GRID 2019

[FT-1]

So apparently we can't raise criticisms about how a developer works post launch content, and indeed operates as a studio, because said post launch content is free?

Still not buying it, because...

The fact that they're offering DLC tracks for free, but said DLC is stuff that could have made the base game to make it feel more worthwhile at $80, doesn't cut it at all.

Here's the thing - Nowadays you are not paying for the content on disc, you are also paying for the service you get after launch. Now people will have different opinions about this strategy, but releasing content longer into the game's life cycle is intended to extend the life cycle of the game, especially when you factor the new career mode events that will be added along with free content updates.

Perhaps if you are the sort of person who likes to 100% a game within a day then place the game back on the shelf to never be played again, you may dislike this idea. If you are someone with a reasonable amount of patience, you will discover yourself coming back to the game more often than if everything was given to you right at the start.

 

[ELmarcotuff]

I spy a nitpick

 

[Slapped]

Welcome to 2019, where people complain about... Free post-launch content in video games.

No matter how you put it, I see that as such a petty thing to complain about.

Back in time when things were simpler a video game was exactly that. What was on the disk was what you got, and you knew exactly what you were getting for your money. Back then games were tested, and I mean really tested, to ensure there were no show stopping or glaring bugs, and for the most part it worked and everybody was mostly happy

The trend these days of releasing a bug riddled unfinished game for full price while promising to fix it, and finish it via DLC, but with no real guarantees the DLC, or fixes, are going to drop, or actually be what you expected it to be, is just utter crap, and totally customer hostile. For example I figured buying the season pass for DR2 would get me the DR1 courses, but no, they now want me to buy a second season pass to get the remaining two. Well the Codies can go shove this season pass 2 where the sun doesn't shine as far as I'm concerned.

To be fair Codemasters aren't the only devs doing this, it's something that appears to unfortunately be becoming the norm amongst the big devs.

Smaller more responsible and customer friendly devs tend to say "hey, were not finished yet, but if you want you can give it a spin". This is known as, and declared as, Early Access, and with early access you know what the situation is - it might never be finished, but you go into it fully knowing the risks, and normally you get a good discount for being early supporters. This is a totally upfront and fair way of offering the opportunity to your customers for them test and evaluate your product.

 

[flatdarkmars]

...finish it via DLC...

Now that we're already off on this tangent... DR2.0 launched with roughly the same amount of content as DR1. Same number of rally locations (all new!), more rallycross locations, but minus Pike's Peak. All the DLC has added additional, optional, content above and beyond that.

At the time DR1 was released, did you feel that it was "unfinished"? If not, then you're moving the goalposts by expecting more content for the same price. If DR1 was a fair buy, then DR2 was a fair buy. In both cases you got the same amount of stuff for your money.

And even if you did think that 6 rally locations wasn't enough, it's not like the number was a closely-guarded secret; everyone who bought the game knew exactly what they were getting.

 

[Slapped]

For those that have the ultimate edition would you say it's honestly worth 105 CHF, which is $105, £86.50, €96.40?

All I'm being offered for that are some vague promises of 6 months of premium content which may include 12 cars and about 100 extra career events above that of the standard version.

I think not.

 

[Slapped]

Now that we're already off on this tangent... DR2.0 launched with roughly the same amount of content as DR1. Same number of rally locations (all new!), more rallycross locations, but minus Pike's Peak. All the DLC has added additional, optional, content above and beyond that.

At the time DR1 was released, did you feel that it was "unfinished"? If not, then you're moving the goalposts by expecting more content for the same price. If DR1 was a fair buy, then DR2 was a fair buy. In both cases you got the same amount of stuff for your money.

And even if you did think that 6 rally locations wasn't enough, it's not like the number was a closely-guarded secret; everyone who bought the game knew exactly what they were getting.

DR1 cost me 45 CHF, DR2 cost me 114CHF with season pass (would have been 94CHF without) for 66% of the regurgitated content from DR1. You tell me.

 

[flatdarkmars]

DR1 cost me 45 CHF, DR2 cost me 114CHF with season pass (would have been 94CHF without) for 66% of the regurgitated content from DR1. You tell me.

Okay, so you either bought DR1 during Early Access when it was cheaper (getting a discount in exchange for the risk & bugs of Early Access), or after the price was reduced / on sale some time well after release. DR1 was a $60 game when it initially hit full release, and DR2 was a $60 game upon release. Same price, same amount of content. It's not Codemasters' fault that you chose to buy one game at a discount and not the other.

As for the deluxe/season pass, they announced the whole 1st season contents before release, and also said that season 2 would be rallycross-centric. For me that was enough info to make a reasonably informed decision, but if you felt there was too much uncertainty about what you were getting for your money, the option existed to not buy the DLC until you knew the full contents.

