The sort of speed is one of the more mature the gaming industry and its evolution over the years has been steady. This would not be understood without the role played by Codemasters , surely the big winner in terms of quantity and quality of driving titles in this generation that languishes.
Grid 2 Review will take you through Codemasters master piece or More than a decade later, Codemasters still in the pillory, by reinventing their brands. Became Colin McRae Dirt, TOCA and GRID became to encompass even more, the study was brokered license the greedy Formula 1. Thus, in this generation, there have been four installments of Dirt, three of F1 and GRID, without suffering a single sting, thanks to constant innovation and consistency of your EGO powerful engine, capable of propelling any virtual vehicle. In 2008, was released a title that wowed critics and fans, five years later, comes to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC its sequel, GRID 2 , willing to give continuity to its delicious formula.
Drivers of the World Series Racing
Patrick Callahan, a tycoon with influence everywhere, is determined to create the World Series Racing , a new automotive event that brings together the best riders in the world. Here we come, elected by the crazy millionaire to turn his dream into reality.
Career mode consists of five seasons. During the first three, the goal is to compete against various car clubs, to get the support of their leaders to the new competition and, in turn, get fans. We started in the U.S., and then make the jump to Europe and Asia. So ESPN, the famous sports channel, decided to sponsor the event WSR and sponsor two seasons authentic late infarction, where participating pilots who have previously recruited.
Arcade and simulation
GRID 2 is one of its greatest strengths in balancing control located in the midpoint between arcade and simulation. Not a Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, but neither is a Need for Speed, it forces management to be versed with the throttle and brake, skidding as always pass to put the car into line if we see that we have miscalculated entry speed on a curve. The difference between the cars is notorious as traction (front, rear or 4×4) and as its greatest feature is the grip, skidding or balance. The control is very satisfactory. However, I must say that, in the beta version with which we played, for PlayStation 3, had very sporadic occasion where the direction of the car was blocked and unresponsive for a few moments, and the consequent probability of stamped.
The garage consists of about 60 vehicles , divided into four performance levels as top speed, acceleration, power and weight. In turn, there are fifteen subcategories, style muscle cars, coupes, cars or ultralight. Among the models, include the Bugatti Veyron, the Aston Martin One-77, the Pagani Huayra, Koenigsegg Agera R or Mercedes SLR McLaren. The amplitude of the garage is more than considerable, but are missing the presence of brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche. All vehicles are unlocked progressively as we move into the Career mode. Thus, the first three seasons are a mere appetizer, aboard mid-range cars, but in the last two, corresponding to the Finals of the World Series Racing.
To emphasize the aspect of simulation, there is a damage system that can be turned on and off. Scratches and ailerons are a constant taken down, but the damage goes beyond the visual, because in addition to scrap the body, can also puncture the tires or break the address, which impacts negatively on maneuverability. To alleviate the frustration, is present and recurring feature of flash-back , popularized by the first GRID precisely that allows you to rewind the action if we have committed any blunder.
The camera system has four different perspectives to glimpse the asphalt. There are two outer cameras, one located on the hood and a final “invisible”, with which we see only the space that extends in front of the vehicle. In this sense, there is a failure that hurts, especially those who like to play with the inner chambers, as there is an indicator of car damage. Thus, we may suffer a blowout and we are not aware until we go to take a curve. To this is added the problem that sometimes the engineer talk the talk, for example, to tell us we had a flat tire … that only exists in your imagination.
Career Mode
Career mode, organized in five seasons, consisting of more than one hundred events, which translates into a 20 hour game , assuming we do not have to repeat too many times any of the tests. No run longer than ten minutes, in the line of arcade titles. In addition to club events and the World Series Racing , which are the most standard can also participate in some challenges we are rewarded with a new car to the garage, to which must be added the presence of some secondary objectives. F
In racing games is difficult to innovate in terms of types of evidence, without being outlandish. GRID 2 is more conservative than Dirt, who opted for the gymkhanas to Ken Block in the third installment and demolition derbies Showdown, but has a range of significant events. First, we have the races to use, which may be conventional (towards the finish line, without complications), resistance (there is a five-minute countdown and we stay healthy and be the longer the distance) and survival (every twenty seconds, is eliminated pilot launched last).
Second, are the one on one duels . On the one hand, is the mode hand to hand , in which we must pass three qualifying rounds. On the other hand, we have Touge , where we dispute three rounds against the same opponent, so that you achieve expires take two sleeves. Here, wins the first to reach the goal or driver who take a five-second lead on the other. To avoid the temptation of cunning, immediately disqualifies seeketh premeditated clash.
