Customer Reviews

GRID

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Realistic non-F1 or NASCAR racing for the PS3 currently consists of two titles, GT 5 Prologue and Grid. This is a brief review to address the pros and cons of both programs:

Graphics: GT 5P is a very limited version of the full program which will be out later this year or even in 2009. As such, we need to bear in mind we are comparing a limited scope product to a finished one. That said, graphic elements in each program are still a wash, which I guess is testimony to GT 5P considering its graphics will probably improve a bit before the final version. The cars in GT 5P have more polygons and so the models look better, but Grid features a full-fledged damage system so the lower poly count and smaller number of cars in Grid are fully deformable, hence damage and collisions are quite dramatic in Grid. As of yet, GT 5Ps cars are not at all deformable so to some extent we are comparing two different types of graphics. Background track visuals are roughly the same in both games, so what we have is nicer undamaged models versus fully deformable models.

Sound: GT 5P wins hands-down. Engines sound nicer and more realistic, and the in-music is diverse and licensed. Grid truly fumbled the ball here with similar sounding rather weak engines and generic butt rock bgm that has not a single memorable riff. Admittedly one doesn't buy a racing game for the music, but the licensed tracks add some aesthetic appeal to GT 5P.

Scope and Size: GT 5P offers 75 cars, many of which are pretty tedious to drive. Grid offers 45 cars, most of which are lots of fun to drive. However, the fly in the ointment is that GT 5P has more varied and realistic handling among its cars. The 911, the Viper, and the Lancetti all handle remarkably similar in Grid, which really should not be happening. GT 5P by comparison offers a more diverse driving experience. GT 5P however only has 6 tracks while Grid has 15, so Grid offers a bit more to see. However, as mentioned, GT 5P is a work in progress, so we can expect to see many more cars and tracks by the time the finished version appears. Same deal applies to game play - Grid offers many different race modes and championship types, while GT 5P has a limited set of events, 40 or so, so the game can be tapped out very quickly. (Assuming you can get past some of the annoyingly difficult races, more on this later). Grid at present has a lot more to do and experience, so at present it will keep the average gamer occupied and interested longer. When the final version of GT 5P appears, we may see a different picture.

Simulation Aspects: Damage is the issue. GT 5Ps car handling is far superior in terms of realism, but when you see the cars bouncing off each other and walls at 150 mph undamaged, the realistic handling seems to take a backseat in consideration of simulation accuracy. The damage system in Grid is superior simply because it exists. However, the lads at Codemasters have retreated a bit from the more realistic damage system in their TOCA games, and your Grid vehicle can take quite a bit of damage before any in-game performance is affected, and the parameters for cataclysmic termination of the race have been raised considerably, so your car can be a veritable wreck on wheels and still win a race. The earlier TOCA games had far more realistic (i.e. harsh) damage modeling, and your vehicle was easy to either wreck altogether or to see it's performance degrade to the point where it could not compete against other racers after a few hard collisions. I guess the Codemaster gang had too many complaints about the high number of restarts needed to finish the average event, so the cars in Grid (as in Dirt) are more Hollywood style in their robust durability.

The current system in Grid is far superior to Forza inasmuch at least there is the possibility of complete elimination from the race for particularly severe collisions. Forza has the silliness of 170 mph head-on crashes that scar your car's skin and then make it pull to the left, a rather unlikely outcome that is only slightly superior to the Gran Turismo invulnerability. Grid is a good compromise in terms of damage modeling, and the added tension of the risk of crashing and the extra graphics pizzazz as you see bumpers fly off and windows shatter make Grid more entertaining and realistic. However, if you hope to see the handling differences between a Skyline and a WRX, Grid is not going to be of any use, so simulation fans have to make a hard choice here, between semi-realistic damage and simplified generic arcade style handling in Grid, or no damage at all and meticulous handing details in GT 5P.

Finally, the GT 5P developers promise there will be a damage system and deformable graphics added to the final build and perhaps even added to the 5P version as downloadable content as soon as this August. I personally am skeptical as to how this will be implemented, as I resemble the Forza-esque "damage" system from GT 2, and have my doubts that the GT 5P programmers are going to be able to give us several hundred deformable graphically detailed and realistically handling cars by the time of the final build, but we will wait and see. Polyphony has gone the extra mile in the past, so a fait accompli in this case would not be impossible.

