IGN: Grid Review & Video Review

There are plenty of other racing games on the market, but Grid captures the soul of the track like none other. The crashes are insane, the races are intense, the cars are coated with style and the overall presentation is just plain sexy. Although its car count is low, customization is limited and the repetitive dialogue grates a bit, Grid's stands out as a stylish but serious alternative to both hardcore driving simulations and over-the-top arcade racers.

Presentation - 8.5
Graphics - 9.5
Sound - 8.5
Gameplay - 9.0
Lasting Appeal - 8.0
Overall -

[Boldy]

Very nice, I played the demo and I was hooked. This is a definate buy for me.

[Presentist]

After the letdown that was Burnout Paradise this game is looking really fantastic.

[sandyp]

Save your money and pick up the gold standard in racing games - GT Prologue.

Grid is absolute garbage. The graphics are mediocre at best - basically Need For Speed level.

The driving model is easily the worst of this gen - even worse than Forza 2's.

[drunkleg]

Back so soon sandy?

[Presentist]

Sandy take your opinions to the open zone, where all you non gamers belong.

Ignored.

[addic]

@presentist:

burnout paradise was a letdown? sorry but thats ridiculous! burnout paradise is imo by far better than GRID. and dont call me a "non-gamer". i bet i am more of a "gamer" than you are. learn to accept other opinions please...

imo this review is a joke! 9.5 for the graphics? oh boy...gt5p has to be a 12 then.

[Presentist]

Get a life.

"I'm more of a gamer than you are". You don't even know me. I'm sorry did you go to GDC this year? Have you been gaming for nearly 2 decades? Are you studying to become a game audio engineer?

Whatever man, you're not worth the effort.

[felidae]

lol@sandyp

Grid looks and plays much better than GT5P - you just want a ps3 exclusive game to be better .. so stupid.

[Milky]

I think this game is really awful, the driving is out of control and there is only 45 cars in the whole game. Burnout Paradise is amazing. I get hooked for hours and hours drifting around and taking down people online.

[Time Lord]

but MGS4 is coming out soon.

[justgamez]

I am getting both. Although I don't quite share the enthusiasm as some on GRID I am getting it just because it is compatible with my G25 wheel.

[Marty8370]

I've got 'Grid & MGS4' already pre-ordered.

[Reality]

they said that the PS3 version has longer load times than the 360. LOL!

[MUGEN]

load times are almost twice as long on the ps3 than the 360 version. this is what i noticed when the demos came out and that the ps3 version's graphics were still un-polished but the review say's they are the same now.

[g3nkie]

OMG!!! Well guess I'm not going to buy it now....

[justgamez]

you can use nearly any USB steering wheel like the Logitech G25 dual motor force feedback wheel. Using a wheel like this adds a whole new dimension to a racing game that supports it. It makes you feel like you are actually driving the car.

[dauden]

No time for this as I'm still on GTAIV. Age Of Conan, which I'm curious about, will soon be released (yes, I play pc games to). And of course MGS4 that will suck every hour of every day for some time to come.

[gogators]

but the over all racing seems to have been done rather well. I guess I'll have to take a closer look.

[drunkleg]

Looks like it's somewhere in between arcade and simulation. Looks good though.

[Defectiv3_Detectiv3]

I wish codemasters would have just made a follow up to TOCA, instead they sold out.

The racing in this game is nowhere as good as TOCA. The drifting is a joke, you could be in 5th and youll still burnout from a dead stop! Drifters don't even use 5th gear.

The A.I. sucks, so when you're racing on those small ass tracks w/ too many cars and you go for a turn you can always count on someone slamming into you.

[Aclay]

What the heck! This game only has 45 cars.

The last time I checked, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue had over 70 cars and ITS NOT EVEN THE FULL GAME. And people still call GT5 Prologue a "demo" but it has more cars than Grid. GT5 Prologue may be the "demo" version of the full GT5 game, but when you compare it to some other racing games, it could almost be considered a full game.

This game looks like a Arcade Racer. I'm more of a Simulation racer guy, but I do enjoy a Arcade Racer every now and then. But, the only game I'm getting in June is Metal Gear Solid 4. This game will just have to wait.

[sandyp]

Remember when the first fake videos of Grid were released and how all the Xbox fans started screaming about how it was a "GT Killer" and the laughably mediocre graphics of the actual game?

The Xbox fans at IGN are just staying on message.

This is the same garbage the Xbox fans in the media pulled with Call of Duty after they were knocked senseless by the real time Killzone 2 demo last year and they had to find something to hype that ran on the 360 and all they were left with was 600p Call of Duty 4 for 'best graphics'.

And here they go again with Grid.

9.5 graphics for Grid
9.0 graphics for GT5 Prologue

So absolutely pathetic.

[drunkleg]

Care to share how many accounts this makes you now sandy?

[poopsack]

I knew IGN was blind. 9.5 graphics? Higher than GT5P? This bloomfest? and Haze got a 4? Im starting to lose all credibility towards them.

This is totally 9.5
http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/...

And this is totally 9
http://ps3.ign.com/dor/obje...

[boodybandit]

Maybe it was different people that reviewed both GRID and GT5P. I know I wont argue against what you are saying. GT5P is visually stunning. I have it and play it often. GRID is a nice looking game as well but definitely not on the same level of GT5P. But again that is just my opinion.

