Grid

by Codemasters

Product Features

• Contains 3 distinct regions featuring US, Japan and Europe
• 3 distinct racing styles that include Muscle cars, city racing, drift racing, traditional circuit racing
• Progress and create your own race team, hire co-drivers, and attract real-life big sponsors
• 20 car grids, bigger than any other racing game, fully licensed cars and tracks, all fully damageable
• Slicker, sexier, presentation similar to a Hollywood film

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0016O5G62
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches ; 5.1 ounces
• Media: DVD-ROM
• Release Date: June 3, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,465 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #54 in Video Games > PC Games > Racing & Flying
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC

Amazon.com

GRID™ Is all about the race- that period from lights to flag; full of tension, pressure, noise, and action.

GRID will take players to beautifully realised and dramatic race locations over three continents to compete in an unprecedented variety of racing events. Packed with the most powerful race cars – new and classic, circuit and drift – players will compete to conquer the most prestigious official race tracks and championships and then go beyond to compete in challenging city-based competitions, through to road events and urban street races.

In Europe, race gamers will compete on the greatest official tracks in prestige Marques including Aston Martin, Koenigsegg and Pagani. Iconic cities across the U.S. – including San Francisco, Washington DC and Detroit and each with their own atmosphere and events – play hosts to diverse street races. Here, high-performance V8 muscle cars set the pace in aggressive closely fought pack competitions.

In the Far East, Japanese racing culture sets the tone where night races, including Drift racing, take drivers through neon illuminated cities and to outlying mountain roads. There is also the opportunity to compete in races that operate on the fringes of legality in the back streets and industrial areas of Yokohama.

Key Features IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RACE: Codemasters Studios' history of creating stellar racing titles, combined with AI and the ability of the EGO engine allow them to deliver GRID - a pure and cinematic race experience A GREATER, MORE DIVERSE, WORLD OF RACING: New and classic, track and street – conquer the greatest racetracks and then go beyond with road races and urban street competitions JUMP BEHIND THE WHEEL OF SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING CARS: Exotics, imports and beefy muscle cars are all available to race in hugely varied events with grids of up to twenty cars aggressively competing for the lead THREE DISTINCT RACING REGIONS: Europe, US and Japan are all beautifully designed, each with their own individual takes on racing: U.S.A – In thunderous V8 muscle cars, race diverse courses on city streets in flat out, door banging racing action; Japan – Reject traditional Western racing and drift over to Japan for action the fringes of legality in industrial areas and back streets from dusk 'till dawn; Europe – Race the famous tracks dominated by Le Mans in some of the most technologically advanced cars ever created such as the Ferrari F430 GT, Lamborghini Murcielago GTR, Aston Martin DBR9, Koenigsegg CCXR and Porsche 911 GT3-RSR EVERYTHING THAT COULD HAPPEN IN A RACE PROBABLY WILL: A GRID race tests a driver's skills at every turn -- crammed with high-impact moments such as, engine fires, tire blow outs, bump and runs, wild crashes involving flipping, spinning, and collisions with other cars and trackside objects ENHANCED EGO ENGINE DRIVES ALL NEW HIGH IMPACT CRASH DAMAGE AND SEQUENCES: Physics models will ensure that collisions and crashes yield the kind of spectacle that a Hollywood movie director would ask for. Slow motion will be used extensively to give replays the blockbuster treatment ONLINE RACING: Race your cars online in high-adrenaline multiplayer, multiple car events

Highly Detailed Vehicles View Image Race Online with Your Friends View Image

Product Description

GRID is all about 40 of the most incredible race cars ever created with the finest AI.  GRID is about revolutionary damage to vehicles and environments that affect your race and blow your mind.  GRID is about the most complete replay packages, letting you relive the moments of your glory or destruction in jaw-dropping hi-res slow-motion.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great racer, but maybe not for the beginner., July 14, 2008

By 

J. Howard "Gadget , Tech & Computer Geek" (San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: GRID (DVD-ROM)

Codemasters loves to make racers that are in between a simulator and a arcade sim. Grid is no different, and uses a graphics engine that is an evolution of the one used in Dirt, but I feel that it leans a bit more toward sim. It starts oddly, as it drops you right into a rather challenging race, and you have to complete a few more simi-advanced races before you start racing in entry level events. The graphics are STUNNING if your computer has the horse power to run it. If not, and you have an XBOX or PS3, I would suggest that. But what really matters is the driving. I personally LOVE the hardcore feel of this game. When I get first place in a race I feel like I have really accomplished something. The AI is also some of the best I have ever seen. I think what I like most about it is that it actually messes up. Some would say that this is annoying, and a bad call by the developer. But when I do a flawless race, and I see the AI spin out or cut a corner too aggressively and smash into the center barrier, I can't help but think, "Sigh.. Rookies.". It ads to the immersion of the game and no race is ever the same thanks to this. The damage model is top notch and the game also features something I have never seen in a racing game, an instant replay that you can resume from. Imagine you are on a 10 lap race and the AI is breathing down your neck the whole time. Your race is flawless, but one little mistake and you will never get 1st place. Well what do you know you push a little too hard around that last corner, sliding into a wall, and get dropped down to 8th in a flash. It would be a waste of a race and your time. But with the instant replay you can quickly go back about 8 second and try the corner again, instead of starting totally over.