Gameplay: Grid gets the nod here. The races in Grid are more thrilling due both to the damage system, the superior AI of the other drivers, and the campaign style racing career that is part of the game. Many of the individual races in GT 5P are fun, but the AI of other drivers is still robot-like, and they almost never screw up, never seem to interact with the player or other drivers, and respond little if at all to the player's movement on the track. They will at least avoid you if you park stationary in the middle of the racing line (unlike GT 4 where they would crash into you like cruise missiles repeatedly during the course of each lap) but that is about it. The other drivers in Grid are smarter, more "human" (failable), and at higher difficulty levels will be both aggressive and also willing to retaliate if you clip them. This programming plus the damage makes Grid races more white-knuckle affairs, full of drama and tension. The invulnerable cars racing against robot clones in GT 5P in comparison make that game seem more like you against your own best rather than you against other drivers, and therefore less intense and involving. It is a source for joy and entertainment in Grid to see a rival spin out due to a judgment error or crash into another driver in overtaking gone bad, and this is pretty much absent in GT 5P.

The annoying campaign structure (or lack thereof) of GT 5P should also be mentioned, as your progress in the game can be quite effectively stalled if you cannot finish one of the 10 events in each tier. The Ferrari "pass them all" event in the A level races in particular can literally bring your enjoyment of the game to a halt as you struggle again and again to meet the unpleasantly tough challenge of trying to pass 13 other cars in only one lap on a tough narrow and twisting course. Grid deals better with failure and there is always something else to do to progress in the game if you screw up a particular event. The diversity of Grid events is also appealing, with top speed challenges, touge races, even demolition derbies. The one mis-step in Grid's events are the idiotic drift races, where you compete on a closed course against an opponent whose score is unknown to you and who you never even see on the track. This is not only unfair, but also a bit dull. But you can mainly ignore drift races for most of the game and still have a lot of fun with it.

The lack of a fully developed campaign in GT 5P may well be due to the incremental nature of the game. The final GT 5 will presumably have the same wide range of events that GT 4 did. We may also see improved other driver AI and a damage system added to the final build, but at present, Grid is far more entertaining. The addition of the excellent "flashback" feature in Grid makes a strong package better, and this is a truly revolutionary feature that is very welcome in racing games.

Interface: Grid has many limits in its interface and structure. There is no learning mode, no racing line "cheat", no tutorials. The instant replays are very limited and you cannot change which car the camera focuses on, or save the replay. Stat tracking is limited to some basic numbers that pop up only in the loading screens. GT 5P lacks many of these features too, but the replay system is far better, the racing line feature is invaluable for the less skilled, and the finished build will presumably have the same full feature set of GT 4. Grid could have used a bit more polish here, though to be fair the more arcade like handling makes education of new players a bit less imperative. Still, a tutorial on drifting technique for instance could have made Grid more accessible and friendly to new players. The personalized commentary by name in Grid is cute at first, but the voices say the same thing at the same time over and over again, and you soon find yourself wishing these guys who know your name would just shut up for a bit.

Overall: A tough call - the damage system in Grid is a bit deceptive in its leniency, and the game markets itself as more of a simulation than it is. The 45 cars are already exceeded by GT 5P and the final GT 5 will probably have close to 10 times as many cars in it. However, as in GT 4, many of the hundreds of cars will be uninteresting to most players. The limited number of tracks in Grid is more troubling, but the various types of racing make the most of the small number of tracks. The interface in Grid is also a bit rough, and Forza still sets the standard in this area, with Gran Turismo running a close second.

The real issue to me though is game play, and here Grid is the bird in hand versus GT 5's potential bird in the bush. At present, GT 5P is a step forwards for the series only in graphics, and the null damage and tired competing driver AI are very definitely last generation. The races in Grid are more thrilling, and the campaign structure more engaging. This may change with the final build of GT 5, but to expect radical revisions in damage and compu-racer intelligence may be a tad optimistic. Even compared to the final build of GT 5, Grid may well have more exciting racing, better handling of damage, and more unpredictable and reactive AI. The final ace in the hole for Grid is that it is fully functional now - a more competitive GT 5 may well take 6 months or more to come down the turnpike. If you need something to race now, Grid undoubtedly is the better deal even at its $60 price versus GT 5P's $40 list. If you are choosing between buying Grid and Prologue now buy Grid, finish it, and wait to see how the final build of GT 5 addresses the series' traditional weak points. Prologue is a tech demo and money maker for Polyphony, worthy at most of a rental, and if the final build of GT 5 does not make significant progress in core game play elements like damage and AI, then Grid will seem all the more of an achievement.

