Grid

Well I decided to do a few games reviews in the hope that I can help stear people away from any horrible nasties I just happen to play, my first review is Grid for the PS3.

Well I a can be the odd fan of racing games, the last one being Dirt which was fun, you just can't really beat a good rally game (am looking forward to the new one, that and GT HD). Well I grabbed a copy of Grid as it got some good reviews and I just don't think I could have bothered with another Need for Speed. Anyways, I popped the game in and was... erm... surprised, the game plays fairly similar to Dirt 2 being as they are both from Codemaster it's not a surprise, I played for a few hours but unfortunatley could go no further, it is a shame that in todays racing game world every Racer seems to have the same problem and the better the games systems get the more apparent the problem is getting, that problem is all down to the lack of skill or effort on the part of the AI.

For years now we have known that racing game AI just has to cheat, different games employ different techniques, catch up etc and it's all no doubt due to the incredable risk a racer is willing to take when he/she is not actuall in the vehicale racing straight towards a brick wall, basically i can easily hammer a F3 car into a corner at 120 odd miles per hour and slam on the brakes at the last minute, if I crash who cares im sure I'll catch up or I could just reset the race, unfortunately in most cases I just have to take the risk as in doing so I pick up three places in one corner, the problem with this games mechanic is that the AI is set to be as realistc as possable and is just not willing to take this gamble, so therefore the AI is given a slight advantage and manages to stick to the road a bit better, accelorate faster etc. What im trying to get at here is that games are becoming more and more realistic but I just don't think the games mechanics are mathcing these realisms. How could you have a LeMans type if race in 3 laps?!?! How come the AI knows all the corners coming up and I don't?

I think what I wanted to see with this game and what I honestly thought was going to happen was more of a "win some loose some situation" we all watch Formula 1 etc and we all know that the winner doesn't have to win every single race over and over, why can we not see something where the player is not forced into taking risk after risk throughout a race, the gameplay in Grid is nonetheless as good as it really gets on the PS3 for now, the best bet is to wait for the new Grand Tourismo, Grid is trying to keep us busy until that point and for that fact Grid does it's job.

The graphics in Grid are pretty good and nothing to be looked down at, they are pretty average compared to todays games but lets remember that this is a year old now, the cars look nice and bling, there are loads of custom setting allowing the individual to customise there own race team colurs and insignia but it's not Need for Speed so I wouldn't be expecting to customise every aspect of the car, saying that there does seem to be an almost infinite number of cars to choose from and loads of race types from formula 1 to Japanese drift comps, this game seems to have all the bases covered and will keep one entertained for some time!

All in all this game is worth a play if your an extreme race fan, for me I found the gameplay was just far too frustrating and made for much shouting at the TV screen in anger as I tried again and again to finish the race without placing last, yes I know most people would say I should have practiced etc but I found it far too stressful, I managed to finish most of the races in half decent position first time but it was the odd race where it got to a point that i just didn't want to play anymore and would have been happy placing 5th or something like that withought a massive penalty or feeling like a complete dunce!

Rent the game if you can but if your like me and your not a massive "all I play is racer" type of person then I would rather just wait for Grand Tourismo, Dirt 2 has just come out and alas is mainly rally but i think playing Grid will just lead to far too many objects being thrown at your TV.

Gameplay 4.5/10

Graphics 7.3/10

Sound 7.3/10

TOTAL 63.6/100