SRT – Race Driver GRID Review

Shaun and Darin of InsideSimRacing have made another special report video, reviewing Codemaster’s Race Driver GRID racing game.

The guys have an in-depth look at the game on both the PC and the Playstation 3, so make sure to check out the extensive 20-minute review.



  • http://www.racingx.co.uk marek100

    So sad the car and FFB physics sucks ,yes i have try this game even buy one to, but as Shaun and Darin say that is Arcade game ,maybe some mooders will remake Grid then i will come back to this game .

  • JacobSharp

    Is this product even worth mentioning? :???:

  • Mr. A

    This is an arcade title I tried to approach it as such, as sometimes arcade titles can be lots of fun. This game however, completely fails when it comes to the driving part. The driving physics in an arcade game doesn’t have to be realistic, but at least have some kind of nice feel to it. I have tried to play this with keyboard, gamepad and steering wheel but it feels completely unplayable with any type of controller.

    There is one thing I like about it though and it’s the visual damage. It looks really good and I hope we will get similar visual damage in future pc simulators (but better scaled to how damaged the car actually is of course). I also like how the tracks get “damaged” when for example you drive into to a tirewall or guardrail and they will behave as such and not like concrete.

  • RJC_pt

    Audi R10 tdi doing 400kmh + a lemans… yeh rigth, there goes the realism truh the window…

  • Bram

    Mr. A, that was exactly the problem I had as well. This game fails to succeed in either field. It’s not simple and fun enough to be arcade, and not realistic enough to be a simulation. It sits in the middle trying to be a bit of both, and failing miserably at it.

    I love a good arcade game once in a while, NFS Most Wanted comes to mind as a game that kept me entertained for a long long time. But this just doesn’t do it.

  • oqvist

    Codemasters doesn´t do anything other then arcade titles… It´s wrong to complain about them not being realistic it would be if there ain´t a good feel to it rather :). And if you have any idea the F1 game will be any difference forget about it…

    But this is the first Codemasters title I have enjoyed since Colin McRae 2 and TOCA 2 and no I am not a simracing purist ;) Toca 3 was as someone mentioned more in the middle between sim and arcade but it´s quite clear with GRID and now DIRT they have left all those half baked attempts behind.

    As for controls took a lot of tweaking to get it decent with a wheel but 130 steering lock on the G25. Similar to the 911 but then you have to decrease saturation since 180 is minimum and then play with the sensitivity slider. Not to say forget about all I learned in simracing about corner techniques and braking it´s fun to throw the car in at impossible speeds and then brake with your throttle…

    Really growned on me and the drifting was spot on from the go :).

    As for physics (remember not realism fun factor) Formula cars 0/100… WTCC 25/100… Muscle cars 75/100… Drifting 100 /100… So focus on drifting and the city or fantasy courses and you will be much more happy rather then trying to compare Istanbul, Lemans with other models.

  • http://racingrenders.com F1Racer

    Despite all its flaws, it still looks amazing and so dynamic.
    Be better if you had control over the replay cameras more like the sims we drive.
    But IF Codemasters F1 game is a well crafted sim with these sort of gfx, we’re in for a treat. Im prepared to give them a chance. They know what the community wants and they’ve said they`ll tend to our needs so lets see. If they mess it up, then sure, lets get together and burn the building down.

  • stabiz

    I wish I had your optimism, F1Racer. I really cant see how the creators of so many (IMO) bad driving games can pull off a F1 game with sim credentials. I will try to eat one of my wrecked MOMOs if they do. :smile:

  • Howie47

    :lol: Ha Ha, every other Sim racer thinks it the cool thing, to
    poo poo Codemaster and any other non-racing specialist;
    developer.
    Let’s be honest for a moment, (boys). Arcade physics aside. This title delivers more ground braking
    attributes, for the racing market since “Toca” 1997 or “GPL” 1998, then any title between.
    Other developers only wish, they could have come out with
    a title like this first.
    While the likes of iRacing may die on the vine, as boring
    and to expensive. Grid shows the promise of enlivening the
    racing game genre again. Just like “Toca” once did.
    So get on board, and encourage Codemasters. Or go back to playing Pac-Man.

  • http://www.racingx.co.uk marek100

    Howie47 you are brave man call us boys but ok ill take that . Well sow if Codemasters did make so good game why they dont did all right in one place i mean car&FFB physics? why they still going to develop a arcade racing game ? For now Grid still going be just a most Impresive arcade game avalible on PS3,PC,
    :wink:

  • stabiz

    :lol: What are you even doing here if simracing bores you, Howie? And name one thing about GRID (apart from the damage model and the straight out lies in the pre release hype) that is ground breaking. I am not trying to be a “cool” or “hardcore” simracer, I just hate 5-minute-gaming and flash over content.

