GRID 2 Review: Time to Build a Racing Empire

[PAGETITLE=Introduction, Gameplay, SP Campaign][Top Ad] I have a confession to make. Despite being a huge fan of Codemasters' racing titles, the original GRID (aka: Race Driver: GRID) is one I skipped over - but there's no good reason for it. I likely had other games hogging my attention at the time, because I did have some interest in it - I even implemented the game into our graphics card testing suite for about a year. Since the game's launch, I've lightly regretted not giving it a fair go, but found myself unable to dedicate time to go back to it. Well, with the impending launch of GRID 2, I decided to go back and play the original and quickly discovered why it received so many awards those five years ago. It's a challenging game, to be sure, but it's not a "sim". The graphics are fantastic, as are the tracks themselves. My playtime there definitely helped whet my appetite for Codemasters' latest. A battle of the classics. Unlike a Forza or Gran Turismo, GRID 2 doesn't aim for high-level driving realism. Instead, Codemasters implements a "TrueFeel" mechanic here, which aims to make the driving physics feel realistic but not require too much out of the gamer to succeed. Admittedly, I quite like this style - you might call it a cross between a Need for Speed and F1 (the former, which I find a little too unrealistic; the latter, which I find far too complicated). The premise in GRID 2 isn't too different from the original. You begin life as a lowly driver trying to make your name known, which will be done with the help of Patrick Callahan's baby, the World Series Racing team and league. At the outset, WSR is nothing but an idea, but after you wow a couple of competing teams, you're welcomed into the fray and WSR officially kicks off. As you progress, you will continue to get other teams on-board, and eventually, WSR becomes highly recognized and well-respected. Codemasters went to town here to make sure that the entire concept of WSR seemed realistic. On occasion, you'll see programme cuts from ESPN's Sports Center, with the hosts talking about it as if it were a real thing (and they played their parts well). You'll also get quick looks at social media and all of the buzz, such as with the example below. In time, you'll even see a thread on the WSR forums dedicated to you - and I'd be lying if I said it didn't put a grin on my face. A user with great taste. A beef that I have with many racing titles nowadays is that a lot of them love to confine you to a single city. Because many games are going the "open-world" route, I can understand that to a point, but that does result in a lack of variety. In GRID 2, we lose that open-world functionality (which is fine... the game's design doesn't support it), but in addition to US locations, you'll find yourself in Côte d'Azur, Barcelona, Okutama and even Dubai. Instead of confining all race types to the city, circuits and open-road events exist as well. I have to give major kudos to Codemasters for being one of the few developers to deem the Indianapolis Motor Speedway suitable for inclusion - when's the last time it could be found in a racing title? 1989? Alright, - I'm sure it's been featured in games since then, but I haven't seem them. Events include straight races, time attack, elimination, drifts, overtake, faceoff (rival battle), checkpoint, endurance and touge. Touge is an interesting two-part event where you go head-to-head with another racer; one time, you start just behind the opponent, and the other, you start ahead. In either scenario, if you outpace your opponent by more than 5 seconds, you are deemed an instant winner. This is very challenging, and is really only possible if your opponent happens to crash. Each tier offers a large number of events. Both the WSR league and the cars are split into four tiers. There are no licenses to earn (thankfully), so as soon as you reach a new tier, you get right into an appropriate car. Not all cars are unlocked automatically; you'll need to complete one-off promo and challenge events to woo sponsors into hooking you up with the other ones. Don't expect car collections on the level of Gran Turismo, however; GRID 2 features about 60 total. Burnouts? Yes, yes you can. Despite the small collection of cars, Codemasters was sure to include some great ones. At the top-end, we have Bugatti's Veyron Super Sport, a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, McLaren F1 GT and Koenigsegg Agera R - just to mention a few. At the low-end you'll find yourself in cars like a Volkswagen Golf, Ford Mustang, Dodge Charger, Mercedes-Benz 190E, and a car I found quite fun to drive, Nissan's Fairlady Z. Overall, a great collection of cars (for a full list, I recommend looking here). [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=Multiplayer, Graphics & Final Thoughts][Top Ad] In GRID 2, money is "meh" and fans are "fantastic". As you progress through the single player campaign, you'll earn more fans after each race based on how well you've placed and drove. The more fans you get, the more