Just bought this as it's on sale on PSN and I'm getting bored with GT7. Went through the main story mode, half of Carnage DLC (more on that later) and finished the Enduro DLC. Haven't touched career or online.
Physics
Overall, the driving is an improvement over GRID 2019 (but still not as good as Autosport). The kerbs no longer spin you out for no reason, but I find the cars still feel too lifeless, with no sense of weight transfer of suspension movement. Also it feels like all cars grip the road like limpet now. Even with all aids off I struggle to get any sort of wheelspin or oversteer moments unless I really go full drift king mode. Autosport has more nuances, and more differences between cars. The weird thing is they simulated the asymmetric body roll on Trophy Trucks, so obviously there is a decently sophisticated suspension model under the hood. Why they chose to dumb down the rest of the cars, who knows?
FFB
FFB playing with T-GT, feels similar to 2019 and previous GRIDs. Typical floaty Codies feeling, even after turning on SAT forces & suspension to the max. Friction and tyre forces off (I find tyre forces only activate when you're standing still - it's that heavy feeling when you're trying to park your car IRL, not needed in racing situations). Not great, but it does the job for this kind of game.
AI
Playing with AI on Hard difficulty, it's your typical Codies racing game. I've played through every GRID game so I'm used to their sometimes OTT aggression. Beats GT's zombie AI for sure. The main problem is, the sticky collision physics that has plagued every Codies racing game makes side by side racing a pain sometimes.
Cars
Car selection is great, some pretty eclectic choices there like the AZ1 in addition to returning roster from 2019. Surprisingly I quite enjoyed the boost feature with electric cars. Some cars' relative performance are way off though and it's especially apparent in multi class racing. One of the enduro races has you in a Speed 8 against Group 5 cars, and they just blasted past you on the Fuji straight
Oh dear. I know it's not a sim but come on. Also
@PJTierney the AZ1 interior speedo is in km/h, but it's treated like mph in game. Might wanna fix that
Upgrade feature is ok but like previous GRID, probably not essential to win races. Car settings still very basic with combined front/rear settings unlike Autosport. Car sounds is where I feel they dropped the ball. It doesn't sound as good as previous games, and the volume is very muted, even after turning off music. What happened here?
Tracks
While mostly returning roster from previous games, it's a great selection so can't complain. Wish all point to point tracks were included though (Big Sur, Hong Kong and Cote d'Azur). My main complaint from 2019 was that the new city tracks are lacking in character compared to the older ones (e.g. San Fran, Dubai, Chicago), and it's the same here. Honestly they're all same 90 degree turns with only the trackside buildings changed. Weather effects have been improved but it would be nice if every second race isn't at night during monsoon season. Bloom is overdone like most Codies game. Trackside eye candy - this is acquired taste but I prefer the cleaner look of GT/AC instead of the OTT firework/spectators/balloons/confetti of GRID/Shift series. It's just way too distracting and contributes to every track looking the same. You need to let the environment and landscape "breathe", not oversaturated with common assets. One more thing: Bathurst is shocking in this game. So wide and flat. In previous games it wasn't 100% but at least it captures the feel. Now it feels like The Crew's Laguna Seca (youtube it if you don't know).
Story
I enjoyed the story more than I thought I would, so kudos to Codies for that. I'm not liking Carnage DLC. The sticky collision physics being the main cause, and I find it hard to deal enough damage within the race period. Demo derbies in previous GRID were fun with no objectives, this is just stressful. Enduro DLC is ok but sorely missing tyre wear from Autosport (notice a pattern?). Haven't tried career mode yet but at first glance it seems basic and repetitive like 2019. Also I can already see sponsor objectives being a massive grind (would be nice to know the rewards for completing each too). Proper team building also seems lacking? I can't see anywhere to select a teammate (even 2019 had this). And you can't set a livery for your team that automatically applies to all cars (unless I missed the option).
Conclusion & Future
That's all for now. Honestly I really enjoyed progressing thru the main story but now that's over, the rest of the game just feels like an expansion pack to 2019. Race Driver GRID still has a better career mode and Autosport still has the best handling, so Legends still falls short of what Codies should be capable of. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this. It meets expectations, but mostly because those expectations weren't that high to begin with.
I'll just leave this article here.
@PJTierney maybe you could email it to every employee working on the next game. You guys really should revisit the oldest title in the series to understand what makes it great.
There was something magical the first time I fired up Race Driver: Grid on the good old PS3. It's a game I fondly remember of that console generation's
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