GRID - Totally Not A Sim
The Codemasters FAQ for Race Driver: GRID has been put online and provides an interesting insight into the balance between the Arcade and Simulation aspects of the game.
Some big things come out in this FAQ and that is that this is much more of an Arcadey game than previous Codemasters racing games have been.
In GRID there are no car tuning or set up options, at all. While I appreciate Codemasters wanting to broaden the appeal of GRID to the wider Arcade racing audience, this move won’t go down well with the Simulation orientated gamers.
The second big thing to jump out from the FAQ in the Arcade/Simulation debate is the lack of any wet weather conditions. Day and night driving has been included, but one of the most interesting and fun forms of driving is not present. The lack of realistic weather is another blow for those looking for more of the Simulation real-to-life style of game.
Finally the FAQ also confirms there will be no “Penalty Flags” which I can only assume means that there are no Yellow, Red or Black flags. If this is what no “Penalty Flags” means then again GRID is going to annoy many of the more hardcore racers.
While it has always been obvious who Codemasters have been targeting with GRID it is distressing to know that the features mentioned above won’t be included. I am sure that Codemasters could have included these in a Simulation mode or setting in GRID as they would have added a much greater level of depth to the game.
In another note the game will be available on Steam, but unfortunately there are no voice communications in GRID for us PC users, we will have to resort to typing what we want to say…while racing.
Nevertheless I am still looking forward to getting my PC back in full working order and getting GRID when it comes out at the end of the month.
Tags: Arcade, Codemasters, GRID, Race Driver, Simulation