    And what the %”¤#”¤# is the Pac-Man comment about?

  • http://racingrenders.com F1Racer

    marek100, Codemasters developed GRID as an arcade game. In that respect they did get it right. Give me a better arcade racer than this. NFS ? :)
    stabiz: I have to have optimism for this F1 2009 otherwise we’re relying on rFactor2 (whenever that might be) to cater to our needs.
    The community have already spoken on Codemasters forums, and in other places about their desire for F1 2009 to be sim and Codemasters have already responded to that saying we will be taken care of. I have to give them the benefit of the doubt in that they will do as they say. How well they do it remains to be seen.
    They have the licence which must have cost them a fortune. You dont make that money back by making just a sim.
    Its known already that F1 2009 will have sim and arcade options. It must have to appeal to the more arcarde oriented console owners.
    If the physics are there and the FFB is decent enough, and we have good F1 rule implementation (which they have already promised) and setup screens for the car, man, you give me GRIDs gfx with an F1 game and Im a happy guy.
    For me the gfx in GRID is groundbreaking. It looks awesome and the damage is incredible. Imagine that in F1.
    Imagine 18 tracks all with tyre barriers that break up with physics when you hit them. Replays that you can’t take your eyes off.
    What has me wondering now is if Codemasters pull this off, what has rF2 got in its armoury to counter that with it+an F1 mod. How good are rF2′s gfx going to look for example.
    Will it have full particle effects, better damage, HDR, provisions for current F1 rules ?
    Kinda counting on Codemasters for the F1 feed now.
    Being pessimistic about it will just be depressing.
    Maybe not as bad as the disappointment I will get if CM blow it. But that hasn’t happened yet and CM know what we are after and they know what they must do. If they cant deliver on an F1 title after Sony’s pathetic console-only nonsense, then yeah, I`ll lose faith in CM to ever make a racing sim.

  • http://www.racingx.co.uk marek100

    F1Racer you are right ,sorry if i did go on Grid bit hard but yes gfx and idea of game its way ahead from current sim-racing games. Time will show what going be in next sim-racing game ,Sow for now im happy with rFactor and LFS ,what next ?no idea.

  • unklepepper

    I like F1Racers optimism and I share it… well not so much now having played this. When CM got the EFF1 job I thought it cant be too bad, having had great days playin RD1+2 (never played 3) but this is pure garbage. I tried it with G25, gamepad, 360 pad n even keyboard! but the steering is just wrong, anyone driven a rear wheel drive forklift? or an all wheel steering bus or something! I just felt sick, really im not kidding I really did. And im not saying this as some PC sim fanboy I like GT4 n GT5p, need for speed, test drive even burnout is more of a sim! Trackmania is one of my most played games, that is far more fun & better handling! Then there is the over use of what is it HDR or some shit that makes it look like vaseline over the screen so you cant even see the hi res tex! some bits of the real tracks dont seem accurate ether n that was supposed to be a major factor for their EFF1 game to be fantastic! Needless to say it was uninstalled within the day n back to the shop it went n I went to the pub with the cash for a stiff drink to calm my stomach & my nerves!

  • stabiz

    :lol:

  • six.degrees

    It’d be okay if they actually stated that it was an arcade racer – which it is, in a quasi Ridge Racer style really – rather than announcing it as the most realistic simulator ever and getting offended when you question its realism!

  • http://racingrenders.com F1Racer

    unklepepper, yep its true, if you’re a descendant from the sim-world then these physics just ain’t gonna satisfy. Not in the slightest. They are not remotely real-world other than when you turn the wheel right the car tends to go to the right on its centre-pivot. Some cars are like driving through custard. Others oversteer like they have 4-wheel steering (speaking from experience here with my Prelude).
    The only downside to F1-2009 is if CM are truly going to implement proper sim physics into it, it will CMs first attempt at doing so. So however F1-09 turns out, the result will include CMs first try at a proper sim, and wow is F1 going in at the deep end or what !?
    Lets see if they get it more or less right first shot.