You've already read other people's reviews and they are generally spot-on. However, they don't make it obvious that you can't have a friend over and play one-on-one. WTF? This is a COLOSSAL downgrade in my opinion. I can only play with people online or find a friend and drag him over and set him up on LAN play with his dedicated PS3/TV.

Great game, but you've been warned...

My review of GT5 Prologue elsewhere on Amazon reveals how disappointed I was with that preview to the full game. Things are a lot different this time around though. I downloaded the demo for Grid from the PS3 store first of all. 983Mb, so it took a while, but once it was installed and I was able to start playing - wow. The next day I went out and traded GT5 Prologue at my local games store and bought the full version of Grid. Why? Because Grid is exciting to play.

How can this be? It doesn't run at 60Hz. It doesn't run in 1080p (it's a 720p game). The graphics aren't as clean. The physics isn't as accurate. Surely GT5 Prologue ought to be head and shoulders above Grid?

In the computer graphics world, there's a concept called The Uncanny Valley - it's when CGI becomes so real that humans no longer accept it as being real any more. GT 5 Prologue has crossed the Uncanny Valley. Grid hasn't and it's so much better for it. The graphics are grubbier, dirtier and rougher - more like the real world. That's not to say they're worse. Not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact the detail on the cars and tracks in Grid is every bit as complex as that in GT 5 Prologue. Pause a replay or look around the cars in the garage - the detail goes as far as manufacturer logos on the wheel rims and brake calipers.

The single big-ticket item for me though is that Grid has solved the two biggest problems with GT 5 Prologue. Grid has car damage, and it's AI for the other drivers is stunning. First the car damage - it's incremental. Starting with scratched paint, bent wings and cracked windows. Keep up the reckless driving and bumpers will work loose and windows will pop out. Keep going and you can bend just about every part of the car. It all affects the car handling too - not extremely, but it is noticable. Steering can pull to one side or the other, acceleration can be dulled, brakes can lose their efficiency. Cracked radiators, bent air intakes - all affect the performance of your car. It's more arcade than simulation, but frankly it's so much better for it. Best of all, like Forza and other racers, when something drops off a car, it's persistent - it stays on the track creating a hazard for competitors behind. Same goes for tyre walls - whack into one of those and the tyres will fly all over the place, scattering into the crowd and track. Oh - and the crowd - 3D people that cheer and chant, and if you smack the wall right next to them, jump back. A nice touch.
On to the AI front, a breath of fresh air from the awful GT 5 Prologue disaster. Drivers jostle for position all over the track. They will get aggressive with you if you get aggressive with them. They make mistakes, often spinning out or crashing into each other or trackside objects. Fabulous. Love it.

You can whip up a paint job for your team from some basic choices of patterns and colours. It's got nowhere near the amount of tunability and customisation that some racers do but really - do you need it? There's plenty of variety in Grid to give you a custom look to your team. On top of that, the more you race, the more sponsors become available to you, so you can stuff sponsor stickers all over your ride to make more money when you race.

Other graphics touches are nice - the tyre smoke effects, dirt and sparks from the odd hard landing or excursion into the grass. Realtime reflections and shadows from everything. It's all gravy but it's all brilliant.

There are a raft of racing events to choose from - Pro Stock, Touring Cars, Destruction Derby, Open-wheel, Drift, Pro Togue - the list goes on. There's a large choice of tracks and a reasonable good choice of cars to choose from. Most tracks have a couple of different versions with forward and reverse options coming up later in the game.

The in-race music is patchy - it only seems to exist in a couple of races and I'm not sure why. Nobody in the Codemasters support forums seems to know why either but it's not a biggie. When racing there are plenty of ambient sound effects going on around you, even if the engine sounds are all a bit samey.

The replay facility is exciting to watch but it is a little limited. You can only focus on your car and you can't rotate the camera around, and there's no save facility. There are 5 or 6 predetermined camera choices including TV-style coverage which is nice, and the ability to slow the action down to ultra-slow-motion is really a nice addition. Grid also comes with a flashback feature. If you cock something up in a race, you can watch an instant replay and then choose the point in the replay from which you want a do-over. You'd think that would make it easy to win the races but in reality it doesn't. You only get between 2 to 6 chances in a race depending on your difficulty level. Each time you use one, you lose potential cash and reputation from your end-of-race winnings. The more cash you have, the more cars you can buy. The more reputation you earn, the more you can demand for racing for other teams. Yes - you have your own team, but you can also race for others as a sort of 'gun for hire'. Once you've progressed far enough you can also hire a second driver to drive a second car for you, doubling the chances of making money. As you work your way through the game your reputation level also unlocks more licence classes to race in - 10 in all, split 3 ways between US-, Euro- and Japanese-Racing once you've won your way through the basic licence.

