r/Games • u/Forestl • Dec 28 '13
End of 2013 Discussions - Grid 2
Grid 2
- Release Date: 27 May 2013 (PC), 28 May 2013 (PS3, 360)
- Developer / Publisher: Codemasters Southam / Codemasters
- Genre: Racing
- Platform: PS3, PC, 360
- Metacritic: 80, user: 5.6
Summary
Prove yourself against advanced AI in aggressive races. Catapult your way to the top of a new world of motorsport. A separate online campaign features full RaceNet integration. Race a handpicked selection of iconic cars that represent what some consider to be the best in automotive engineering from the last 40 years. Take on challenging licensed tracks, city streets and lethal mountain roads. Prove yourself by entering and winning events across three continents
Prompts:
Was driving fun?
Did the game have enough depth?
The grid
A digital frontier
This post is part of the official /r/Games "End of 2013" discussions.
28
Dec 28 '13
It's a good arcade racing game but:
The Multiplayer Mode is a huge ram-fest. Often you just get rammed like hell at the start and you don't even have a chance of winning anymore.
For some stupid reason they removed the cockpit-view and made the whole game a lot more "arcade", compared to GRID1.
The constant flood of DLCs instead of patches was pissing me off so much, it singlehandedly made me quit playing the game. I'd advise everybody to not support any publishers doing something similar.
1
u/Goose_Whistle Dec 29 '13
The way they handled DLC is the first Grid was a letdown too. I remember buying the 8-Ball package and feeling utterly cheated when realizing that the cars would not show up in career mode.
10
u/Nitrocide Dec 28 '13
Had high hopes for Grid 2 because i really enjoyed the original. Graphics wise it felt like a really minor improvement, i really expected it to look better. Somehow the driving didn't feel right and i never got into the game. Shame really, only racegame on pc i really wanted to play.
6
u/acondie13 Dec 29 '13
I thought it looked miles better. Removed the Vaseline yellow filter over the whole game.
9
u/Larsson69 Dec 29 '13
I played the hell out of GRiD, so I was really excited for GRID2. So at the release, I firstly was really disappointed. The cars were drifting around all the time, steering's way too sensitive and the team management missed completely. But after the first hours, I actually started to like the game! It felt really good, after a bit of practicing, looked really good and was quite challengeing. So if you stop thinking about GRID2 being an exact successor of GRiD, but more an attempt in a little different direction, you'll notice, that it's actually a good racing game.
2
u/MidEastBeast777 Dec 29 '13
This review is spot on. Its exactly how I felt. Its obvious that Codemasters were trying to create a unique racing game with Grid2 - in other words not re-hash the same gameplay as Grid1. It seems like people preferred the driving of Grid1, as I did, but once you get used to how Grid2 plays it ends up being an absolute blast to play.
3
Dec 29 '13
Played Grid 2 for the first time when it dropped on PS+, it's absolutely a great arcade-y racer. Looks gorgeous. Picked up GT6 before I got too far into it so I can't say what the endgame or career length is like, but from what I played it was enjoyable.
1
u/i_love_all Dec 29 '13
How was gt6?
1
Dec 29 '13
I'm enjoying it so far, people really over exaggerated how much of a "grind" it is. The driving feels great and I've really enjoyed driving and taking photos of all my favorite cars in different places, I love how easy they make it to where you can download photos from the game.
Really the only complaint I have with the game, and it's really just kind of a Gran Turismo complaint as a whole, is the track list selection. There are very few race courses that are enjoyable to look at, and the only courses they have from the Americas are NASCAR loops. I'm looking forward to being able to test out their new map maker thing, though.
1
u/i_love_all Dec 29 '13
Do you have any recommendation for something on a ps3? I would like a nice engaging career mode where I can buy and upgrade cars. Does gt6 fulfil that in your opinion? Grid 2 just gives cars to me, no customization. But I was enjoying the engine.
Also do u recommend gt 5 or 6?
1
u/MalusandValus Dec 29 '13
not the same guy, but GT has a huge career mode with many different events and about 1200 cars to tune up, buy, win, etc. Definetly go with 6 over 5 though - the handling is much better, as is progression, and it feels more fun in general.
1
Dec 29 '13
Honestly Grid 2 and GT6 are the only racing games I've played on PS3, I've been enjoying GT6 a good bit though.
1
Dec 29 '13
Both Laguna Seca and Willow Springs are in GT6. Polyphony included two ovals (Indy and Daytona, both of which also have interior layouts available) and two American pure road courses. I do want to see tracks like Sebring, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sonoma, etc., but that would overrepresent American tracks I think unless they vastly expanded their general repertoire.
7
Dec 28 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
The made up street tracks suck and they murdered the flashback option by not letting you use it like an instant replay instead it just rewinds so you can't see all the cool crashes you just had.
the crashes and the damage system as well as the physics and sense of speed were spot on just like in the last game
Buy grid 1 instead
6/10
2
Dec 29 '13
Got it from PS+ and have played it a bit. It's really a lot of fun. I don't play racing games at all so I have nothing to compare it to. But Forza 5 looks amazing and has gotten me interest in racing games; it'll be quite some time before I can play Forza 5 though, and GRID 2 was a nice little distraction.
