Race Driver: Grid
I bought this game because I wanted a plausibly realistic racing experience without the obligatory grind of Gran Turismo or Forza. I'm a sim fan, ready to face some demanding challenges where practice is required and Race Driver: Grid seemed to fit the bill. It offers an in-car view, with car damage, and even debris left on the track.
I would never pay full dollar for a Codemasters game, so I bought it pre-owned. It was a wise choice - there are some serious flaws to this game.
My first impressions are that it knows what it wants to be: an aggressive, demanding, plausibly real racing game. To me, it's always a good sign when a game knows what it wants to be. I always find it easier to overlook a game's flaws if you can see what it is trying to achieve.
Race Driver does make it difficult though. The most annoying flaw I have noticed so far: No practice mode. I mean, it's a demanding game, which will require practice, so practice should be an easy part of the interface. It's not rocket science.
With no practice mode, I figure they want me to learn on-the-job. So off I toddle into my first race. I'm into the action quickly, but I soon realise I'm way out of my depth. I limp my way to the end of the race. Okay, I was rubbish. Let's restart the race and try again...Except you can't. You can restart the race any point except once you've finished. I couldn't believe it. I'm actually going to have to keep track of what lap it is, so I can pause before the finish line and restart.
There has to be a better way than this, I thought. And there is...kinda. If you go into the career mode and see what race/car option you want to take up, you can then exit out, go to the 'Race Day' (single race) option and set up a replica race there. Then you can keep going as many times as you like to learn the course.
And it really will take you many, many repetitions because you can't practice without the insanely aggressive opposition. How do you know you're taking the racing line? Why, because you've just been smashed off it by a faster competitor and left to careen head-first into a cargo container. Way to go with the positive feedback there, guys.
I'm going to persevere. I want it to be enjoyable. It worked with Wipeout - the cockpit mode in that was really enjoyable, but insanely difficult. Let's see if Race Driver: Grid can get there.
UPDATE:
Okay, so once you own a team, you can drive cars you own round pretty much any track.
Still, it's quite annoying that you buy cars on entry to a tournament (so you can't practice with the car you're actually going to be racing in)
I would never pay full dollar for a Codemasters game, so I bought it pre-owned. It was a wise choice - there are some serious flaws to this game.
My first impressions are that it knows what it wants to be: an aggressive, demanding, plausibly real racing game. To me, it's always a good sign when a game knows what it wants to be. I always find it easier to overlook a game's flaws if you can see what it is trying to achieve.
Race Driver does make it difficult though. The most annoying flaw I have noticed so far: No practice mode. I mean, it's a demanding game, which will require practice, so practice should be an easy part of the interface. It's not rocket science.
With no practice mode, I figure they want me to learn on-the-job. So off I toddle into my first race. I'm into the action quickly, but I soon realise I'm way out of my depth. I limp my way to the end of the race. Okay, I was rubbish. Let's restart the race and try again...Except you can't. You can restart the race any point except once you've finished. I couldn't believe it. I'm actually going to have to keep track of what lap it is, so I can pause before the finish line and restart.
There has to be a better way than this, I thought. And there is...kinda. If you go into the career mode and see what race/car option you want to take up, you can then exit out, go to the 'Race Day' (single race) option and set up a replica race there. Then you can keep going as many times as you like to learn the course.
And it really will take you many, many repetitions because you can't practice without the insanely aggressive opposition. How do you know you're taking the racing line? Why, because you've just been smashed off it by a faster competitor and left to careen head-first into a cargo container. Way to go with the positive feedback there, guys.
I'm going to persevere. I want it to be enjoyable. It worked with Wipeout - the cockpit mode in that was really enjoyable, but insanely difficult. Let's see if Race Driver: Grid can get there.
UPDATE:
Okay, so once you own a team, you can drive cars you own round pretty much any track.
Still, it's quite annoying that you buy cars on entry to a tournament (so you can't practice with the car you're actually going to be racing in)
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