 

[MXH]

Really liking the car list but I'm holding off my purchase until they add more tracks. I’d bet that it will heavily discounted too when christmas comes.

How does the game perform on the base PS4?

 

[Silver Arrows]

DR2.0 launched with roughly the same amount of content as DR1. Same number of rally locations (all new!)

If we really want to be pedantic, Spain isn't new. It's the same location and area as it was in DiRT 4, with new stages, meant to serve as a corollary to Germany as a fast, all tarmac rally, because of the supposed inability to license out stages in Baumholder and other WRC locations. That has proven to not be the case, and now Germany has been put into the game.

more rallycross locations

For a game which ostensibly is about stage rallying (and what I'm sure that 85% of people who bought the game would be buying it mainly for) the fact that this is where the vast majority of new location content has resided is really quite insulting.

At the time DR1 was released, did you feel that it was "unfinished"?

No, but that's because DR1 was such a radical departure from the previous mold of DiRT games before it. This was a game that was more or less built from the ground up, with a new physics system and placed in Steam Early Access, where new cars and locations were added piecemeal to test before a wide scale release on both PC and consoles. One can be charitable and consider the Early Access content added into the game to be DLC, and that the content that was in the game was what Codemasters wanted the gold copy to ship with, even though it could have been added onto. DR2.0 doesn't have that luxury. This is a full retail game with no Early Access period to fall back on, that has a DLC plan in place, and as such, can be criticized for not delivering new content and feeling unfinished.

And even if you did think that 6 rally locations wasn't enough, it's not like the number was a closely-guarded secret; everyone who bought the game knew exactly what they were getting.

It wasn't good to have 6 locations then, and it certainly wasn't good to have six locations now, especially when one considers that the vast majority of post-launch DLC for DR2.0's stage rally roster is stuff that I can play in the previous game, instead now I have to pay separately for them.

Also, SLR Evo had eight locations to start with. WRC 8, even with it's official license, has infinitely more locations that any DiRT game before it, and has stages that are just as long as anything DR2.0 has thrown at it. Even if we 'knew what we were getting' it still isn't enough compared to it's recent competition.

The amount of defending that goes on for Codemasters is insane, and yet if this was any other developer, the EAs, Ubisofts or Activisions of the world, there wouldn't be this amount of defending an obviously problematic DLC structure. Again, there is no problem with DLC in a simple sense. Where the problems start to lie is developers reselling cars and locations especially from the previous game, and making it the vast majority of the post launch content, especially when it revolves around the post launch content that people are mostly playing the game for, that is, stage rallies.

 

[flatdarkmars]

You can reasonably say that DR2.0 didn't have enough content for your personal tastes. Obviously everyone will have their own individual value-for-money opinion which will vary depending on how much money you have and how much you like what you're buying.

But you can't dispute the fact that DR2.0 launched with the same amount of content as DR1, and therefore represented a similar value-for-money proposition if purchased at launch retail price. I have no particular feelings for or against Codemasters or any other video game developer; all I care about is how much entertainment I'm getting for my dollars. And both DR games were totally comparable in that regard.

 

[doblocruiser]

Only thing I want to add is that Codies killed once more the goodwill I had until I found out their DR2.0 DLC policy. I don't mind to pay for certain DLC but I don't like to be taken for stupid.

I had the Deluxe reserved for DR2 but they killed that sale themselves and made me very much warned for any other title they release in the future. Now we have arrived at GRID, something that should get me excited since I really liked the original one and Autosport . I see the footage and I am underwelmed. Simply by the content and once again the whole DLC policy behind it. Why can't they make a game they would absolutely buy themselves? I can't believe Codies can be that enthusiastic about their games they currently produce.

They have lost the sparkle that once made their games great and made place for sheer greed of stakeholders and managers . That's the impression they give me!

 

[ELmarcotuff]

Shouldn't this dirt talk get put in at the dirt forum? I actually forgot this was the grid side for a second. Either way however you see it I'm the enemy here since I "fee the machine" on both games, and plan on continuing to buy season passes for dirt I know.

 

[Kinna39]

Anyone know if there's an option in the settings to make the career mode races longer?

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

The only game that was released relatively complete was F1 2019.

I disagree with this, the big selling point for the F1 game this year was that they were adding F2. They then didn't add that until 4 months after release.

Also what happened to the Civic TCR, confirmed here: https://www.gtplanet.net/grid-car-roster-reveals-acura-cadillac-dpis/

 

[SlipZtrEm]

I disagree with this, the big selling point for the F1 game this year was that they were adding F2. They then didn't add that until 4 months after release.

Sounds like you got a very different version of the game, since F2's been in there since day one...

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

Sounds like you got a very different version of the game, since F2's been in there since day one...

I don't have any version , I didn't buy it at launch because the current season of F2 wasn't included.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I don't have any version , I didn't buy it at launch because the current season of F2 wasn't included.

