In June of this year, Codemasters released yet another game devoted to fans of those things that have four wheels. With extensive experience in the genre, starting with 1999's Touring Car Challenge to the highly acclaimed DiRT: Colin McRae Off-Road released in 2007, the developer/publisher continues to pick up speed with GRID. GRID is not your typical rally style racer, nor is it the street racer that many might label it after seeing a few screenshots of the game. Instead, GRID borrows from both racing styles and finds its niche somewhere in between. Does it work? Read on to find out.
Upon starting the game for the first time, players will be prompted to enter their first and last name that will appear in the game's HUD next to your position in the race. To take this a step further, GRID allows you to choose from a fairly extensive list of names (male and female) that the in-game announcer will use during audible communication with the player. While the name Eddie was not immediately available, Edward was chosen in its stead. Since it's highly unlikely that they will have every name, you can also select from a variety of handles instead. This is just one successful implementation that lends itself to the player's immersive experience with GRID. Once this information is squared away, the game immediately tosses the player to the wolves with no available tutorial.
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As most PC gamers have discovered, racing games offering a high level of realism are best played with either a racing wheel or a gamepad. With controls that require touch sensitivity, a keyboard simply does not allow for the degree of functionality that is required. In fact, getting the game to function at all with the coveted combo may prove to be an impossible feat. With this in mind, recommended racing wheel peripherals include the Logitech Formula Force EX, which is available in the UK for a retail price of £49.99, and the Logitech MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel available in the states for around $79.99 depending on the retailer. And, of course, there's always the more expensive option for those without a budget. In this case, the Logitech G25 that retails for upwards of $250, again depending on the retailer, might be the wheel of choice. Which ever wheel you choose, the game's options menu will help you tweak its sensitivity to your satisfaction.
While steering wheels are great, the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows has a preset in the game's options menu and it works very well. This controller is an excellent alternative to racing wheels and offers great performance with GRID. Third party gamepads are also supported and should work seamlessly.
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mesherman - Sunday, September 21, 2008 - link
looks good, but the game makers are just into what it looks like and not what is in the game. These racing games now days suck ass.. All they do is hurry up and put the game out so thay can make money. There is so much more they could have done with this game to make it real. What would you think about a car game you can buy and sell car's, and parts to other players online. And have a caution, that you can still drive under caution and have a black flag for the people that just dont know how to drive. Car setup on the game and a temp gage for your heat on you tires in the caution. plus a pit... Make the game real.. if they did this we would finally have a good racing game.djfourmoney - Saturday, August 23, 2008 - link
I downloaded the demo after I installed my Visiontek HD3870 512mb card and Wow this game looks great (when its not crashing my system). Too bad I only get to drive for about 1 lap maybe 1 1/2 laps before the darn thing crash to BSOD with that stupid IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (if anybody knows what is causing that, let me know, all the drivers, including motherboard drivers are NEW, RECENT, Up To Date).I ran it at 1920x1200 default detail (AAx4)(which I hear in the demo is set to high, not ultra) and FRAPS didn't give me an average but mid 20's is the lowest and down the longest part of track in the Muscle Car Race about 40-42fps. Like I said it looks great, fun and I wish I could get to stop crashing so I can enjoy it more.
Best looking PC racer out there, bar none and Codemaster's have outdone themselves.
System Specs -
HTPC Windows Vista Home
AMD 64x2 5000+ Black Edition (2.91Ghz)
Dual Channel Memory (3GB@800Hz)
Visiontek HD3850 512MB
MS Sidewinder Wheel (Non-FF)
I know Codemasters uses motion blur in this game because at 30-40fps it looks faster than GT-L looks@60fps *Vsync. Hardcore SIMs should look this good, they would sell more games...
