Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

When you think about the history of racing games, most major titles have been specific in one area, with few attempting to include everything at once. Not only does GRID deliver any racing experience you want, it manages to excel at them all.


There are two main modes of play, race day and grid world. Either jump straight into a competition with settings of your choosing, or begin a professional career. Just like Codemaster's previous entry DiRT, your goal here is to complete each tier of events and eventually reach the top.

When first creating a profile you'll have to start from scratch with no money and must take offers from other teams. Then you'll have enough to buy a car and race for your very own team in a series of challenges throughout America, Europe and Japan.

With each race win you earn reputation points which in turn award licenses for higher level events, meaning even more prize money. The more you race the higher your driver ranking becomes, and the more places your team climbs. To beat the game, get yourself and your team to number one ranked in the world.

Before entering an event you must first purchase a vehicle for it, and there are both many types of races and several cars to select for each. You'll notice how diverse these can be, with different tracks and models affecting how you drive. Participate in such events as touring cars, open wheel, muscle, club GT, torque, drift, head to head and more.


The engine used by GRID is similar to that of DiRT, and it looks fantastic as a racing sim. The models and environments are perfect, everything is realistic enough to put you right in the action. Even on high settings, the framerate performs well and runs smoothly despite a high amount of in game content.

One of the best features provided is the instant replay, which lets you playback the entire race from start to end, recording from all camera angles and automatically changing views depending on the situation. The result is an amazingly successful cinematic experience, making your races look even more exciting, and giving you a chance to examine your performance or just appreciate the visuals.


What you hear can be just as important as what you see in a genre like this, and thankfully the audiotrack lives up to expectations. The effects, music and voiceovers are above average, and make an already enjoyable ride even more comfortable. Indeed the way these come together, especially during career mode make you feel right in the action.


This is the kind of game you can be playing for a long time after beating single player, however with so many options and possibilities available to you, its likely that part will keep you occupied continuously. When you are ready to move on, GRID offers online mutliplayer that lets racers from all over the world compete against one another.


For lovers of racing, cars and motorsport, you can't go past an impressive title like GRID. If you liked DiRT, gameplay here is much the same except with improvements in every possible way, so don't be put off by the shift in appeal. While this may just be the beginning of a series, it will prove a tough rival for similar franchises and sets a high standard even its developers will find hard to beat.