So you’ve never played an F1 game owing to the fact none of them ever have?

 

[05XR8]

yet no one blinked with gt launching with 12 tracks

I waited until March the next year to buy it. I won't be waiting that long for GRID. It's got TCR cars in it So, I'll pick it up on or after the 11th.

 

[NoStopN]

Response seems very mixed in general and I’m just not sure I want to take the punt since the lack of content effectively guarantees it’ll be half-price by December.

Between the info about the low track quantity & knowing how many high profile games get discounted for Christmas sales, it will likely be more cost effective to wait.

I find it hard to believe that people expect EVERY SINGLE big name racing game out there to be a full on sim :/

There have been too many reviews & previews to expect sim from GRID. As I mentioned above, I want more tracks, preferably more real world tracks. Whatever GRID has that made my eyes grow wide can be found in other games already in my collection.

Really liking the car list but I'm holding off my purchase until they add more tracks. I’d bet that it will heavily discounted too when christmas comes.

Great minds think alike.

 

[SestoScudo]

Welcome to 2019, where people complain about... Free post-launch content in video games.

No matter how you put it, I see that as such a petty thing to complain about.

Honestly recycling content from past games as dlc is a dog move.

When I buy dlc I expect to buy new content that has never been featured in past games.

Codemasters are not the only offenders in this regard. This is a criticism which everybody addresses its not just whining for free content.

The industry is already being destroyed with unchecked greed. I cant wait to play Grid until its on a half price discount which Im willing to wait and im also waiting for more tracks than cars.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Back in time when things were simpler a video game was exactly that. What was on the disk was what you got, and you knew exactly what you were getting for your money. Back then games were tested, and I mean really tested, to ensure there were no show stopping or glaring bugs, and for the most part it worked and everybody was mostly happy

The trend these days of releasing a bug riddled unfinished game for full price while promising to fix it, and finish it via DLC, but with no real guarantees the DLC, or fixes, are going to drop, or actually be what you expected it to be, is just utter crap, and totally customer hostile. For example I figured buying the season pass for DR2 would get me the DR1 courses, but no, they now want me to buy a second season pass to get the remaining two. Well the Codies can go shove this season pass 2 where the sun doesn't shine as far as I'm concerned.

The "game as a service model" may not be the perfect system, as devs can screw over consumers, but gaming is a massively competitive segment. If a game becomes obsolete and doesn't receive new content, the game will die off REALLY FAST. Take Red Dead Redemption 2. There was a heap of hype when it came out but within a few months, everyone had moved away. That's the danger when you don't update the game regularly. Developers can no longer limit themselves to the content that came on the disk at release. Could you imagine if GT Sport didn't have any updates? It would be horrible.

But locking content from previous games behind a DLC paywall is stupid. DLC should only be reserved for new content, not recycled content.

 

[torque99]

I love the game, The Audio is fantastic. The intense city tracks are great and the racing bumper to bumper.

 

[Emick81]

Only thing I want to add is that Codies killed once more the goodwill I had until I found out their DR2.0 DLC policy. I don't mind to pay for certain DLC but I don't like to be taken for stupid.

I had the Deluxe reserved for DR2 but they killed that sale themselves and made me very much warned for any other title they release in the future. Now we have arrived at GRID, something that should get me excited since I really liked the original one and Autosport . I see the footage and I am underwelmed. Simply by the content and once again the whole DLC policy behind it. Why can't they make a game they would absolutely buy themselves? I can't believe Codies can be that enthusiastic about their games they currently produce.

They have lost the sparkle that once made their games great and made place for sheer greed of stakeholders and managers . That's the impression they give me!

Agree.

I think there is a lot of financial pressure behind it. This really seems like a rushed product that they wanted to deliver before the Big releases in October/November.

That greedy ultimate early edition is going to bite them in the ass. Mediocre impressions by early acces players combined with mediocre reviews will cost them a lot of sales. If they would only release on Friday I might have bought it just to try it for myself.

Also the way they brought in Rushy and some of his team from Evolution studios and fired them right after Onrush was a dissapointment tells me they are under a lot of pressure.

 

[MagpieRacer]

If we really want to be pedantic, Spain isn't new. It's the same location and area as it was in DiRT 4, with new stages, meant to serve as a corollary to Germany as a fast, all tarmac rally, because of the supposed inability to license out stages in Baumholder and other WRC locations. That has proven to not be the case, and now Germany has been put into the game.



For a game which ostensibly is about stage rallying (and what I'm sure that 85% of people who bought the game would be buying it mainly for) the fact that this is where the vast majority of new location content has resided is really quite insulting.