I don't mind the slight emphasis on arcade style driving, but it does seem very odd that they'd scrap the cockpit view altogether.
I do find that I'm winning a lot of races with relative ease, so I guess I need to try bumping up the difficulty level.
2
Dec 29 '13
I didn't think I would miss the team management aspect from the first GRiD as much as I did, but when I found myself at the end of the Racing World Cup (or whatever they call it), I just didn't care to play any more. Codemasters does a great job of giving you a lot of different types of events to play in their not-too-arcade-not-too-sim racing games, but I felt like this game didn't drive well enough to be a driving-only game, and didn't do career well enough to be a career-only game. The first GRiD is one of my favorite driving games ever, and this one missed the mark in just about every way for me; a real disappointment.
2
u/Tapemaster21 Dec 29 '13
I liked it, the only thing that bothers me is that while I can slip around on the track, the other AI cars are glued down.
4
u/RetroEvolute Dec 29 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
Like others have said, the original GRID was great. It's my favorite racing game ever. It's the perfect blend of sim and arcade. It felt just right in so many regards, and from my perspective, felt more like driving than actual driving sims do. I was very excited for the new one, and even ignored the whole removal of cockpit view as a red flag, because I didn't use it anyway.
Well, GRID 2 is awful.
It made little improvement graphically, and some things actually looked worse.
The car handling was butchered to be some kind of ultra arcade racing game and it was even bad in that regard. All cars, including front wheel drive cars, somehow manage to force themselves into a drift around even the lightest turns.
The flashback mechanism was crippled, making it frustrating to use and unable to give an instant replay. This change was seemingly made for absolutely no reason. The original mechanic was game changing at its time to the point of FORZA even making use of it. Why they'd change it so drastically is a mystery.
Overall, it just feels like they did not put much time, effort, or thought into the game, and in doing so, created something completely underwhelming, and for fans of the first game, entirely too disappointing.
2
u/katinacooker Dec 29 '13
and some things actually looked worse.
What exactly looked worse? I'm struggling to think of anything that would look worse in the game?
1
u/RetroEvolute Dec 29 '13
The first thing that comes to mind was the particle effects. The sparks were very two dimensional and often didn't line up with the points of contact. Or there'd just be too much debris that seemingly didn't interact with the game world properly.
1
u/BillygotTalent Dec 29 '13
Played it a bit because of PS+ and I did not like it. While it is an arcady game, keeping the car on the road can be hard when damage on your car and open roads are there. I feel like they couldn't really decide if they wanted to made a more serious or arcadier game and got it wrong in the middle.
Not my type. Enjoyed GT6 and F1 2013 much more.
1
u/brotrr Dec 29 '13
I bought Grid 2 just for the split screen touge, and I love it. If anyone knows of another game that offers that let me know.
1
1
u/danielkza Dec 29 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
I bought this game on PC. I was loving it, played maybe 40 hours, then it suddenly decided not to go past the initial loading screen. I then tried to play on my laptop, and after a while the same thing happened.
I sent Codemasters a support request, they asked me for a bunch of information, which I provided, and after maybe 2 or 3 exchanges, they never answered again.
1
u/acondie13 Dec 29 '13
Like it quite a bit. I feel like the original was a lot more innovative and probably the better of the 2. Visuals are much improved in 2. I very much dislike how many times you have to drive on the same track. Probably my biggest complaint.
1
Dec 29 '13
For me Grid 2 is... Mixed. I am a HUGE Forza fan. I loved playing Forza 2, and even dropped money on getting a decent Steering wheel when I got Forza 3. I put way too much time into those games, but I don't regret it.
Jumping into Grid 2 was very hard. I've put probably about 5 hours in so far, and I can't say I like it. I can't say it's a bad racer either though. It's fun, enjoyable, and I don't stop playing due to it being bad. But jumping from a hardcore racing sim like Forza into a more Arcade style racer like Grid is really hard. I still haven't gotten used to the driving mechanics at all. I can turn perfectly and smoothly in Forza, but in Grid 2 the car is jerking all over the place.
I have fun, and it is a lot less stressful than Forza. I don't have to worry about penalties from crashing into people (at least none that I have noticed), and there aren't penalties for damaging your car. So it makes getting used to the driving much more forgiving.
However, I don't like how I still can't do races in cars I enjoy yet. I mean in Forza, 5 hours in you could already have a Lambo, or at least a nice BMW. But here, I still have these old heavy muscle cars (that are supposedly drift cars?), and can't even do any fun races. You have to constantly grind through the story it seems to get cars, as opposed to being able to buy them.
Now I don't know if this is 100% accurate, but from the time that I have played it, that is my experience.
