GRID Autosport – Review
The newest installment of the GRID franchise tries to take a different direction than its two predecessors. GRID Autosport treats us to a more realistic racing gaming compared to the otherwise arcade-ish feeling that went hand in hand with the previous games.
Story
Games such as GRID Autosport do not rely on heavy storylines and thus not much story value is to be found in the game. Of course you’ll be able to rise through the ranks in the career mode but other than that you’ll have to make up your own story as you go.
Graphics
Having tried the Xbox 360 version it was clear the system proved to be aging to be running a game such as this. Whilst the overall graphics look fairly good, the rendering times were on the long side. Car previews took horribly long to be shown on screen if you wish to select another car than the one the game suggests you to pick.
The graphical quality, once you were able to start, were on the good side. The cars look detailed and realistic, which certainly add to the realism factor. You’ll be able to enjoy driving them through detailed tracks, which are more in a formula 1 setting, compared to the original street racing roots the game has come from.
Sound
Overall the soundtrack proves to give you a rush, whilst during most of the levels the music is non-existent. Seeing the game aims for a more realistic atmosphere, you’ll spend more time hearing the realistic engine sounds and that of your opponents.
The music that you hear is qualitative and doesn’t really get old the more you hear it.
Gameplay
As mentioned earlier GRID Autosport aims to be a game somewhere in between the simulation and the arcade genre.
The career mode will be the biggest mode in the game, seeing you will have to progress through this mode in order to unlock more tracks, cars and experience. You’ll have to complete several seasons that consist out of different types of events to keep things spiced up. One minute you’ll be competing in realistic formula 1-like events, whilst on other occasions you’ll be duking it out in the middle of the highway.
Having a lot of different modes will offer the chance to find more events you’ll like and perhaps more that you will learn to excel in. Sadly, having this many modes also makes the game feel a tad unfinished. Whilst most of these modes have the right base to support the game, it’s fair to say that the game does indeed feel like a mix of realism and arcade.
Before the start of each race you’ll have the chance to adjust several settings, to create the ideal circumstances in which you feel the most comfortable. You’ll be able to tune your vehicle when it comes to brakes, steering and suspensions. Upgrades can also be done at the start of each race, to ensure you can keep up with the competition.
The overall difficulty settings allow for a lot of tuning as well. You’ll find a lot of profiles, which are already programmed in the game, which in turn you can adjust to create a profile that suits you best. Having a custom profile is a great way to slowly adjust the difficulty, seeing gaps between different difficulties can be a bit big, if you’re new to the racing genre. Damage is also a factor that can be enabled, to ensure a more difficult experience.
Control-wise the game feels more realistic than its predecessors, seeing you can’t simply rush in, hit everything that crosses your path and still finish first place. Pressing the brake button at the last moment will, just like in real life, cause you car to be unable to steer properly and thus you will have to keep track of your speed at all times.
Luckily, like most racing games nowadays, GRID Autosport has a rewind function, in case you mess up that final turn. Depending on your difficulty you can use your rewind function an unlimited times or only several times. If you happen to play split-screen or online, this function gets replaced by the respawn function, which will just respawn you on the track in case something goes wrong.
Kudos to GRID Autosport for allowing a split-screen mode in the game, which more and more games are starting to get rid of. A racing game should still be able to be played with friends locally.
Conclusion
GRID Autosport proves to be a very accessible game for those who wish to either have an arcade-ish experience with realistic elements or vice versa. You’ll be able to participate in a lot of different events that suit your fancy with some great looking cars to create a fun extra addition to the GRID franchise.
GRID Autosport - Review,
No Comments