Grid's online mode is also a lot better than GT 5 Prologue's too. It's intuitive and easy to use, and doesn't seem to really care about how your internet connection is set up. There is not a lot of noticable lag which makes for a nice, smooth racing environment. You can opt to join an existing lobby on the internet, or set up one of your own and wait for others to come to you. If you set up your own lobby, you can set a couple of different options, like damage levels and whether or not the race employs 'catch up' to keep the racers closer together. The only thing that marrs the online play is that you'll inevitably get one or two idiots who, once they've realised they're not at the front, will turn around and race the wrong way around to try to crash into everyone else. But I guess that's the motor racing equivalent of the 5 year old Korean kid who knows every glitch in first person shooters and appears to be able to snipe you from across the map.

Most importantly though, Grid is exciting to play. Properly exciting - enough to annoy you when you lose a race and make you want to run it over again to try to improve your ranking. It has plenty of eye-candy, plenty of replayability and plenty of variety. And that is why, for the time being, Grid trumps GT 5 Prologue in every category. Sure GT5P is a "preview" or "expensive demo" but if Polyphony don't learn from what Codemasters have done with Grid, the full version of GT5 will falter and ultimately fail. Grid doesn't fail - it wins comprehensively. Download the demo and I bet you'll end up buying the full game.

I love racing games but am not a huge fan of the realistic-type racing games (Gran Turismo, Forza, etc.). I read a lot of reviews of GRID before buying it and wasn't sure whether I would care for it or not. I am a big fan of the Burnout series. I am not a huge fan of the Need for Speed series because I am not really into cars that use spoilers as decoration and use blown-out mufflers to make them sound louder.

That being said, GRID is probably the best racing game I have ever played. I like the fact that you build your own racing team including designing your own "branding" for that team but you don't get bogged down with choosing decals and other countless inane customization options. The cars in GRID are actual cars (Corvette, Lamborghini, Aston-Martin, etc) as opposed to the Burnout cars that may be modelled after real cars but have silly names.

The racing in GRID is NOT realistic like Gran Turismo but it's more realistic than Burnout. You start the race with one car and if you bang up that car during a race, it can affect the performance of that car. You have several (usually 5) opportunities during a race to cue the instant replay and re-start just before you crashed so you don't have to completely avoid crashes altogether but you can't just bounce off of walls and other cars for the entire race like you can in Burnout, for example. Unlike the latest Burnout offering (Burnout Paradise), you CAN restart any race at any time. There are drifting events and head-to-head races as well as endurance events like the "24 hours at Le Mans" race.

As you progress with your racing team, you can add drivers to your team so that you have multiple entries in the same race. The tracks vary depending on whether you race in Europe, U.S. or Japan but you don't get bored racing the same track over and over again because they change the tracks for different races. Sometimes, you race in the opposite direction on a particular track and sometimes they add sections to a particular track. So, you don't get bored racing the same tracks all the time.

I found a lot of conflicting reviews before buying this game and was still not sure what I was going to get when I played it. That's why I have posted this review. Hopefully, it will clear up any confusion there might be about what kind of racing game GRID is for those of you who may be on-the-fence about purchasing it.

Bought this game after reading a great review from Game Informer. There is a genre of racing games like this one (GT particularly) and they have always seemed too realistic to me- I am not looking to spin out every corner because I failed to take the perfect line or crash into a wall given the extra ounce of pressure I placed on the R2 button. I can see the attraction for GT etc but I am more of a Burnout or MotorStorm racing fan- just let it be fun and fast.
For those like me Grid comes very close to crossing the line into 'too realistic' territory. I am just in the early levels and spinning out and crashing into walls and finishing last are the norm.
Yet I stuck with it because the graphics are awesome and the sense of speed is beyond belief. And when I finally won a race the feeling was great- there is a sense of accomplishment that I did not feel when I was tearing up Burnout.
The career mode is deep and the race choices are varied so I feel I can find my niche. Overall, Grid not only shows what my PS3 is capable of but offers a fast and satisfying racing experience. I am glad I pulled the trigger here and bought it.

I wanted a non-violent (No Motorstorm or Burnout) good-looking racing game for my PS3, so I had to decide between Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and GRID. Since a copy of GT5 Prologue will essentially become a coaster once the full Gran Turismo is released, I decided on GRID.

