Conclusion
Codemasters' GRID is easily a front-runner in the racing genre, providing one of the most entertaining driving pseudo-simulations that we can recall. Fans of the recent Need for Speed titles might miss the lack of a free roam mode, and those looking for the next Pimp My Ride experience will be left in despair; however, players who desire an exceptional racing experience will be pleased to no end. With beautifully rendered graphics and cars that actually feel like heavy machinery, GRID offers a blend of realistic and arcade racing with beautiful real-world locations and a chance to get behind the wheel of some of the world's most respected racing vehicles.
The game runs like a dream and is a lot of fun to play regardless of whether your preference is playing online or off. With varying types of racing all crammed into a single package, the game's replay value is off the charts. Racing fans will keep GRID in their collection of games for a long time to come, and even with a massive 12GB hard drive footprint we don't expect many users to be in a rush to uninstall this gem. Simply put, GRID is a welcome offering in the racing genre and comes easily recommended. Cheers to the good folks at Codemasters for another successful racing sim.
You can pick the game up for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and even the Nintendo DS - although the experience is quite different for the DS. Depending on your hardware, the consoles may or may not provide a better gaming experience. If you have at least a GeForce 8800/HD 3850, we'd recommend the PC version, but you'll probably want to make sure you have a gamepad or a steering wheel before you try this on a PC. For those that are interested but aren't quite ready to bite the bullet, you can also download the demo, which clocks in at a whopping 864MB. The demo is also available on Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Network. Having played the 360 version of the game, I have to say that GRID on PC wins hands down. But I'm sure you expected that.
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honolululu - Friday, August 8, 2008 - link
Gotcha. I don't have any problems with the steering range of action, but damned if I don't have to hold myself back with that throttle.I have noticed that it seems floored when the throttle is only about 70% applied, and if you increase deadzone that just decreases the range of action.
Next patch maybe. The saturation levels for steering and gas should not default to 100% me thinks. It says "Decrese saturation if you feel the steering is not sensitive enough."
Well where do we go if it's too sensitive!
I can't get enough though. Love that Demolition Derby.
flobo - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
Good game, they only forgot the driving part. Not the car is steering, but the landscape is turning before your eyes, suggesting speed.Physics? Still pivot after all this years.I wonder if the critic ever played a serious driving game. Next time better give space to Iracing, not this childish stuff.JarredWalton - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
Lots of people enjoy games for gaming's sake, not because they are a perfect reconstruction of real life. I will readily agree that the physics and driving model of GRID are not realistic in terms of the hardcore sim crowd, and we said as much. Of course, they're also not as unrealistic as most arcade racers. But the bottom line is: do we think the game is fun? Yes, we do.I don't think I personally would enjoy the "serious" racing games as much as this "childish stuff". Then again, I've spent a lot more time - and got a lot more enjoyment - out of Mass Effect than from GRID, which is why I confined most of my comments to the benchmarking and performance section. (Yeah, Eddie didn't write that page, though he did run the tests for the two graphs.)
dare2savefreedom - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
recommended racing wheel:logitech g25
FTW
HDBanger - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
I race alot of sims on pc, and Ive raced most arcade racers also, GRID is 100% arcade, and it has so many bugs, I had to wear misquito repellent when I raced! I finished the single player game in 3 days, and the multiplayer is atrocious! Huge lag, all kinds of cheats, just pure BS online. Hot lapping was the only thing to do after single player, I had about 52 world record laps at one point, then I went back to real racing (gtr2, rfactor). Codemasters should be renamed CodeDisasters, they have alienated their whole sim base.schwinn8 - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
... but it's "brake" not "break". I don't know why so many people make that mistake?MrBlastman - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
It is a shame the demo doesn't support Track IR.I hear the full game does now via a patch. Has anyone tried it? Racing games (or any type of sim for that matter) are impossible to play properly without Track IR.
n00bxqb - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
I got this free w/ my Radeon HD 4870 and I must say I'm thoroughly impressed with the game itself; it's fun, immersive, and the graphics are quite impressive (though I wish it supported 24x CFAA). Physics are more realistic than DiRT, but it still feels geared more towards arcade-style handling than realism. More car choices would've been nice as well, but now I'm just starting to nitpick :PMy only real complaint is the DRM. Half the time the game doesn't even launch (original disc), it gives some random SecuROM error code (with a link that only takes you to SecuROM's homepage; not a page that explains what the error code means). I always try to rip a disc image to my hard drive with any game I own so I can play w/o having to fish out the disc, but that's a no-go, even w/ YASU and other anti-SecuROM utilities. It's not a huge deal as the game doesn't seem to load anything off the disc during the actual game, but it's a pain to have to track it down and find it when I want to play it. On the plus side, it's offered through Steam, meaning no DVD.
HDBanger - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
The Reloaded EXE works with any version of Grid, and it works better than Codemasters EXE with less crashes and graphical glitches. Also, it works online just fine, Codemasters didnt do anything to thwart pirates whatsoever. One of the reasons the online is so atrocious.Omega215D - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
I was debating whether to get this game for the PS3($60) or PC ($40) but I heard there were many bugs for the PC version so I wasn't sure if I should pick this one up. The cool thing about this game is that it is more action packed than Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.Now I have something to keep me occupied till GTA IV for PC in November (hopefully).