As far as hardware. I have an AMD 6000+ 2.4Ghz 4GB Ram and 2 crossfire ATI 3850's. I have all settings on max but anti-aliasing turned off. I run it at 1680x1050 and ir is butter smooth. My laptop is a 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4Gb RAM and a nVidia 8600M GT, both computers are running 64bit Vista Ultimate. I run many of the settings on medium and AA off at 1024x768 and it runs smooth. The game has some odd resolutions but it will squished the picture so that if you are running on a 16x9 screen the aspect ratio is correct even though you have a 4x3 ratio resolution.

Oh and lastly. I play this game on my PC with a wired USB XBOX360 controller and it plays great. I have a Driving Force Pro, but have not bothered to try it, as this game seems like it would actually play better on a game pad.

One big fault about this game is the frame limiter. Like many racing games, this tries to lock your frame rate at a constant. I think this game is locked at 30. It may be 60fps, but I am not sure. If your frame rate drops too low, the game becomes unplayable. The controls get sluggish and you end up weaving back and forth because the game takes too long to respond to your controls. There is a PC version of the demo, play it and make sure your computer has the mustard to hamdle it. It scales very well however, and even at low settings, it still looks darn good.

Hope all this is helpful. -KD

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE ABSOLUT ASPHALT DRIVING EXPERIENCE!!, June 8, 2008

By 

NeuroSplicer (Freeside, in geosynchronous orbit) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: GRID (DVD-ROM)

I have been playing PC games all my life and have tried most Racing/Driving games, from the legendary OUTRUN to the latest NFS installments. I have to admit, GRID is THE BEST - BY FAR!

The collection of cars is not vast but rather exotic and exclusive. The graphics are unbelievable, gorgeous and detailed. And the sounds (although will not accurately follow the engine revs) they greatly add to the total immersion. This is such a beautiful game that I have to tear myself from my screen not to keep playing.

There are three views (hood, cockpit and behind the car), all working as they should but what I really appreciated was the collection of available racing types: from closed circuits to demolition derbies, rest assured, you too will find your favorite.

This is not an easy game: deactivate the driver assists and you will find yourself fishtailing all over the place! And keep in mind that dragging is frowned upon in...LeMans-24. Not to mention riding a rattler! That's wright: GRID features TOTALLY REALISTIC DAMAGES! Hit another car or the guard-rails and your fine tuned drive will get crashed and bumpers will fall off - and its handling WILL be affected accordingly!

Choose your name from the setup list and pit-bosses will call you by name (sadly, no...NeuroSplicer option though). Another nice touch is the random events that can occur in a race: from engines failing or bursting into flames to tires going flat or bouncing off, there is not a dull moment and the game keeps you constantly on the edge.

Now, CODEMASTERS seems to be able to learn from its mistakes. First of all, unlike DIRT, GRID does not require an...ubercomputer to run. The requirements are not "all invited" but not "next generation" either. I managed to run it fine on the 4 years old lab computer (a P4 3.2GHz with 2GB of RAM and a 7600GT nVidia).
Moreover, unlike DIRT which was damaged by StarFORCE, GRID harbors a... milder garden variety of SecuROM (without limited installations RootKits). There is clearly room for further listening to customers' dislike of DRM schemes (hence the star withheld), yet, in all fairness, this is an improvement.

So, if you are boycotting SecuROM you have been warned. Otherwise,

RECOMMENDED!!!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Semi-realistic action racing game, September 2, 2008

By 

Chad Babineaux - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: GRID (DVD-ROM)

If you don't like action racing games because they are so un-realistic, and get frustrated with simulation racing games because of the tuning and practice needed to compete; GRID is the perfect game for you.

Likes:
- All cars handle differently
- The graphics are amazing (the replay looks like real TV)
- You can see damage to your car
- You don't have to be a car expert to tune your car to get the best time for each track. (no tuning)

Could improve:
- The other cars will quickly catch up to you or wait for you if you get ahead of the pack or fall behind it (so un-realistic).
- It takes major crashing to affect the performance of the car. You can go from last place into the inside of a curve and brake late, then crash your way into at least mid pack.
- You can easily go from 1st to last place by spinning out in a curve on the last lap. All cars like to stay grouped together and run 2 wide.
- Force feedback could be better in the turns

If the other cars were spread out more (first 3 issues), it would be the perfect racing game for me.

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