noticed and desired WSR becomes. There's nothing quite like earning your first million, let me tell you. Like a responsible racer, I decided to toss all of my fans into the bank so that they can grow in value. Unlike in the single player, money plays a huge role in the multiplayer portion of the game. In addition to acting like XP, you'll be able to purchase new vehicles once they're unlocked at certain levels, and spend cash on upgrading them or altering their liveries. Unless you're a stellar driver, leveling up and buying these things will take quite a bit of time, so while the single player campaign may take about 15 hours to clear through, expect much more than that for the online component. In addition to straight racing, the game also includes "Global Challenges" and "Rivals" modes where you must compete against a randomly chosen user that matches the same game settings you have. These events are updated on a weekly basis, so there's no rush to check back everyday. Outperform your rival, and you will earn a greater amount of XP. Ripping up Miami. Just try to avoid the sun. In my limited experience online thus far, I've been pretty pleased. Other racers I wound up racing against were all equipped with better cars and were at least level 15+, so don't jump in expecting wins right off the bat. Some, as you'd expect, find nothing wrong with ramming you into a wall, so patience is definitely required. As for the driving itself, GRID 2 as mentioned earlier isn't trying to be a sim - nor is it trying to be an arcade racer. It's somewhere in between, and it works out well. If you're used to games like Need for Speed, GRID 2 will take some getting used to, that's for certain. It's definitely challenging and very rewarding. Drifting in particular is a skill that will take some time to master - there are many variables that decide how successful you are. Part of the challenge comes from the game's good AI. Each team you race against has their own traits, so it's worthwhile to learn them; you'll know when you should be aggressive rather than just play it cool and find yourself at the back. Don't spend them all in one place... As challenging as the game might be at times, it can also be quite lenient. There were times when I'd clearly cut a corner, but the game didn't punish me for it, and there were also drift races where I couldn't pull a drift off cleanly but the game rewarded me anyway (a guilty pleasure, actually, given how horrible I am at proper drifts in the game). Fortunately, like the original game, flashbacks are there for your use - five per race. Screw up? Hit the flashback button and you'll be rewound up to 15 seconds or so to undo your mistake. Obviously, these cannot be used online, even in the ghost races. The graphics in GRID 2 are for the most-part excellent. The locales and level of detail is quite good, although the exception is with the cars. While they look alright, it's certainly not up to par of what you'd expect from a 2013 PC game (clearly a PC port, but that's not a surprise). In fact, I'd say that Test Drive Unlimited 2, which came out a couple of years ago and had nearly 3x the number of cars, had far greater detail - a bit odd since Codemasters' forte is racing games. And hope you don't lose your hood during a race, because... blech. Audio-wise, things are great. The cars sound excellent and the voice-acting is all very well done. Sometimes, WSR's leader Patrick Callahan becomes a little annoying due to repetition, but it's just more incentive to drive better. There's one online annoyance with audio: you cannot mute anyone. In between races I'd have to endure others click-clacking, and during them, I had to try to decipher the language they were speaking. Player muting would have been a fantastic feature. The couple of minor issues aside, GRID 2 really is a great driving game. It's not too difficult, which should make it an attractive offering to those who don't care for the sim-like titles but still want a good challenge. There are not a ton of tracks here, but the ones chosen are great-looking and fun to drive (I'm particularly happy to see Yas Marina here, and of course, Indy). One other perk about GRID 2 is that if you complete the main campaign and then head online, there are many hours of fun to be had. This ain't no sub-10 hour game. If you enjoyed the original, or like what GRID 2 offers and appreciate a bit of a challenge, the game is well-worth checking out. Pros. Locales and track graphics are fantastic. Car physics are great - not overly realistic but not arcade-like. Car selection is small compared to some other games, but the cars that are here are fantastic. Good event selection - career mode is enjoyable. It has the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! Cons. Car models are a bit lacking graphically - expected better in 2013. No cockpit view. Why Codemasters, why? Can't turn the ghost off in online challenges. Can't mute other players while online. DLC is...

GRID 2 Review: Time to Build a Racing Empire

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Rob Williams