sense of sound, speed, and action on the racetrack. This feature lets you go back to your previous race and see every action that happened. Whether you left your competition in the dust or your wipeout was so spectacular, the GRID replay cam will capture it all.
However, players must note that they cannot save the replay of their races into their hard drives. Although you can replay the races as many times as you like, it is gone forever once you exit the race.
Intense Racing at Your Fingertips
There may be a plethora of racing games today, but not all of them captures the soul of the track like GRID does. The races and even the crashes are intense, giving you the thrill that you seek. And while the car count is low and the customization is limited, the game more than makes up for it with its overall presentation. If you are looking for a serious alternative to both your hardcore driving simulation and over-the-top arcade racers, this one is for you.
