Racedriver GRID- PC Game

Platforms: PlayStation 3; Xbox 360; PC; PlayStation 3 version reviewed. :


The perennial underdog of the driving game world, Codemasters' TOCA series won and kept a hardcore fanbase, but never quite achieved the global recognition that the likes of Gran Turismo or Project Gotham Racing have enjoyed. This is a shame. The last effort, TOCA Race Driver 3, had its visual issues but offered one of the most authentic and exciting racing experiences on the last generation of consoles. Race Driver: GRID may have left the TOCA name behind, but it's still full of the same qualities and - importantly - the same attitude that drove its antecedents. I just hope it leaves the 'underdog' reputation behind, because GRID deserves to be big. It's not just comparable to the likes of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, Forza 2 and Project Gotham Racing 4 - it's actually a better game in some respects.


Pausing and restarting is such an integral part of games like PGR and GRID, where you want to begin every race perfectly, that it surely can't be long before someone binds it to a button, just as the time trial festishists who make TrackMania have done on the PC. But having perfected the start, what do you then do when you try and vault the chicane at 150mph on the last lap only to end up in a tyre wall? Traditionally, you shout and scream. In GRID's case, though, you just hit a button, rewind your mistake and try again.


Flashback is what they're calling it, and it does for GRID what the Sands of Time did for Prince of Persia in 2003: removes unnecessary repetition (and stops us throwing the control pad around the room). Like POP, Codies restricts Flashback's use, allowing you four of them on Normal difficulty. You can also wager your stock of Flashbacks to try and gain more reputation points - which unlock later challenges - by increasing the difficulty; whack it up and you earn more reputation points, but the pressure's on you not to screw up so much.




Not that this would count for anything if Flashback were awkward, complicated or slow to load, but it's none of these things. As soon as you start spinning out, you reach for the button, and after a short pause for a rewindy noise you're deposited on an instant replay screen watching the last few seconds of gameplay. The bumper buttons allow you to switch camera angles to judge when you'd like to retake control, at which point you hit the resume button, the game makes three flashbulb noises in quick succession, each accompanied by a still of the action from an arty angle, and you're back in the driving seat as if nothing went wrong. During 20 hours of play on the 360 retail copy provided for review, we only experienced a handful of split-second pauses at the flashbulb stage. Overall, it just works, and works without incident, and because it's tightly integrated and bound to difficulty level, it feels like a tool rather than a cheat. Flashback, then, is great. But what of GRID itself?


Like TOCA Race Drivers 2 and 3 before it, GRID is a collection of disparate racing sub-disciplines brought together in a single career mode. At the traditional end, there are races in Detroit muscle cars, professionally tuned Japanese sports-cars, open-wheel track cars from Formula 1000, and - lest we all forget where the series began - touring cars. But unlike 2 and 3, GRID builds on this not by veering into the esotericism of classic cars, ovals and rallycross, but into unknowns like Pro Touge and Drift Battles, and Demolition Derbies in the hunt for our love.



Race Driver: GRID System Requirements

The PC version of Race Driver: GRID is coming simultaneously with the console versions, and the demo is out. With the demo, the system requirements of the PC version were also published, and as far as the minimum requirements go, they are fairly tame. You can use the handy Game-o-Meter to check if your system has what it takes to run Race Driver: GRID, or you can read on for all the details.
Race Driver: GRID System Requirements

Minimum Specifications
Windows XP/Vista. (If running Windows Vista, SP1 is recommended)
DirectX 9.0c
Pentium 4 @ 3.0GHz or Athlon 64 3000+
1GB RAM.
Graphics Card: GeForce 6800 / Radeon X1300 or above
DirectX Compatible Sound Card
Dual Layer Compatible DVD-ROM Drive
12.5 GB Hard Drive Space

Recommended Specifications
Windows XP/Vista. (If running Windows Vista, SP1 is recommended)
DirectX 9.0c
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.66Ghz or Athlon X2 3800+
2GB RAM.
Graphics Card: GeForce 8800 or Radeon X1950
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Sound Card.
Dual Layer Compatible DVD-ROM Drive
12.5 GB Hard Drive Space

Supported Graphics Cards

ATI Radeon X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950, HD2600, HD2900, HD3870

NVIDIA Geforce 6800, 7100, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950, 8600, 8800, 9800

Not compatible with all integrated sound/graphics solutions (inc.Laptops)

TCP/IP mode (2-12 players) Requirements:
Broadband internet connection required - 512kbps + Recommended
TCP/IP Network

Note that these requirements are listed by Codemasters for the demo - they might change before the final release (currently scheduled for early June), but I would consider that to be highly unlikely.
 


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