  • Howie47

    “Lets see if they get it more or less right first shot.”
    F1Racer, the problem is. No developer has ever pleased the whole Sim community, with physics! When they do try. They
    get allot of flaming, condemning denouncements, telling
    the community not to support them. Nothing wrong with (constructive criticism), tempered with praise for what is right. Unfortunately, to many posters seem to think their
    opinions represent what Moses brought down from the mountain.
    Or they try and sway others by posting extremist views. Throwing what amounts too, a posting tantrum. Thats
    why I called you “boys”, some of you need to grow up. :cool:

  • http://racingrenders.com F1Racer

    Yeah its clear that no matter how good F1 2009 turns out to be, it will be flamed for its physics. Thats normal in this community. It is impossible to please everyone because people have different opinions on what they think feels real (despite that they’ve never come close to sampling the real thing).
    GTR Evolution for example has probably the most realistic physics of the GTR series. But because its ‘easier’ people think its less real. Few realise that these cars do have tremendous grip, are not hard to drive, just hard to drive on the limit.
    I’m sure I could whittle an F1 car around a track without too much problem but my lap times would be so far off the F1 drivers it would be laughable.
    CM cannot win no matter what they do. The best they can hope for is pleasing the console players and at lest 50% of the sim racers. Plus they have to do a better job than Sony.
    Sim racers tend to expect too much I reckon and CM will unlikely deliver on the majority of those expectations.
    So they’re going to get slammed for something with little regard for what they do get right.
    Same with GRID. Despite the gfx, damage and particle effects, it gets slated for being what it set out to be. I think its because simmers wanted to play a game like this and can’t enjoy it because they can’t get past the arcade physics. So they’re angry and diss the game.
    F1 2009 has a lot to live up to and whatever CM do, its going to fall short no matter how good they make it. Tis the nature of things in this spoilt community.

  • stabiz

    Okay, so that means we from now on cant dislike something, because someone else might like it?

    The rant about the simracing community is getting as old as the ranting community.

  • http://racingrenders.com F1Racer

    Nope I never said that at all. It wasn’t a rant either so enough with the cliche’s.

    I’m saying the sim-racing community is never satisfied. I count myself in too by the way. Not that we are unique in this its the nature of things in general.
    Ferrari’s next car. Will be like be some, hated by others.
    The next IPhone killer, some will like it, others won’t.

    But if you narrow this down to physics, even though there is only one set of physics laws in the known universe, no matter how well a game company implements them in a racing sim, you’re gonna get a crowd of haters. Even if the physics are as close to real as you can get. They`ll moan because they don’t know its close to real because they have their own interpretations.

    Why are you taking it so personal ? You know its true.
    We’re a spoilt bunch. We want it all, we want it now and we want it free – and it better be good or we`ll eat ya alive.
    Tell me it aint so.

  • stabiz

    I`m not taking it personal, I just a bit tired of the superior attitude towards the community. Sure, what you list at the end there is true, but it can easily be said about ANY gaming community. I have been subsimming for years, for instance, and its the same there. So blame humanity.

    What are you saying then? That the simracing community is never satisfied and neither are you? But you are still optimistic? :lol:

  • http://racingrenders.com F1Racer

    I don’t consider myself to have a superior attitude. I’m as bad as everyone else. It is true about other gaming communities Im sure, which doesn’t make it any less true.
    Here though, with the people amongst us who like to be thought of as hardcore, its more noticeable. I blame humanity for many things mate.

    I’m saying sections of the simracing community is never satisfied. Some are, some aren’t. When those that are, are not then those that are not, are. Its a no-win situation for modders and game manufacturers like Simbin, CM etc.
    I can’t say I’m never satisfied. It depends. Sometimes I am, sometimes not.
    And yes, Im currently optimistic about F1 2009. Is that a bad thing ?

  • dadada1

    F1Racer
    I’m probably what you would call a hardcore simmer but I have no problem with arcade driving games as long as they bear some resemblance to the real world. Project Gotham, Forza, and GT4 fall into this catergory, hell I even return to the game that started me out on driving games R-Racing. Grids fundimental problem is that it doesn’t even remotely feel like driving a car or any of the titles I’ve mentioned, the steering (the most important part for me) is totally unpredictable and simply the worst I’ve ever experienced. With Grid I wasn’t expecting a hardcore simulation or even something in between, what I wasn’t expecting is for it to be almost undriveable and I think this is where much of the critisism is aimed rather than cornering speeds etc.

    A GTR Evo fan.

  • Howie47

    dadada1, If it is so undrivable. How come I can beat the AI on the highest setting? (and they are fast).Did you check my (video) above?
    Me beating my class at Le Mans.

  • Howie47

    Oops. Wrong thread. The video is here.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5maYmW3c6s&watch_response

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