Video Games : Race Driver: GRID (Xbox 360)

Rating: - SIMPLY THE BEST!!!
This has to be the best racing game ever!!! A must buy. WELL DONE CODEMASTERS!!! :)

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Rating: - Better than PGR4 and Forza in imho
You have to give this game patience for the first day or so. Its incredibly frustrating because its so easy to crash and burn until you learn the grid layout. I'd definitely recommend starting out on easy level which is actually quite hard at first. But once you get a feel for the grid and the car, the fun really begins. Unlike forza and PGR4, if you do have a crash, or even a couple of crashes, you can still catch up and win the race. The graphics are out of this world, and the feel and handling of the cars is the best i've experienced in any race game.
Plus being among 12 cars in the race adds to the experience. It's almost impossible to finish a race without getting your car scratched :D
One nagging problem is that the other (AI) drivers are not very intelligent and seem to enjoy smacking into you. A little nudge from someone behind in the wrong place and you sometimes have no time to correct your course and so end up totalling the car.
The demolition derby races are a riot. If you like PGR4, you'll absolutely be in love with Grid. But if you want your races to feel as realistic as possible, i'd recommend you try this game first because its definitely more on the arcade side especially on single player. Also, i have an XBOX Wheel but i find that the controllers are easier. They feel more responsive to me than the wheel. At top speed the cars seem to travel too fast for the wheel to respond perfectly at a tight bend. Unless there's a setting i can change. One other nag is that i can't seem to find a vibration (rumble) setting in the game options. Surely the game has to include this???????
Anyway, this game is a riot, awesome visually, and really great fun.

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Rating: - A very pleasant surprise. Recommended
I didn't really like Codemaster's DIRT which i borrowed for a friend. So when GRID came along i wouldn't have given it a second look had it not been for the many good reviews on Amazon and other such sites.

GRID tries to capture, in a arcade fashion, the excitement of many different types of racing from Touring cars to formula 3, from drift machines to Demolition Derby tough boxes. And my goodness how well it succeeds in this repect. The races are very exciting and the tracks are superb including Le Mans which you get the chance to race at the end of every season. I cannot emphasise enough how exciting these racers are. I'm not quite sure why they are so brilliant but it might be because of the excellent trail camera which doesn't seem to be fixed but rather flings around corners with you.

The retry called flashback is a breath of fresh air for gamers like me who don't spend hours and hours a day on each game we play. If you make a mistake in this game yu can simply press the back button and take the corner again (or whatever you were trying to do). I think this is excellent. I have lost count of the number of times in PGR4 that i have had to restart the race because i took ONE corner badly in a 10-15 min race and therefore lost. The flashback feature (which can be used up to 4 times a race) is a blessing and i don't want to play an arcade game again that doesn't have this feature.

I don't normally care for drift races but the ones in Grid are finely balanced. Practice a little and you will get better and make some nice combos (over 1 millon combo last night). The faster formula 3 cars corner like they are on rails and are great to fling around corners but the most fun i have had so far is with the Demolition Derby races. Many laugh-out-loud moments in the races i've played. Even when you are first in the race that can easily change if a car crossing over your path sends you into a spin.

To sum up, this is SO much better than i thought it would be and for any racer fans it is highly recpommended.

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Rating: - Awesome multi dimensional racer
1st off I would like to respond to all those comments that complain about the handling and the difficulty of the drift races. Yes - it's not easy, but persevere with it and the rewards are huge! Don't give up so easily - it's not a ridiculously easy arcade game like NFS.

The first time I managed to string together a huge combo of drifts clocking up 100,000s of points was just hilariously good fun. The different styles of racing makes this a multi dimensional racing game - not just a pure track racer or off roader. This requires new skills, more effort and a whole load more fun. Ever get bored of just going round a track as quickly as possible? Well how about just trying to go as sideways as possible and making as much smoke as you like - and getting points for it.

Everything about this game is even more realistic than Forza, which I thought at the time was pretty awesome. The noises, the crashes, the handling - it's all spot on and just when I thought I was getting bored of racers after playing PGR, Forza, TDU etc.. this came along and I've fallen for it straight away.

My recommendation is to keep on playing the demo until you can beat the computer on drift mode, so you get pretty good (took me 10-15 races), and if that experience is anything like mine you will be running to the shops.

PS - using a wheel is definitely better but normal controller is still v good

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Rating: - REVIEW
if you're going to read ONE review, read this one:

I read the previous reviews, and that made me hasty to buy, alot of people were saying, the game is too hard, the AI is bad, etc

Let me say alot of people are basing this on the DEMO (which i have no played), but after getting the game, it looks fantastic. If you've played DIRT you'll understand, they're 'juiced' up the graphics engine for this game. the physics are realistic, the AI drivers are very 'human' (i.e. the stop if you get infron, as opposed to bang you as if you dont exist, sometimes under pressure they'll spin out).
ever car feels, sounds, drives differently... and u never get bored. from DRIFT (wiht the japanese guy in the background commenting on your performance), to Formula 3, to destruction derby, to 24hrs lemans, to GT races, PRO TUNE, american muscle etc!
as you progress in your career, you can hire a driver, make more money, get sponsors. It's very well laid out, not complicated at all!
and day and night graphics are immense, and the damage is unreal (well, very real in this case), and YES if u damage your car enough, it affects your performance.. i mean what would you expect? this isn't an ARCADE GAME, but it's not as hard core driving simulation as GT PROLOGUE. the inside views are superb, and need i go on?

IF you liked Forza2 , Dirt, GT PROLOGUE, you'll love this, no question about it.