Video Games : Race Driver: GRID (Xbox 360)

Rating: - As good a racing game as it gets!!!! (if not better)
just like to point out, im playing the complete game atm and it is absolutely brilliant!!!! i did have my doubts about the handling of the cars and spinning off too easy, and yes this is a factor, but if anyone has played need for speed pro street, will kinda understand it. plus it changes the game from your normal arcade racer where you can crash into whoever and whatever you want, because damage actually affects your car, and its not just damage you know is there by a red light, the car physics and the battered bodywork, broken wheels, and your bumpers coming off is great!!!!! cause now you can see what smashing into a tyre wall at 157 mph looks like!!!

The racing is frantic and is fast to start with, which i think is a brilliant addition, it may be tricky at first, be for the first few races be a bit cautious, or knock it down a difficulty so you can learn the ropes, and contrary to peoples opinions the difficulty is well balanced, normal is just like another racing game.... on normal! plus the default arcade settings are perfect for 'pick up and play' gamers, where as you can change the settings and turn it into a great simulation game as well. Although arcade is insanely fun :P

Now we all know a game cannot be perfect so i'll give you a couple of things, the car if you go off, can be quite annoying when your trying to get it back on the track, but its not really the dreadfull horror stories in some other reviews but in my experience take it easy and ease back on the track. Drift races are a little tricky, but i still managed to win all the ones i've been in. The races have from what i can gather no music just the roar of the engines, but you can throw on music thats on your hard drive or streamed from a computer playing, so its easy to get around. oh and your only allowed one colour scheme in the campaign to signify your team. but come on, these arent really massive problems!!!!!!

The campaign well its just like a racing game with certain elements of pgr4, which by no means is a bad thing!!! and there are other kind of links to other games, but mainly pgr4 and nfs pro street, but im seriously nitpicking at what is a really great game! the different styles of cars are a good mix and are brilliant to drive, from muscle cars, that well perform like proper muscle cars, to japenese sports cars, which handle like proper japenese sports cars and to formula 3 cars which...... well you get the point.

Graphically stunning and the crowd animations are brilliant. There really is not much i can say about this game that annoys me, or is bad, which is quite a first!!! It does beat most other games hands down and in my personal opinion, and i have to take my hats off for codemasters and say this is a serious Must Buy!!!!!!!!

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Rating: - try looking at the options
i think this game is great
however, after looking at the other reviews on this page it seems that many people are critisizing(sp.) the handling.

now i have to admit that when i began playing i found the handling wierd. then after looking around on the options, the game comes with an oversteer option turned on and after turning this off i found the game to be superb.

the graphics are superb and the quality of the racing amazing, i would definitely recomend forking out 40£ and buying this. just make sure you sort out the options before playing ;)

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Rating: - What grid does that the others don't
Grid is a great driving game but i didn't believe my mate when he said it was better than forza. After downloading the demo however i was very impressed by it. After tellling the game what your name is the mechanic always says it afterwards like "thats a big crash harry, are you alright." This is a small step but there is no dialogue in forza or pgr which makes it a nice touch. When i started my first race in a touring car i was amazed to see 20 CARS on the grid which made the first corner frantic as everyone bashed into each other. This was when i discovered the amazing and best so far damage system were massive chunks of car fall off and cars can barrelroll as well as be completely totalled with their tyres coming off.

In a san francisco street race i ploughed into a tyre wall and was impresssed to see all the tyres exploding in different directions which is better than the solid tyre walls in forza. Another nice touch is you can rewind several seconds before impact and try to avoid it second time round which is good if you make a bad mistake on the 10th lap as you dont have to completely restart. In single player you work to gain reputation. you get more for harder difficulty like manual transmission. in multiplayer there is a voting system were everyone in the game chooses there preferred option. up to 12 players i believe.

The cars handle well but can get annoying when you accelerate and just spin it. there is a cockpit view which is just as good as the pgr one. The main problem i have with the game is the game types like drift mode which you have to do and on multiplayer it seems that you are lucky to survive the first bend. overall a great driving game with many new unseen features. well worth the money.

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Rating: - Its about time we had something worth the cash!
As expected this is up there with the original 'Toca' race titles and it shows. Its all down to ability and perseverence. A great demo that promises to be a cracking game. Although i found the drifting challenge nearly impossible, that does not stop you pressing restart and having another go. Great graphics and the AI seems really good. If you like the easy driving games such as Forza or Pgr then you may not be up to the challenge that this throws down. Finally a game for drivers without all the gimmicks.

Well now i have the full game. Oh dear its not as good as the demo, its a million times better. The first time you flip your car or cause another car to flip your finger will just keep hitting the rewind button. Its immense. The drift is much easier in the full game (so far?) This is fantastic. I have had every driving game going and this is by far the best. The crashes, the graphics, the AI, its all stunning. I have not tried the racing wheel with it yet but once the wife is out for a few hours then its game on. Amazing!

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Rating: - Great to look at......That's about it!!!
First off, let's get the bad points out of the way;

In normal circuit racing, cars handling can be quite unpredictable. Mainly, when powersliding, the car suddenly regains perfect grip which sends you flying off course as you are still steering into the slide.
Also there is VERY harsh contrast between tarmac and grass, whereby the slightest over-rev or tiniest adjusment too far on the steering results in a 180* spin. This makes rejoining the race after a simple mistake as challenging as catching the field again!
Difficulty settings on circuit racing have stark contrast also. The easiest setting has you leaving all the opposition in your dust (no challenge there!) whereas on the next setting up, the smallest mistake has the whole pack crashing all over you and only about 5 or so cars per lap are passable.

In the drift mode, the slides are physically impossible to control well enough to gain the required amount of points to win! Even on the easiest difficulty, the AI still maintains immaculate scoring. Only a small percentage of the target score is realistically achievable.
Drift mode is the biggest let down and the reason I shall NOT be buying a previously anticipated title.

As for the good bits...the visuals are spot-on...

Overall, the MOST frustrating, and unplayable racer EVER devised!

If it's a decent 360-based racer you desire, then get PGR4 or Forza 2, as these are challenging, but fun titles which are actually playable! 'Nuff said!