I hope this is only an issue with the Demo. I'll know when I get the full version. Should I download via Steam or get the DVD? I'm going to replace this HD3870 with a HD3850 because its under $100 at New Egg and includes a free copy of GRID and I can't find a HD3870 single slot cooler for the same price I paid for the current one ($119).
marc1000 - Monday, August 18, 2008 - link
Just to let you guys know: I am playing GRID-demo (wich I guess defaults to maximum quality) with a 20-30 fps average at 1280x1024 without AA, but on a old Pentium-D 3.4ghz on single-channel 2GB DDR2-667 and a cheap Radeon HD3850 512mb.This system also runs Crysis at Medium quality with no problems. We do not need the absolut top hardware to have a great fun. BTW I joust bought a good XBOX360 controller too. very good to someone who just wants to have fun and is used to play NFS-series on the keyboard.
No complaints about the physics. I want to have fun, and not learn how to be a real racing driver.
marc1000 - Monday, August 18, 2008 - link
i'm back to fix my own words: i bought the complete GRID game, installed, and entered the "advanced" graphics settings. i'm with almost everything on MEDIUM, with mirrors disabled, and 2xMsaa. the rest is the same as above. I know that my CPU is the bottleneck, because Rivatuner shows about 60~70% of GPU usage. even this way, it still looks beautiful to me. bye.marc1000 - Thursday, August 21, 2008 - link
now I maxed out everything, except mirrors, and got the same FPS... if someone mind to know about a aging system! haha!M Farkus - Monday, August 11, 2008 - link
In nearly every race, especially the drift races, I can't hear my engine AT ALL. The sound options are extremely limited and by the time I crank up my volume to hear my engine, the other sounds are deafening. Maybe it's my older SoundBlaster card, but every other game I have sounds fine. Anyone else have this problem? A fix? BTW the replays are gorgeous, esp with enough horsepower to run the game. 4870 x-fire E8400 @4.0 1900x1200 full AA all around = 90 fps. Amazing. The lack of (adjustable) engine sounds is a real deal breaker with one, unfortunately.shortylickens - Saturday, August 9, 2008 - link
Its pretty, but wasnt much fun to play. Other racing games have been much more enjoyable for me.Wait, when I said "pretty" what I really should have said was: "scared the crap out of me". This game is so photorealistic I had to stop playing every 5 minutes to remind myself it was just a game.
Of course, thats with a 4870.
;)
flobo - Saturday, August 9, 2008 - link
I commented on this game Grid. But later on I thought it is not being very realistic that is the point, but it is a shame such a good site is not more interested in Iracing, which is a whole new concept in onlineplaying with laserscanned tracks the best physics until now, and a >learn to drive clean and fair< that no other sim has. It is very sophisticated and would match this site much better, then a game that is in many ways a setback.Maybe something about Iracing in the future?TantrumusMaximus - Friday, August 8, 2008 - link
I haven't had a chance to read the review here but I will add this game ROCKS. There is great value in the wide range of cars and I love the adaption of the formula cars... the sound is dead on.Before this I really loved the Flatout racing games and GRID really sucked me in because not only does it have great damage modelling... the damage actually impacts your driving performance unlike Flatout.
Flatout was not a serious racing game so I realize it's apples to oranges.... it's more that this game sucked me away from Flatout. My more casual gaming friends however hate this game because guess what... you have to learn how to drive, you can't just come into a turn full throttle and come out ok like the other.
This game caused me to run out and get a better gamepad... got the xbox 360 windows controller.
The one track that just makes me furiously upset is the Le Mans course.... in the beginning of the track there is a dipsy doo right then left slant that almost always has me spinning out due to the physics. ARGH!!! But I love it.
Googer - Friday, August 8, 2008 - link
I have played the PS3 version online and the one problem that seems to persist is people who don't want to race, but instead wish to cause accidents. It gets annoying after a while when the person at the starting gate holds down the reverse key to cause a large 12 car pileup or goes the wrong way or goes round the track trying to make others wreck and no one votes to ban that individual. If the PC version offers a dedicated, moderated, privately owned server then the PC version may have an edge over the console where the PS3 acts as the both the client and session server. The console version lacks moderation, does the PC version offer a dedicated server option?