Grid 2
Games from my childhood which really stood out in my memory were Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge and Jaguar XJ220, racing games which I spent hours and hours playing. It has been a while since I played any racing games though, discounting any driving in games like GTA, as I never did get into any of the more recent titles like Dirt or the Colin McRae series before that. Whilst I played Test Drive Unlimited 2 a lot that is certainly not what I would consider a racing game, particularly with the open world aspect and meta game for collecting various fashion accessories etc. That changed though when I joined the folks in buying Grid 2.
Gameplay
Having not played any racing games in a while probably meant I was more likely to be impressed, but even then most of the people I played this game with commented on how nice a production it is. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some of the Forza graphics which are really impressive, but the overall experience with Grid 2 is thoroughly enjoyable. The interface is clean and clear, very controller or keyboard friendly and support for driving wheels as well.
Single player campaign is good fun, and a great place to learn some of the tracks as well as the cars as you go through the races. The various modes of time attack, overtake, drift, etc which aren’t simple races with so many laps gives you a nice change of pace as well. The voice overs are neatly produced, and you can customise cars to your hearts content. Four tiers of cars means you ease in gently without too much fear of needing to control your gear changes (or indeed, select automatic to not worry about it at all) and just focus on getting the right speed as you head into corners with a good line to beat your competition.
Overall as a racing game it stands up very well, especially in hardcore mode where you get some true realism to the effects of impact on your car and those of others. To date it is now my second most played game, and considering I must have spent a lot of time in TDU2 just exploring the map this means I did a lot more racing with friends and random people on line.
Graphics
It has to be said I do like the graphics in Grid 2. Shiny enough to give a nice feel in game yet not over the top. Sure, the spectators are basically sims that are cloned, so sometimes you see a group all doing the same action at the same time, but the game is about the cars! With the ability to personalise your cars with a wide range of colours, effects and faux-sponsor decals you can be sure to look individual if you want to in multi player, and using eyefinity just makes things even more immersive.
Extras
Something nice when you are playing with friends regularly, but not necessarily always at the same time, is that you get the weekly challenges. This is a selection of single player races in the various different challenge modes, where you compete with friends and randomly allocated on line rivals to have the best time or score. Whoever has the highest by the end of the week wins a nice little pot of experience and cash. This gives you the opportunity to just hop on and have a quick race or two in a pure skills contest, rather than the inevitable world of people jostling for position and causing damage to each other in the process.
DLC so far has been primarily sets of cars, keeping an eye on Steam sales means you can pick these up but so far I’ve not seen them be particularly effective over any other car you can buy through the standard in game currency. The destruction derby mode was a little extra, but with only two tracks when I last played it wasn’t suitable for replaying regularly.
Replay value
There is huge replay value in the multi player arena where you can try a variety of different race styles, or my personal favourite of hardcore mode where damage is more than simply cosmetic. With a level cap of 99 there is plenty to play for to get to the top, buy and upgrade all the cars as well as customising them. In fact I haven’t made it there yet, so I can see myself coming back in 2014 and spending plenty more time getting some of those cars to give them a shot out on the track.
Grid 2 – a great laugh on the track
For those who want a racing game you won’t be disappointed in my opinion. The single player campaign is good fun and you can just as easily dive straight into multi player for straight up fun on line. If you’re looking for a technical driving simulator you may well pick faults out but then you most likely wouldn’t be considering this in the first place.