[Sanhlami]

I didn't notice that but thats true. IGN has got to get better system of reviewing because Grid is no where nere GT5 graphics. Either this is biasm or they have a sH!tty reviewing system.

there goes my trust in IGN.

[WIIIS1]

If there's anything that's good about Grid, it is the graphics, which I agree are better than GT5. However, I entirely disagree that it is a good driving game. As a simulator, it is miles behind Forza. As an arcade, it is miles behind PGR.

[antoinetm]

IGN has lost its edge.

GTA isnt a 10/10 i got bored halfway through.
Haze isnt a 4/10 its not *THAT* bad (probably a 6/10 tho)
Grid gfx arent 9.5 as pointed out by those above

Reviewers are like financial analysts... marketing tools used to create hype

[InMyOpinion]

I played the demo yesterday and thought it was pure crap. The cars handle worse than in Dirt and it just wasn't fun. Thet feel like shopping trolleys with a brick in the center. Take a corner a little, and I mean a LITTLE, too hard and the car starts to spin in a cirlce. Besides the nice graphics this game has nothing else that is good about it. The reviewers must be paid off or something.

[Lumbo]

Strange, that's exactly how i felt the demo was. So-so graphics and a ridicules "spin always upon touch anything" 'physics'

9.5 in graphics is a joke considering how the demo looks ...

[carlos305xp]

I personally thought the demo was great. Handling was a bit sensitive but it was still fun as hell. I thought the handling in Dirt was terrible, it felt like the cars were turning on their center axis instead of their front wheels. The thing with GRID's grfx is that the game has a great sensation of speed and that is what most racing games lack (besides burnout, the epidemy of arcade racer). Honestly, the grfx were still really good and the damage modeling system made the game look even better. I still don't know why people hate on IGN soo much but w/e.

[Daz]

Cant we have different graphic styles now.

GT5p has good looking cars. should of scored higher.
blahblahblah.
I dont care what they say i enjoyed the game so im getting it.

[badz149]

I'll never ever go to IGN ever again and I'll tell all my friends to do the same! I know I'm just a tiny tiny propotion of all gamers in the world but at least I know that IGN SUCKSS!! all perfect 10 for GTAIV? 4.5 for HAZE?? 9.5 for graphics in GRID as apposed to 9.0 for "photo-realistic" crispy native 1080p 60fps of GT5:P?? I'm sure now that the reviewers at IGN is whether blind of simply f**king STUPID!!

and for all the bashers and unsatisfieds out there who bashed GT5:P for being an f**king expensive $40 demo, what are you guys gonna say now about a mere 45 cars at full priced game like GRID??

I'm by far saying that GRID is rubbish! I've played the demo and I think it's quite good compared to ProStreet, not GT5:P! I like it but GT is always better for me. GRID is simply another DIRT(I love this!) with street races and that's it! it's a little arcadey and I like it but to say that it's better than GT5:P is just ignorant! "...but it has crash!" - GT5:P will have that too in later updates which was confirmed by Kazunori himself!

[Pauloitis]

The graphics on grid are great, they capture the essence of racing, GT5 is too clean looking and the secenery you have to admit is not the best graphics out there. 8.7 is good considering Burnout got 8.8, and the HAZE graphics are crap so that really isnt a comparison.

[level 360]

The demo was a bit of a disappointment, but that does'nt mean I did'nt enjoy playing it.
Yes the physics for the demo - again, was not as good even compared to Colin McRae: Dirt, but I still enjoyed the musclecar level in the Mustang GT-R the others were a bit so-so.

I am still definitely getting this game for sure just because of the great line-up of racecars that the developers' have included in this game, and also one of my fave tracks - LeMans., plus those swoopy LeMans racecars - Audi R8 LMP1's, Aston Martin DBR9 LMP2's and yes those pumped-up newly revived next-gen musclecars - Chevy Camaro, Dodge Challennger, Ford Mustang...

Also believe probably in some levels the physics might differ and would get better as you acquire better racecars.

[Jdoki]

GRID is a day 1 purchase for me (as are most driving games to be honest). I love the Codemasters driving games, right back to TOCA 2 on PS1.

They strike a nice balance between arcade and sim. The handling may not be for everyone, but those who like it tend to love the games.

I find you have to be way more precise in Race Driver games compared to Forza or GT. generally the punishment is higher in Race Driver, so you have to get it 'just right'. GT and Forza are far too forgiving.

My two favorite racing franchises are Burnout and Race Driver.

I love all driving games, but the whole BS about GT and Forza being 'realistic' is just rubbish to anyone who has actually driven a car at speed. I like those games, but to call GT 'the real driving simulator' is to do a disservice to simulators everywhere!!

As for the graphics, I would say 9.5 is too high, but I would argue that there is more to graphics than just photorealism.

If you take one GT5 car next to one GRID car then GT wins hands down. But throw in various particle effects etc and a robust damage model and we go beyond how graphics look as static pictures and start to get in to how graphics effect the game as a whole. So I can see why the reviewer may have given GRID such a good score in that respect.

As for the person who said GRID _only_ has 45 cars compared to GT5P's 70... well I would argue that there's more to games than the number of cars modeled - especially when many of the cars in GT games are just minor variations on the same model. How many Lancers or Imprezas do you actually need in a game??