No, but that's because DR1 was such a radical departure from the previous mold of DiRT games before it. This was a game that was more or less built from the ground up, with a new physics system and placed in Steam Early Access, where new cars and locations were added piecemeal to test before a wide scale release on both PC and consoles. One can be charitable and consider the Early Access content added into the game to be DLC, and that the content that was in the game was what Codemasters wanted the gold copy to ship with, even though it could have been added onto. DR2.0 doesn't have that luxury. This is a full retail game with no Early Access period to fall back on, that has a DLC plan in place, and as such, can be criticized for not delivering new content and feeling unfinished.



It wasn't good to have 6 locations then, and it certainly wasn't good to have six locations now, especially when one considers that the vast majority of post-launch DLC for DR2.0's stage rally roster is stuff that I can play in the previous game, instead now I have to pay separately for them.

Also, SLR Evo had eight locations to start with. WRC 8, even with it's official license, has infinitely more locations that any DiRT game before it, and has stages that are just as long as anything DR2.0 has thrown at it. Even if we 'knew what we were getting' it still isn't enough compared to it's recent competition.

So point 1. Your pedantry is flawed if Spain is what your going by. You may as well throw in New England and Australia as both also being locations in Dirt 4. But given that dirt 4 generated slightly repetitive stages, DR2.0 uses real roads with a hint of creative liberty. Given that licensing can change over time it is impossible to say codemasters were wrong or lied or whatever you’re trying to say.

Point 2. It isn’t ‘ostensibly’ about stage rallying. You can go as far back as 2007 and the original Dirt for the first addition of rallycross in the series and Colin McRae 2.0 had a rallycross mode and latterly CMR2005. So yes, additional rallycross content counts and is important to the series.

Point 3. It wasn’t a radical departure at all. The only change was the underlying physics model going for a more sim approach. It was still a dirt game that featured rally, rallycross, hill climb and just ditched the gymkahana dude bro stuff.

Point 4. 6 high quality rally locations is acceptable when they are of that level of quality. Add in to that the rallycross and such and there’s plenty of content which DR2.0 expanded on with brand new locations and then added fully remastered/remodelled locations from the previous game which single handedly makes it one of the most comprehensive rally games of all time. Do I think the system was flawed? No. The game shipped with 100% new rally content, 30% extra rallycross content, almost 50% new cars from dirt rally 1 and 30% new cars from Dirt 4. All of which has been expanded on.

Point 5. SLRE was great and I love the stages but everything is distinctly lower quality than Dirt. The physics are great but everything else lacks. WRC has some of the best stages in any game but in terms of content volume it kinda has to deliver as it’s the official game so it needs all the locations. So it’s not really a fair comparison. Also There are stages being reused from as far back as WRC5 which will help.

Ultimately it’s clear you’ve got massive beef with codemasters which is why I know you’ll never be happy. I know that if dirt rally 2.0 shipped with all 12 rallies out of the box for example, you wouldn’t have complained about the DLC program, instead you would have complained that half the content is reused and they’re lazy. Ergo, no pleasing you.

As for Grid. It’s an exceptional game. It lacks in location count a touch but it’s made up for in layout count and I don’t find it feels repetitive while playing. Varying weather conditions and an impressive car list also play well into its favour. Add to that codemasters will be providing FREE content updates for both locations and cars alongside the premium season pass content, and I see little to be concerned or upset about.

While in the subject of grid (I know crazy considering where we are). The handling has surprised and surpassed my expectations. Whilst I like how previous grids felt, they did have a tendency to feel a bit over twitchy. 2019 has a really nice weight to the steering and the cars feel substantial on the road and that combined with the very adjustable assists gives this a surprising amount of depth for a fun racer.

 

[torque99]

Reviews coming in for PC are mostly positive from the usual suspects.

 

[torque99]

While in the subject of grid (I know crazy considering where we are). The handling has surprised and surpassed my expectations. Whilst I like how previous grids felt, they did have a tendency to feel a bit over twitchy. 2019 has a really nice weight to the steering and the cars feel substantial on the road and that combined with the very adjustable assists gives this a surprising amount of depth for a fun racer.

Handling is sublime, cars just feel somehow so good to drive. I wish all games were this good. [Controller for me this time]

 

[GTFan24]

Let's basically rename this thread to "The Codemasters hating and whining Thread" because that's what it's felt like the past 24 hours

 

[MagpieRacer]

Couple of career races in the GT category.

 

[Slapped]

Let's basically rename this thread to "The Codemasters hating and whining Thread" because that's what it's felt like the past 24 hours

Well, let's be honest, from a business practice point of view thay haven't done themselves many favours this year.

It's plain to see that there are many very highly talented people at Codemasters, but it unfortunately appears to be run by beancounters who seem to stifle innovation for the purpose of profit maximising.

 

[MagpieRacer]

View attachment 856457
I spy a nitpick

if you’re referencing the FWD part then it’s right. TC2 in game is using TCR regulations effectively so the WRX will be FWD.