At a glance...

Race Driver: GRID review

Codemasters have become associated with successful racing franchises over the years; the company's own studios have brought us the Micro Machines, Colin McRae Rally, and TOCA series. A lot of the other games they publish have been picked up from small, mainly British, developers, but the racing games have been firmly in-house. The racing teams are ever growing, recently incorporating Sega Racing Studio, and are hard at work on the first multi-platform licensed Formula One game since 2003. The TOCA franchise, however, has been having a bit of an identity crisis of late. The last game on the original PlayStation hinted at other motorsports, but it was TOCA Race Driver on the Xbox (and later other platforms) that saw the series look beyond the touring car championship. In fact, TOCA Race Driver 3 didn't even feature the TOCA championship at all, with Formula BMW and buggies taking centre stage.

So, now the TOCA name is gone completely, though at heart this is still the same series. However, Codemasters have been shifting the series into the mainstream, as they did with Colin McRae: DIRT. This means the realism has be thrown out the window, at least in terms of handling, in favour of accessibility. It's a formula that made DIRT a lot of fun, and while it many annoy the hardcore, it's worked here too. The handling will take some adjustment for those who are more experienced with Gran Turismo or Forza, you willbut ultimately you will be rewarded with a highly enjoyable game, that maybe even your non-racing game friends will play. Just a pity there's no split-screen play, then...

Soon you are managing your own team, choosing the colours and setting up the sponsors. You acquire a range of vehicles to take part in the various disciplines, and eventually recruit a virtual teammate to help you drive the team to overall victory. It's a great formula that successfully revitalises the Race Driver franchise, and manages to make the game enjoyable at every race. Despite the wide variety of motorsports on offer, the handling is consistently good once you have got used to it. It was so good, in fact, that it kept me coming back to the game again and again. Even the mighty Burnout Paradise was often put aside to play some more GRID, such was my determination to progress, and such was my enjoyment in doing so.

The presentation revamp seen in DIRT has been carried through here, both in the modern interface which makes the multiple events easy to keep track of, and in the loading screen which is now occupied by some of those ever-pleasing random statistics. DIRT's NEON engine has also been put to use in GRID, and given an extra spit and polish to make it even more impressive. The level of detail remains very high, with improved lighting effects, and, more importantly, the game runs very smoothly, even with a large number of cars colliding on-screen. Codemasters have made good use of the PlayStation 3's resources, and ensured that the 360 doesn't have an upper hand here.

Despite the arcade-style handling, destruction is still an important part of this series. It may not be entirely realistic, but it is exciting to see nonetheless. Cars will crunch and windows will shatter, and it's all in the name of entertainment. However, while it might be nice to see the graphics engine motion while you smash up your vehicle, you may also want to remember that damage will affect your car; the handling ability may reduce, making your car veer to one side, or your breaks might not work as well. If you decide to hit a wall head on at 150mph, you'll probably find you've totally destroyed your car, and it's time to consider starting again.

Except, in Race Driver: GRID, you don't always have to start again. A curious addition to the series are the flashbacks. These allow you to jump back in time to return a point before you ruined your race. You simply watch the instant replay, and jump in where you like. There's only so far you can actually go back (as far as the replay allows), but other than that the only limitation is the number of times you can do this, which varies with difficulty. It may seem like cheating, but it certainly makes the game more accessible, and means that a wrecking your vehicles halfway through the last lap doesn't ruin your race, or your championship. If you're not a fan, then there's a Pro mode which offers no flashbacks, and this is the only mode which allows you to upload times to the online scoreboards.

There are other small touches about the game that are worth noting. Firstly the "eBay Motors"; some clever product placement provides the ability for you to purchase a cheaper version of the car you need, complete with miles on the clock, wins under the belt, and maybe a few wrecks in the past that should make you cautious. The game also has a nice touch of letting you choose a name for it to refer to you as, which makes the dialogue more personal. This is particularly used during the radio voice-overs from your team-mate or mentor in the middle of the races, which add to the sense that your victory isn't merely a statistic.

The game has a competent and long career mode detailed earlier, as well as the usual single race options. Unfortunately, as is now the trend on the current generation of consoles, there's no split-screen multiplayer, and I'll again say that this is especially disappointing for a genre which thrives on being able to compete with someone in the same room. There is, however, full online play for up to 12 players complete with damage, and plenty of people experienced on the Pro mode. It's probably best to train up before facing the scary rest of the world.

Ratings

Click here to buy Race Driver: GRID from Amazon.co.uk.

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