Having been accustomed to the handling in the old NFS series (Hot Pursuit 2, Most Wanted), I spent all my first races in GRID just crashing against walls and other cars. It was only when a nephew came to my house and he won a couple of races -having never before played the game- that I discovered that the problem wasn't GRID, but me. My nephew knows how to drive a car in real life, while I don't. He gave me a very basic piece of advice on how to take a curve: "Slow down - Turn - Accelerate". This made all the difference in the world. Right now I've won four golden medals in the European challenges, and I feel confident that I can win a lot more. What started as a love-hate relationship with GRID has now become true love.

Still, I feel it lacks "something". Perhaps I was spoiled by the NFS focus on sheer fun, and that's why I have trouble with a more serious (you even manage sponsors!) racing game.

Very few games have come along on the next gen systems, that have caught my attention for more than an hour or two at a time. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Heavenly Sword, and Dirt, were the latest to hold my attention. Then, along comes this unknown racking blockbuster known as GRID! From the moment GRID made it in to my PS3, I was hooked. The next seven hours were a blur!

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a fan boy of either racing genre over the other (arcade or simulation). I love all racing games from Mario Kart to Ridge Racer to Forza Motorsport to Gran Turismo to Dirt, and back again. Each style has its niches that appeal to me, and GRID has combined them perfectly. I will just say that CodeMasters has done it again. You start the game with a beat up Mustang Boss, a garage with no tools, and no money. You will race for other teams to earn money to open your garage and fix your car. Once you have your car, the fun begins!

The cars, the tracks, the visual effects, the eye candy, it is all just stunning! There is nothing better than sitting in your old Ford Mustang Boss, hitting the gas and watching the rear end of your car drop and shift due to the pure power of the car. The racing is intense, and the AI is the best that I have yet to see. This is not the typical "I can never beat these guys because they run that perfect line and never wreck," kind of game. You will realize out of the gate that these guys are out for blood...yours and each others. The AI does it all, from forgetting to break and slamming in to walls in the corners, to tapping your bumper to spin you out, to side bumping you off of the track for a spin out. But remember, the are doing all of this to each other as well. For my time playing, it was not uncommon to be in fourth or third, and seeing the cars in front of me turn in to a billow of smoke and car parts as they were bumping for position on the next turn. The AI's driving intensity makes this game a 110% better from the start.

As for the damage to the cars, this is were a little arcade presence comes in. There are subtle little things that you can get away with like bumping things all throughout the race, but never doing enough damage to effect your cars performance. But trust me, if you slam into a wall at 100+ mph, your car is toast and you have three options, (1) restart the race, (2) retire and lose reputation points, or (3) rewind to just before your accident and try again. I will touch on the rewind ability in a few. Now that takes care of the extremes for damage (light and heavy), but what about the moderate? For anyone that has played Forza Motorsport, you will notice the moderate damage effects right away. If you hit a wall or another car at a decent speed, on the front right side of your car, you will notice that when you take your hand off the wheel, that the car will pull to the right. This makes for some interest when you are on lap 9 of 10, just hit the car in front of you to take over first place, but your car now pulls to the right or left for the entire last lap. Now, back to the rewind ability...during a race, when you are in 1st place and coming in the last turn and slam in to the wall for some reason, you now have the ability to "rewind" the race to just a few seconds before your wreck, and try that nasty corner again.

The one down side to this game (for me at least) is the inability to modify your car. There are limited mod capabilities, but I enjoy the Forza Motorsport abilities, where you can mod everything from the ground and up. I like changing the rims, changing the body kits and hoods, tinting the windows, and giving the car a custom paint job, then going in and completely redesigning your engines. I believe this would have been a great addition to the game. Maybe in the future CodeMasters, maybe.

All in all, this is a great racer. By far, one of the best racers that I have seen in a VERY, VERY long time. And it is definitely, hands down, the #1 racer currently available on the next gen systems. If you are a fan of racing games, the is a must buy!

Most gamers have preferences, I like racing games that are less arcade like, I know it's hard to call any race games on the PS3 true "simulation".

My Favorite Racers : F1: 2010, Gran Turismo 5, Dirt 3 and Shift Unleashed (after the patch).
Racers That Don't Interest Me : Paradise City, Split Second, Need For Speed, Motorstorm and the like.

