GRID2: The Race That Hasn't Really Returned
GRID1 was an amazing beast. I remember first playing it in 2008 and being disgusted by how it handled, I had dipped my hand into GT5
rologue(anxiously awaiting the full game) and the change was one I refused to accept. Not because I dont like Arcade racers, I love arcade racers, but because it was so modestly set between simulation and arcade in the way the game was played I passed it off as a failed attempt and never looked at it for months.
Just as equally, I remember taking it out, having a game hiatus half-way through my PS3 career and decided to play again. It was then, I fell in love with GRID. The handling
made sense eventually, the online community drew me in, dreams and memories of TOCA flooded back as I swept a Chevy Lacetti through the turns of Istanbul. It clicked.
Now, fast foward to May 31st 2013. A date I have been eagerly awaiting since the sequel to one of my fondest games was announced in the first place. GRID2 arrived on my door-step. I was ready to get lost in the world of GRID again. The Race had returned.
But it didnt really.
I turned on GRID2 and was met with something completely different. The one intrinsic confusingly unique handling that made the cars so flamboyant and floaty in GRID1 had been replaced and changed with a more dynamic drift-centric motif, that wanted me to take corners faster than I should, and create more smoke than I should. The game wanted me to dwell into a world of extreme motor-racing and leave behind McKane and Ravenwest and its racing of old, for the sports-center generation of today. Where at a click of the mouse, Fans from all around the world would watch my clips on Youtube
not tune in to watch me race on sundays. I was distraught, it seemed like GRID
was gone. There was no Race
just a imitation of the Dirt series that so harshly left Colin McCrae behind. I nearly gave up and simply left it behind. I couldnt do it though, if not for the fact I had spent £38, but also that I had been waiting so long for the title. Surely there was a game worth playing in there?
In my opinion. Im correct. GRID2 is a fantastic arcade racer that is exhilarating, yet underwhelming. As I speed through Paris, overtaking my competitors
just seconds later I am bumper first into a wall because I merely touched a piece of traffic on the road. As I admire the scenes of Tokyo at night, I also bemoan the horrible glare of the Dubai sun on the un-aliased buildings that pierce the sky(PS3 version, I understand the PC game is much better looking). Oddly enough, Im not deterred from GRID2. Im playing the hell out of it, for every bad thing, I can find 2 positives, and because there are a lot of negatives, theres also a lot of positives. The soundtrack is as OTT as ever and the car selection is pretty damn good and well balanced. As is the track selection for the most part, albeit pretty random, the tracks here are great fun to race on and provide nailbiting situations in the Tier 4 beasts or accuracy battles in the Tier 1 hatches. I find myself constantly going back to GRID2, to learn the new handling, to hit that corner perfect, to earn more fans
to leave behind Ravenwest and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Theres not much in common between GRID1 and GRID2 and its not something you gradually notice. Its something you see from the title screen at very beginning, when you are greeted by: #grid2
GRID2 is a bewildering beast. Its one which will immediately disgust and put off a lot of people, purely because of its radical change in direction but if you stick it out and leave behind the GRID of old, there is a great racer hidden underneath, one that will twist and pull at your opinions to judge it. I couldnt review GRID2 because - because its easily the most subjective title Ive had the pleasure of playing.
Now, time to earn some more fans and get crashed out at every bloody corner.
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