Race Driver: GRID

Title
Developer
Publisher
Genre
ESRB Rating
Demo Release Date
Full Release Date
Platforms

Official Website
Demo Download Size
Review Date

Race Driver: GRID
Codemasters
Codemasters
Racing
Everyone
9th May 2008
30th May 2008 Buy Now
PC (Reviewed), PS3, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360
http://www.codemasters.com/grid/
893MB
29th May 2008

What did I think before playing?
I had heard some commotion about GRID, but nothing specific. I thought it was a new IP, but while getting ready to type this up I've seen it is the latest in the Race Driver series which has its roots back in TOCA. Knowing that would have given me a better idea of what kind of racer this was before I played it.

What is included?
Three cars and three tracks which you can race both on and offline.

What did I think afterwards?
First, this was a fairly large download which you then had to extract before installing, so it takes up a fair chunk of HDD space. Once in the game though, the presentation is slick. The menus are all presented as solid 3D words hovering in your garage, which may not be unique but is very well done. While loading tracks, the same format is used to display player stats to you, such as miles driven and laps completed. You are first prompted to enter your name which is used to find a sound clip so that your pit crew can talk to you by name, (no more of this "Player 1, you need to pit!" Now it is "Ashley, you're on your final lap!") It is about bloody time someone did that, and it looks like a huge list of names was covered.
I had decided to install the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows drivers before starting up this demo, and the game recognises the controller's presence instantly, with on screen prompts showing me which buttons to push to navigate the menus. That is a requirement to get the Games for Windows branding I believe, but it was a little disappointing that I had to put down my controller to type in text a few times.
As for the gameplay, I was expecting a more arcade-y racer where this was closer to a sim, so this was a tougher game to play than I was hoping when I went in. The game felt too twitchy to me so I would need some practice if I stood much of a chance. I had started out with the single player mode and gradually improved enough to get a forth place, (I would have won but for a 10 second or so hang during one fast corner.) After that I jumped online. I had to create an account to do that, which was as simple as picking a username and password, but it isn't really clear why I had to do that. The online menus gave me the options of joining a Quick Match, finding a Custom Game or creating a new game. I opted to find a custom match so that I could race on a short track. A list of results came back and the some of the sessions seemed to be sponsored by eBay. I joined one of those and all the players were in the same white car with eBay branding. I had already noticed some of the billboards and other placements in the game, but this really stood out. The current race was in progress so I opted to spectate. I was watching one guy flying through the air and crashing, before quitting. That guy must have been the host since at that point a message popped up that we were migrating to a new host. This must be a P2P title then, so it's good to see host migration implemented rather than us all dropping out. For the next race there were four of us and I was doing terribly. The game filled up while we were racing so next time around there were 12, and I was still pretty bad. I'll blame my bad driving on the twitchyness, possibly related to the framerate, (compounded by the fact that crashing and running off the road damage your car so it becomes even harder to drive!) The ability to rewind time a few seconds and try again, (a "Flashback",) after a write-off is a nice touch though.
This is a good looking game if you can run it, even at low resolutions. The smoke effects from screeching tyres are particularly noteworthy, but when I was managing to keep it on the road and pick up some speed for a while, it would often feel like I was driving through a blur. It was nice to see some of the physics playing out on the tire barriers which were obviously made up of individual bouncy tyres, rather than a solid block.

Would I buy the full game?
Not for PC. I think I would have a smoother experience on a console, but even so I don't think this is the right racer for me. But this is a good, solid demo that promotes the game well to the players that like a little more "sim".

Demo Pros
Three cars and tracks give enough variation to your play. Great sound and graphics with a polished UI. Allowing you to try out online play gives you a taste of the replayablilty of the title.

Demo Cons
Online demos can sometimes lead to players sticking with the demo rather than buying the game! Hopefully for Codemasters' sake they can turn off their matchmaking for the demo at some point.

Demo Rating 9 / 10

Thoughts after playing the full game?
If I play the full game I will put comments here about whether I feel the demo was representative of the final product and if I am happy with the purchase.

Sales Figures
If I can find sales information about a game after it has been released I'll add that here. It may be useful to track demos to sales performance.