BEST FEATURE: The thing I like most about this game, and I'm still enjoying it in 2011, is the competitiveness of the AI. I absolutely hate playing a race game where I shoot to the front and lead by a mile. I want competition, I want mistakes to matter, I like to be in the thick of things with the pack breathing down my neck, I want more realism when playing single player against the game. This game certainly delivers this and that, in my opinion, is it's greatest achievement and reason it has long term play-ability. Even if you are a veteran racer like myself you are not simply going to blow thru each race taking first and moving on, but then again, why would you? Where's the competition in that?

DAMAGE: Bang the car up, or be rammed by the competition, and it will start to matter. Steering, tires, shifting etc. can be effected and can destroy any hopes of winning. Hit the wall hard and it's over. Perfectly realistic, of course not (that would frustrate the average gamer anyway) but it is certainly far better than most games offer even today. In fact it took me a little time to get use to all the bumping and banging ...I like to race clean (without hitting anyone) and that simply is not possible in all of these races. Try drifting with 11 other cars all vying for the same piece of real estate.

GRAPHICS: You'll notice the graphics are not bright and saturated like GT, it's got a mild sephia look to it and I like it. The only serious shortfall is cars in your rear view mirror are very pixelated and poor quality. Fortunately it doesn't really matter, you just need to know they're there. Damage looks cool, with flying parts and debris sometimes sticking to your front bumper. Of great importance to me is the Cockpit View as this is my view of choice. All cars are available with Cockpit View unlike GT5.

STEERING WHEEL : I use the Logitech G27 Racing Wheel and have no lag or input problems.

SOUND: This is it's Achilles heel. They're awful! I turn the voice down and music off completely but that does not change the fact that the engine sounds are not clearly pronounced. I tried every conceivable setting on my surround sound to highlight the sound of the engine, regardless ...I have a miserable time shifting solely on rev's as I can't hear them clearly.

If you're a "tweaker" this will leave you wanting. Apart from choosing sponsors/colors/graphics you won't be doing any technical tweaks like setting camber, ride height, shift points etc. I think there are days where you just want to "get in and go" without tweaking, testing, tweaking, testing.

I bought a PS3 specifically for this game and am not disappointed. The selection of cars is thin compared to GT but the driving experience is unparalleled. Fans of DIRT will immediately fall in love with GRID.

The career mode is awesome and has a cinematic quality. It even asks you to select your name or nickname from a list so that it speaks to you "Welcome back Ben..."

Damage, graphics and sound are absolutely amazing. This is the first racing game for PS3 that really shows off what the machine can do.

The "instant replay" feature is really kool. Get in a wreck? Flash back a couple seconds and avoid that mistake. It seems like cheating at first but anyone who's had to reply a single race over because of a simple error will appreciate the ability to just fix the error and keep going rather than retire and re-run.

Multiplayer is fun but not perfect. Chat audio drops out during the loading period and you can't adjust the audio levels during play. When you select a "session" (track) you can enable or disable things like "Catchup", damage, or driver assists... but you can't see which cars are available for that track. This is annoying if you keep selecting tracks for multiplayer that feature the same cars over and over.

As the reviews have suggested, this game is like the rest from Codemasters, its about driving and the experience of driving. After a race or two you stop thinking about the controls and guages and can drive by "feel" and sound alone allowing you to really enjoy the racing experience.

Grid does what few next gen games have done. Instead of putting together a glorified tech demo (I'm talking to you GT5 Prolouge), Codemasters released a single player racing game that falls between arcade and simulator at a nearly perfect balance.

The graphics are top notch (the best at 30fps), the presentation is second to none and sense of speed is off the charts. The difficulty is way up there, but the game offers a "flashback" feature to rewind any really nasty wrecks. Also the AI has to be mentioned. Hands down, this is the best racing AI ever. Your competitors never feel like they are on a set path and it is very common to have nasty wrecks happen around you as you go sailing through the crowd. This combined with various styles of racing (drift, demolition derby, mountain races, etc.) makes the single player mode awesome. Online, there are only head to head races, maybe a patch is on the way to mix things up - demolition derbies online would be sweet.

Grid is not perfect though. Despite damage modeling, your car always seems to be running fine... or totaled. There isn't really any middle ground and this causes some of the races to feel like demolition derbies when they shouldn't. The controls for some of the cars feel twitchy and can be kind of hard to control - espcially in a pack where one nudge can send you spinning. There is no tuning, painting or decalling cars here.

This is easily the best racer to come out this year and probably will hold that title until a working, finished version of GT5 hits next year.