Race Driver GRID, what a game. It is a game that drove me to write nearly 2000 words in my review of it, that is pretty hefty for me! I start of like this.
What happens when a game tries to combine two different play styles? The simple answer is that the game will either crash and burn, or become a big hit. Race Driver GRID has the potential to be a big hit, a great looking graphics engine and damage modelling; exciting fun racing and a well crafted Career mode are just some of the things going for it.
After literally days of speculation and wondering Codemasters Race Driver GRID has landed on Steam for $39.99 for UK and US customers while those in the rest of Europe will be paying $59.99. The game is also available world wide.
I must say that it is a shame that, despite being a world wide release, Codies have decided to vary the price so much between the UK/US and the rest of Europe. Makes me feel somewhat sad for any European readers. Another slightly disappointing matter is that the Steam release of GRID doesn’t include any Steamworks features. Apart from that this is great to see, I really hope that Codemasters will try to further expand their presence on Steam, they do have some pretty good games.
While there has been no official confirmation yet (email sent to PR, no response as of yet) it is seeming ever more likely that Codemasters is coming to Steam. Both the FAQ for Race Driver GRID and a post by Rich Tysoe the GRID Community Manager mention that GRID will be coming onto Steam.
The latter post says that GRID will be available on Steam today, the same day that GRID is released in the US. It also states that it will be a worldwide Steam release. So no region locking from Codemasters then it seems. Expect clarification on this later today.
My Race Driver GRID preview has gone live over on 411 Mania and features my thoughts on the demo and some other ramblings.
I say things such as;
If you just want to see some wrecks, then drive into anything and everything, smoke, wheels, bodywork and glass will appear and fill the screen. The cars all take realistic damage in real time and they look like they have taken a beating. Even if you crash by accident then you can use the nifty Instant Replay feature which allows you to rewind time, Prince of Persia style to before the incident allowing you to avoid that spectacular crash.
The almighty GameTrailers are having a week of exclusive Race Driver GRID videos and the first two off the blocks are mighty fine. Showing off the US Street Tracks you can see a Chevy Camaro and a Dodge Viper racing around. Not enough crashes though.
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 some exciting Race Driver: GRID news the Executive Producer has confirmed that it has gone gold. So we can expect GRID to land on the 30th of May. It is also confirmed that GRID has had the Games for Windows label stuck on it.
The following trailer shows off some sexy looking cars burning rubber on the Japanese tracks. Also of note in the trailer is a new song, ‘Phat Planet’ by Leftfield replaces the usual Queens of the Stoneage remix.
But I won’t be playing it! Alas exams and a PC that I haven’t had the chance to fix yet deprives me of the chance to enjoy the thrills and spills of the Race Driver GRID demo when it lands on all ‘non-handheld platforms’ sometime this week.
The GRID Community Site reveals that sometime this week (commencing 5th May) the demo for GRID will be made available.
The demo has 3 events to compete in. The eBay Motors Muscle Cup sees you taking the wheel of a ford Mustang GT-R and the streets of San Francisco, the Advan International Trophy hands you a Nissan S15 Silvia and your playground is Yokohama Docks, and the Euro Touring Car Series provides some old-school tin-top thrills with a BMW 320si touring car and the sweeping curves and hairpins of Jarama.
Of that, well only the Euro Touring Car Series sounds fun to me, but I guess I will wait a few weeks before being able to see for myself.
That says it all doesn’t it, Codemasters love their racing games and they also love to drift! I myself am not a big fan of drifting, it is a very Need for Speed sensation and is one I just don’t like in a serious racing game. Though if Codemasters like it then so be it.
Not much else to say really apart from the fact that if I was to make another Codemasters related news post it would be entitled ‘Codemasters Love To Play Queens of the Stoneage Mixes!’.
