Maybe we were young and easily impressed, but we think the first one was grid the best game ever from fifteen years ago. It looked fantastic and the crashes were spectacular. And there was a rewind function, so you could just do that delicious crash again. And there was a drift mode, which was quite unusual at the time. Since the first installment, the series seems to have lost its mojo somewhat. Finds Grid Legends him back?
Grid Legends does it have to Drive to Survive among the racing games. Between the races, you’ll be shown movies with real actors – who every now and then you can even catch a The Office-like look at the camera. That gives them plus points at Codemasters, but we have to be very honest that we didn’t get dragged into the storyline or heavily emotionally involved with the protagonists. Not such a big deal, because we’re here to race.
You notice that the makers want to emphasize drama, for example in the music during the races. The exciting music drowns out everything, including the engine noise, which is quite annoying when you shift gears yourself. The automatic transmission mode is also not recommended, because it only switches back from a bend when you hit the gas. That just takes time. The solution is to turn down the music (which isn’t that inspiring after all) in the settings.
How is the handling in Grid Legends?
Then the driving itself. We started with a controller in our fingers and the camera position behind the car, as we are used to with an arcade racer. In terms of handling, the game does not immediately convince. The car moves a bit unnaturally and almost at every turn the car slides slightly, causing you to lose pace.
It sometimes feels like the pivot point of the car is too far back, like it steers like your five-year-old nephew plays with his Matchbox cars. Especially the first meters in the game it all feels a bit uncomfortable. In addition, the game is even on the difficulty level ‘hard’ fairly simple.
By the way, you should know that Grid Legends not intended as a sim racer. As arcade as Mario Kart or burnout it is not, but that the game is not completely realistic, you can not blame the makers. However, the road holding just misses the sweet spotlike arcade racer forza Horizon manages to hit him.
A bad first impression, but hang in there
The penny dropped for us only when we put the camera on the nose of the car and connected the racing wheel to the PlayStation. As we battled our way up the hill through the pack of opponents in a Renault Laguna BTCC over a soaking Mount Panorama, we began to understand what the makers were aiming for. As you overtake one opponent and dodge the other spinning vehicle in front, you feel like a hero.
What you lose in overview because of the camera in first person you gain in spectacle and involvement. Also, set the difficulty level right away ‘expert’† Even if you don’t get the best lines because of the handling, you can make up for a lot with some elbow work. Struggling through the crashing mob gives you a good sense of satisfaction.
Nice circuits
In addition, there are plenty of cool circuits in it Grid Legends† Not only the famous locations such as Suzuka or Barcelona are in the game, but also you can bullitt Imagine jumping over the hills of San Francisco in a Mustang. It also looks great in terms of graphics, especially in the rain.
So: has Grid Legends are mojo back?
Grid Legends may not be an instant classic like the first part, but the makers have done their best to make it a distinctive game. Sim racers won’t be charmed by the handling, but the slightly more casual gamer will be fine with it after some getting used to it. It is really an entertaining game, especially for those for example NFS does not like to play, but finds a sim racer just a bit too serious. The big question is: wouldn’t you rather wait a week or two for the new one Gran Turismo?
Gameplay trailer of Grid Legends
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