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Home : Games : Reviews : Xbox 360 : Race Driver: GRID
Codemasters: The new king of the racing genre? GRID says so.
Codemasters should be crowned the new king of the racing genre. That is a big statement to make when industry giants Bizzare Creations and Polyphony Digital are pushing their genre defining franchises. Thankfully the statement isn’t made without good reason, and the proof of two great titles that bring back the solid core component of a good racing game, making racing fun.
The hardcore crowd may be remised to find that you won’t focus on tweaking ratios, upgrading to the top tier package, or making sure the right wheels are on your car. Instead you focus on making that final heart pounding turn around the mountain, or nailing the shifting down that long straightaway. GRID focuses on just that, the excitement of racing down a road at breakneck speeds, jamming the breaks around the hairpin turns and sliding across the finish line in first place.
This isn’t to say that Codemasters hasn’t worked to deepen the experience of racing. GRID puts you in control of every facet of your racing team. Everything from choosing which sponsors to go with, or which drivers to hire onto your team are yours to decide; and these decisions are not simple aesthetic changes. Each choice will affect your experience of the game, and how you progress.
Choose a driver for your team who is overly aggressive and he may knock you out of first place to take the win himself. In this case even if your team gets the win, you get a bit less "Rep" for not placing first. Find one who is too passive and you may find your team near the bottom even if you finish first.
This level of attention and detail carries over into choosing sponsors. Each sponsor offers a certain amount of money per race, but nothing in life is free. They will require certain goals be met. Goals can vary from as rough as placing first, and as little as finishing the race. Some goals are even as strange as just finishing the race ahead of a certain other team regardless of your finishing position. It is important in GRID to choose which sponsors will net you the most money based on what you believe you can accomplish. More money always means more cars, more events, and more wins.
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