Game link: http://www.gridgame.com/en-us
Steam link: http://store.steampowered.com/app/44350/
The original GRID was an instantly impressive title, wowing race fans with lush visuals, excellent handling and a selection of then-novel features. However, that was five years ago, and a lot has changed.Many racing games have come and gone, with some offering much more in the way of new and interesting racing features and gameplay tweaks. The genre has evolved in GRID's absence, so with this in mind, can GRID 2 manage the same level of impact as its predecessor?
No racing game would be worth its salt these days without a story to back it up. Gone, it seems, are the days of licence toil and repeated race entries for the reward of a few in-game credits. GRID 2 starts with a CG sequence over-dubbed by a chap named Patrick Callahan, who states that he is on a mission to find the world’s greatest racing car driver. To do this, he wants to set up his own racing franchise, called “World Series Racing”. You are then thrust behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang, barrelling around the streets of Chicago before Callahan signs you up as the first member of the fledgling WSR. It is your job to get the WSR brand into the collective consciousness of the world’s motorsport fans, and to do this you will need to compete in as many events as possible.
As narrow as that niche may seem Codemasters clearly feel they’ve found a sweet spot and one of the major new features for GRID 2 is the ‘TrueFeel’ handling. This does exactly what it sounds like by ensuring it looks and feels like you’re driving a real car while simplifying the experience just enough to make sure it’s fun for less experienced players – although removing the driver aids seems an odd move given that goal.To ensure this doesn’t raise the entry barrier too high GRID 2 retains the Flashback rewind feature that has now become a standard feature in Codemasters games, and some others. First introduced in the original GRID, it allows you to rewind a few seconds if you make a mistake and ensures a single lapse is never enough to ruin an entire race.
The game includes numerous real world locations and cities such as Paris. It also includes motor vehicles spanning four decades. In addition, it includes a new handling system that developer Codemasters has dubbed 'TrueFeel', which aims to hit a sweet spot between realism and accessibility. Races do not include a first person cockpit view. The popular gamemode "Drift" was recently shown in a gameplay preview by Codemasters.
Sadly, even with the Live Routes races, and the selection of other kinds of challenges, the WSR experience itself isn't really all that interesting, or relevant. It does make progression through the game a little more rewarding than a simple series of races, which other games employ, but it's just not emphasised enough, and isn't done justice. Rival clubs are pretty much wasted, simply filling up numbers, and races, even with various types, become very repetitive, with tracks repeated over and over. Its simply doesn't feel like the big, worldwide racing event the game tries to depict.GRID 2 is also surprisingly lacking in new features given its five year hiatus, and aside from the Live Routes addition, there's little here that revolutionises the genre.
GRID 2 brings the series up to date, adding a number of game modes while polishing up an already fantastic driving experience. It’s a driving masterclass, and while it may lack the depth of Forza Horizon or Need for Speed: Most Wanted, its take on the art of motorsport is unsurpassed. Fans of high-octane motor-racing take note: GRID 2 is utterly unmissable.So, my final verdict for this game is 8.5 out of 10.So what do you guys think, why don't you share thoughts in the comment section down below.
No comments:
Post a Comment