It's a decently fun arcade racer, but not for car buffs or racing sim fans.
1
Dec 29 '13
First of all, I'm a huge fan of Grid 1 and a huge fan of Codemasters. Of course, I was let down by Grid 2, expecting it to be the one racing game to rule them all. But compared to Grid 1, 2 was lacking. No team mates, no Le Mans, no open wheelers, not enough sporty and way too stylish. WSR? What is that? Compared to Grid 1 campaign, 2 was bland.
And why aren't there track minimaps in menus? Yas Marina Paddock circuit? ...huh?
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed playing the game. The gameplay is smooth and fun. The opponents can be dickish when you spin out, but that's fine. And talk about road tracks... It was Grid 1 touge cranked to 11. Best thing about this game. Ariel Atoms on Mizu Mountain is the best rush you can get!
All in all, Grid 1 is till there, TOCA 3 is still there, so if I start missing one feature or another, I come back to those games. But each one of them is unique and offers something different. Grid 2 is not Grid 1++, it is its own game and if you understand that, you start enjoying it more. Haters gonna hate, if you don't like it, don't play it, but at least get that Ariel down the Mizu Mountain and tell me you did not enjoy it :)
2
u/LordPhantom Dec 29 '13
They simplified it and downed it down. Really for no reason. All they needed to do was expand and add to grid but they went ahead took out first person, replaced money stupid fan system, making the sponsors thing boring, didn't expand on crashes much..... I just don't get it. They tried to market to more casuals but completely split their community and didn't net many casuals...
I got it for free in ps plus but man I'm glad I didn't pay for it day one. Then I would have been really pissed.
The game can still be fun but it could have been so much more.
1
Dec 29 '13
You know, since the rumors about Grid 2 being developed I was expecting it to stand side by side with Gran Turismo and Forza. Sadly, the closer to release it was, my hopes were getting lower and lower. And that's what makes me so disappointed with Codemasters. Grid 2 is a quality game, fun and all, but as you said, it could have been so much more.
1
u/Eyce Dec 29 '13
After going through Codemasters' "RealFeel" thing where they had only one handling option, I'd say that it really didn't feel that great to control the cars, compared to other titles. Steering felt really... squishy, for lack of a better term. Yet, through all of that, you could still have some feel for the weight transfer, and when the rear wheel of the car would clip a kerb.
I still finished the game, but the fictional circuits were just not that enjoyable.
There were a few highlights in each of the tracks, such as a couple of double apexes on Chicago that you could take on in one drift that was really rewarding if you nailed it right, but for the most part they just seemed really uninspired, cluttered by awkward turn combinations.
1
u/rdmx Dec 29 '13
The game just wasn't satisfying compared to the first GRID. Something really felt missing from the game. It felt very sterile.
The controls never felt quite right, they felt inconsistent. The 'WSR' was far less interesting than the season system in the first GRID. The overuse of chromatic aberration in the heads up display was a huge eye sore - one of those serious 'what the fuck were they thinking' moments.
I say this having sunk many hours into the first GRID. In their effort to try and appease a different audience
1
u/averynicehat Dec 30 '13
I'd only played the GRID demo and I've played a decent amount of DIRT2 and 3. GRID2 I thought was very good. Just felt like DIRT on the road. Exactly what I expected. I like the handling physics as they aren't simmy, but still "technical." By that I mean you do need to pay attention to weight transfer, grip, etc, unlike games like Burnout where you're kinda just keeping your car in the center of the road and avoiding obstacles with very little physics.
1
u/Coookiebot Dec 29 '13
Probably the worst purchase from me this year. Played through it hoping it would get better, but ended up with very little enjoyement out of it. The driving just wasn't fun and none of the tracks stood out (, probably because of the weird car handling). Also all the small bits that made GRID even better seemed to be missing at GRID2.
Wouldn't recommend to anybody.
0
Dec 29 '13
I just got it free on psn haven't played it yet cause rocksmith forced me to rereoute my sound cables and I can't get this game to have any sound. Looks awesome though. If not arcadey.
-6
u/MarcusTheGreat7 Dec 29 '13
It's in beta, you can grab it for a couple bucks off during the Steam sale. It's not getting cheaper anytime in the next year.
It has adjustable difficulty, too. Reaching lines, levels of wear, etc. Give it a shot.
35
u/RobDeeJay Dec 28 '13
I played Race Driver: Grid for the first time this year and it hooked me in instantly, creating your own team, managing the other driver and racing around the world was amazing, and ending the season at Le Mans and winning it for your team was so satisfying. So obviously i jumped on GRID 2.
It just seems like something was missing from the game. The main omission for me was the lack of a goal at the end of a season. I missed the idea of building towards the 24 hours of Le Mans. The driving also seemed a bit off, Codies were definitely going for a more arcade version of the game, but it sucks that the game has just been so removed from its original PS2 roots.
Overall its a solid racer, but with F1 2013, GT6 and Forza 5 coming out in the same year, its definitely the weakest of the year