Codemasters' GRID

[Dan the Man]

Is no one playing the GRID demo (http://www.fileplanet.com/186561/180000/fileinfo/Grid-Demo)?

I love it. I'm not into racing games but I appreciate a good one, and it's Codemasters, not EA, who are pushing all the right buttons with me.

The replays are awesome - I've never seen the driver animated in such detail, and there's this 'heli-cam' view which I wish could stay on forever. The game is hard as nails though - even though there are varying difficulties, and driving assists to turn on or off, there seems to be only one level of damage simulation, so I'm usually lucky to finish the race, never mind end up within sight of the podium.

Oh yeah, and I can't drift to save my life.

[avatar_58]

Starforce or no? Codemasters seems to love that shit. :(

[Dan the Man]

There's no Starforce (whatever that is) but apparently there's Securom (whatever that is).

[peoplessi]

Shit, atleast the PC version. Put a rod through car's roof - spin spin spin around.

[boglito]

I like it, but it is too hard for me since I suck at these games. I think I'll rather hold on for burnout paradise where the car seems to be glued onto the road.


Well, I finally figured out that enabeling manual gear-shift actually makes the game a whole lot easier. I am now able to consistently win on the lowest possible difficulty settings (except automatic shifting, ofcourse). The game certainly is quite good fun. Drifting, however, is pretty alien to me. The computer somehow beats me with a factor of 10:1... Also I have as of yet not been able to win with any of the other driving assists off or with the difficulty higher than basic.


[re-edit]
It turns out that the breaking-assist is the least important driving-assist, and I am now capable of winning the two races without it. I rock. I think I like this game a little more now.
[/re-edit]

[DorDuke82]

Graphics are superb, Audio is really good to, but why oh why did Codemasters decide to make the Gameplay more and more Arcade, Race Driver 3 had such a good mix and now its all blown to hell. Online Racing is a Mess - every sh*thead thinks its Destruction Derby and not a normale Race - so u only have like 3-4 People from 12 finish on the San Francisco Track because the other ones crash or get crashed by those retards.
Well atleast in the Retailgame there will be Private Sessions so i wont have to deal with those dumb***** anymore.
If you are looking for a succesor to Race Driver 1-3 -> look somewhere else, if you are looking for something with Arcade/Sim Gameplay-Mix -> look somewhere else, if you are looking for the better Need for Speed -> you have your game here.

[peoplessi]

Suberb graphics? What? Are we looking at the same game? Overly slapped with bloom, also the remains of console conversion make me cry "don't turn off your machine"... They didn't wan't to do this right obviously. Drivemodel is from somewhere where the sun doesn't shine, I guess they haven't driven a car or something. Maybe it is just me after better car racing games that this kind of shit just doesn't appeal to me.

[Decker]

Ahh, trademark Codemasters quality. Start the game, start the race, clean exit without any error messages :love:

Of course that can happen in any PC game but whenever I start any post-CMR3 Codemasters racer there's a 50-50 chance it WILL happen. Between all the systems I've had, this issue has been a constant with their games. Mind you, if the driving model of CMR DIRT is anything to go by, I'm not missing much.

Based on my own experience (and this is just for me) with constant stability issues and laughably stupid handling in their games, the Codemasters racing studios are my most despised shit factory on the face of the Earth.

[XPM]

I noticed that the demo is 893 MB big and that the full game will require 12.5 GB of space

Minimum Specifications

* Windows XP/Vista. (If running Windows Vista, SP1 is recommended)
* DirectX 9.0c
* Pentium 4 @ 3.0GHz or Athlon 64 3000+
* 1GB RAM.
* Graphics Card: GeForce 6800 / Radeon X1300 or above
* DirectX Compatible Sound Card
* Dual Layer Compatible DVD-ROM Drive
* 12.5 GB Hard Drive Space

Isn't this just a racing game?
WTH?

[DorDuke82]

Suberb graphics? What? Are we looking at the same game? Overly slapped with bloom, also the remains of console conversion make me cry "don't turn off your machine"... They didn't wan't to do this right obviously. Drivemodel is from somewhere where the sun doesn't shine, I guess they haven't driven a car or something. Maybe it is just me after better car racing games that this kind of shit just doesn't appeal to me.

Ok the Bloom is overused, there is even a Mod wich disables Bloom and Depth of Field - looks WAY sharper that way ;)
But the Car-Details are really good, there is enough going on around the Track - obviously Codemasters didnt manage to deliver on what they promised all the last month for this game: the Race on the Track - as i said its arcade like hell - even good ol Top Gear 2 on my SNES might have more realistic driving model :D
But as i expected nothing out of this game because of its pre-hype (no box-stops whatsoever in that game, wich is shame on a racegame where your car gets detailed damage and then you can do nothing about it) - i thought it would become a Need for Speed Clone and was surprised that Grid is even better then NFS, wich btw isnt a big achievement.

[XPM]

i thought it would become a Need for Speed Clone and was surprised that Grid is even better then NFS, wich btw isnt a big achievement.

I'd like to see YOU do better mister :)

[Denz]

Graphics are superb, Audio is really good to, but why oh why did Codemasters decide to make the Gameplay more and more Arcade, Race Driver 3 had such a good mix and now its all blown to hell. Online Racing is a Mess - every sh*thead thinks its Destruction Derby and not a normale Race - so u only have like 3-4 People from 12 finish on the San Francisco Track because the other ones crash or get crashed by those retards.


**** yeah im sold

[Dan the Man]

DorDuke82, did you try turning off all the driving assists? And maybe switching to manual transmission?

[peoplessi]

That's like the first thing you do, and it did not make the drivephysics any better, the game is shit no matter what you try to do.

[Dan the Man]

So what's a better driving game for the PC then?

[DorDuke82]

I'd like to see YOU do better mister :)

Why should I do better? Its their Job - Codemasters advertised that game to their community with the phrase that they concentrate that game on the race on track and as far as that demo demonstrates it does the exact opposite - eyecandy, good sound and sh*tty driving physics for any fan of the Race Driver Series, they should just have called it Grid but not Race Driver Grid.

DorDuke82, did you try turning off all the driving assists? And maybe switching to manual transmission?

As peoplessi said, that was the first thing i did and switching pro-mode on and upping the difficulty, but thats still nothing you could call car-physics - Race Driver 2 and 3 had that handled way better.

So what's a better driving game for the PC then?

Graphicswise, nothing. Gameplaywise: GTR2, Race07, rFactor and as more or less direct contestant Test Drive Unlimited, wich has better driving physics then Grid if you set it up correctly.

The Bad thing about it is that i will most probably buy it nonetheless just because its the better NFS and will give me a Race-Game fix till GTR Evolution gets released.

I hope to god Codemasters do not think that they can get away with such crappy driving physics and without pitstops an the formula1 game they will release next year - its been why to long since the PC had a F1 Game and looking on Codemasters history they can really deliver a great game or f*ck it up just like Grid.

[peoplessi]

So what's a better driving game for the PC then?

Live for Speed - www.liveforspeed.net

[dark_angel]

Best Crash Effect In A Racing Game Ever!

[shiranui]

Codemasters used to crack me up back in the 80s - they used to have self-written reviews on the backs of their game boxes. :D

[Lethe]

Guys, please don't judge this only on demo basis. I hated the demo but I absoultely love the full game. Probably the most fun racer I played in years. Can't get my hands off it.


Verdict: The most polished and fun Toca so far.