Grid 2 is a racing game developed by Codemasters. It was released on May 27th for PC and May 28th for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Grid is a track based racing game that features many real world locations such as Miami, Paris and Hong Kong. In the game, you can own and drive hundreds of cars from the last four decades. It includes a campaign mode, as well as 5 different versus modes.
Story - 8
Unlike most track based racing games, Grid 2 presents you with somewhat of a story. You are an amateur racer working under your agent, Patrick Callahan. Callahan wants to make it big, and he's got a master plan to do so. He is going to take you around the world and pit you against the best racers each country has to offer. If you impress them, he'll invite them to a world racing tournament to crown the best racer in the entire world. This may not be a great story, but it was unexpected. Most racing games don't actually take the time to include any semblance of a plot to justify putting the petal to the metal.
Audio - 7
I'm going to come right out and say it, the voice acting in this game is horrible. The only real voice you hear is Callahan's, and he gets very irritating very quickly. Occasionally he offers good advice, like how to take turns, but most of the time he just constantly reminds you that you need to pass the car in front of you. Other than that there isn't much to complain about with the audio. The soundtrack isn't all that noticeable because no music actually plays till the last lap, but it is quite good. It also does a great job with the sound effects. One of my complaints with racing games, is that most of the time the sound of the engine revving is too loud to really make out other noise. In Grid 2, they find a great balance between making the engine purr, but not blare.
Video - 9
Grid 2 is a beautiful game. All the cars look amazing and interact with the world in breathtaking ways. Smoke comes off the tires as you drift, your tailpipe jutters as you go over bumps in the road, and your car shows wear and tear if you drive recklessly. Like several games before it, when you crash the game slows down to show you exactly what happened. There's only one thing that bothered me in this game: bald people. On a course, I spun out of control and ended up stopping right next to the stands with people sitting in them. I soon realized that they all had no hair what soever. At first I dismissed this as just a simple glitch, but I began noticing it in other races as well. Part of me finds this to be lazy texturing, the other finds it kind of funny.
Gameplay - 9
Gameplay is the main focus in racing games, and Grid 2 has you covered. Each race feels very realistic due to its "TrueFeel" handling system. TrueFeel makes each car handle almost exactly like their real world counterparts. This feature makes it easy for new players to learn how to get behind the wheel, but also opens up challenging stunts for experienced players. Grid 2 also features the ability to customize each car quite extensively. This allows you to pick a car and fit it to the way you want to drive. Aside from the campaign mode there are also 5 other racing types that you can enjoy. Race, is a standard 12 car race. Elimination is similar to Race, but every 20 seconds the car in last place is knocked out of the race. Checkpoint puts a timer on your race, and every checkpoint you pass through adds time, to win you have to be the last person with time remaining. Faceoff is a 1v1 tournament to see who is the best racer. And finally, the favorite from last game, Drift. Drift has you sliding from side to side trying to drift the best you can. Each player is awarded points based on how well they drift, and the person with the most points at the end wins.
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Grid 2 is a great racing game, whether you are a fan of the genre or not. Its the type of game that you can play seriously, or just get a bunch of friends together and have a fun time. All in all, Grid 2 comes out with an 8.2 from me. While it is lacking in some areas, it is still a fantastic game to play. Grid 2 is also a great game for the whole family. There isn't really anything offensive in its content, and there are a good number of beginner courses. If you like cars, fun competition, and messy crashes, this is a great game for you.
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