They could not miss the typical events trial , they have several faces. Sometimes you just have around to cut a certain time set in advance, on other occasions, we have three attempts to make a quick turn better than rivals. Another aspect of struggle against time is the controls , which plays go through checkpoints to gain additional seconds and thus cover more distance than anyone.
Given the preponderance skids have the control, could not miss the appointment events not drifting . During short circuit and full of curves 180, the goal is to chain drifts to get the highest score possible. The marker depends on the speed, angle and length of the slides, so that, if bumped or trompeamos, the multiplier is reduced to zero.
Finally, overtaking events , which add points to base overtaking trucks that will crawl. The multiplier increases by hundreds the last string, but is reduced if take long to remove the stickers to said rancheras or returns zero if collided.
There are five levels of AI setting, you can get to making things difficult, because the opponents do not go on rails, they fight, they leave the track and even embedded into the barriers. The only regrettable is that in the event of Hand in hand, we see a “rubber effect” because sometimes turn contender collides and falls behind, but at the moment, is again mysteriously, hot on the exhaust pipe, as happens in the Need for Speed series. However, it’s nothing serious, and that only happens in such events.
Racenet
When play online GRID 2 , we find almost the same events in Career mode. The highlight is the introduction of Racenet , a kind of social network that puts together our records with those of other users. Thus, we can find various rivals to bite us to break records and meet certain challenges, in order to gain experience and followers. It is a system as large as the Need for Speed Autolog, but it does its purpose very well.
Another great detail the multiplayer is that has a point system to determine the cleanliness of the piloting of each user , with the intention of separating clean and aggressive drivers. We do not know how well this feature segregating work because, for now, we could only play against other journalists and against people from Codemasters , but it is great news to include a system of this kind to segment the audience. There are few who are fed up with the online modes in racing games, where there is always some numbskull who cares not miscalculate be worn braking and others, who falls. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the game supports two-player split screen, if we give the accelerator offline with a friend.
Locations and Tracks
Another of the strengths of the game is the selection of circuits that includes. In total, there are fourteen locations, for a total of 80 different tracks . First, we use five circuits: the Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi, the Red Bull Ring (formerly known as A1 Ring), Portimao, Brands Hatch and Indianapolis. Second, there are five cities: Barcelona, Paris, Chicago, Miami and Dubai. Finally, roads set in four locations: California, Hong Kong, the Riviera and Okutama.
In the case of street circuits of Barcelona, Paris and Chicago, it is remarkable the presence of so-called dynamic routes . Leveraging urban planning of these three cities, there are certain events in which the path is generated randomly before the race. So, at intersections, can you play go right or left, without us knowing it beforehand because there is no map available.
The selection of paths is to be applauded. Normally, when making a car game, the best is to go for the circuits that everybody knows: Monaco, Monza, Nurburgring, Suzuka … However, GRID 2 dares to differ from any other conventional racing game with circuits that do not appear in almost any other title. It only happens with street circuits (created specifically for the game), but also with the professional tours.
Graphics and Sound
As usual in games of speed Codemasters , the graphics engine EGO offers excellent engine speeds. The races run always with great fluency, but to build traffic on the screen and there is no “popping” practically never. In particular, it is remarkable how great they look scenarios, of great beauty and excellent use of lighting. Similarly, call attention to the numerous dynamic effects: floating leaves, steam coming out of the sewers, fireworks exploding in the sky … You can see up to hare swift crossing the road.
Against that, the representation of the car has the odd ups and downs. We can customize them widely, with different vinyl colors, tires and sponsorship stickers, and visual damage are very convincing: dislodged bumpers, glass breaking, wheels that fray … Now not all vehicles have the same degree of detail in the finish: the textures of some give the impression of being flatter than those of others.
Similarly, the choice has been made comfortable to suppress the vehicle interior camera . In its day, the developers said they did so because only 5% of people used it, but it is an obvious symptom of neglect, mainly because that’s where most can give him the detail of a driving game, showing all the details of steering wheel and dashboard.
As for the sound, there is also the occasional pothole. The sound effects for the engines and skids are excellent, and the engineer meets their duties. However, no musical accompaniment during races since not included any soundtrack. Similarly, not bent some videos where it connects with the program Sports Center, ESPN, to discuss the World Series Racing . These are details that do not tarnish the game experience, but which, if they had improved, they could have made the game even more brilliant.
GRID 2 has met expectations. Not surprising as the first installment, but his excellent control, so the length of path, the variety of events or the wide range of circuits make it a driving title unlike any other.
