Multiplayer
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The multiplayer component in GRID is pretty straight forward. Much like the Race Day mode for solo players, the online mode allows for selection of location, race type, track, and the desired car. What makes the online experience unique is the game's voting system. When all players (12 max.) have joined the lobby via the Quick Match, Ranked Match, or Unranked Match options, a countdown will commence allowing the players to vote on the desired geographical region, followed by another countdown allowing for more votes to be cast for the desired race type and, by extension, the type of track. Once the decision has been made final, players are given yet another countdown to choose one of the available cars for that event.
When hosting a race, players are given the option to choose between short, medium, and long events. The result of this choice is the number of races that will occur before the next round of voting begins. The number of laps for each race is also at the mercy of the host racer. As expected, the difficulty ramps up a bit during online play as the Flashback feature is unavailable. Also, players who total their car during a multiplayer race will not be able to continue and enter spectator mode for the duration of the race. Yes, this does seem a bit harsh since you'll almost always encounter one opponent who'd rather turn the race into a demolition derby than compete to win. But that's the brakes.
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While the graphics during online play appear to be inferior to those of the single player game, they're not too shabby. Car models and set pieces still look great. However, right out of the box, your opponents during online races appear flighty and can often be seen racing in the air with wheels hovering above the asphalt. The physics during online play are also out of sorts as crashes can cause cars to be launched to heights that must be over one hundred feet above the track. These issues were dealt with after applying the first of two patches that are currently available for the game. Access and information about these patches can be obtained at FileFront.com and many other gaming sites.
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honolululu - Friday, August 8, 2008 - link
Gotcha. I don't have any problems with the steering range of action, but damned if I don't have to hold myself back with that throttle.I have noticed that it seems floored when the throttle is only about 70% applied, and if you increase deadzone that just decreases the range of action.
Next patch maybe. The saturation levels for steering and gas should not default to 100% me thinks. It says "Decrese saturation if you feel the steering is not sensitive enough."
Well where do we go if it's too sensitive!
I can't get enough though. Love that Demolition Derby.
flobo - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
Good game, they only forgot the driving part. Not the car is steering, but the landscape is turning before your eyes, suggesting speed.Physics? Still pivot after all this years.I wonder if the critic ever played a serious driving game. Next time better give space to Iracing, not this childish stuff.JarredWalton - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
Lots of people enjoy games for gaming's sake, not because they are a perfect reconstruction of real life. I will readily agree that the physics and driving model of GRID are not realistic in terms of the hardcore sim crowd, and we said as much. Of course, they're also not as unrealistic as most arcade racers. But the bottom line is: do we think the game is fun? Yes, we do.I don't think I personally would enjoy the "serious" racing games as much as this "childish stuff". Then again, I've spent a lot more time - and got a lot more enjoyment - out of Mass Effect than from GRID, which is why I confined most of my comments to the benchmarking and performance section. (Yeah, Eddie didn't write that page, though he did run the tests for the two graphs.)
dare2savefreedom - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
recommended racing wheel:logitech g25
FTW
HDBanger - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
I race alot of sims on pc, and Ive raced most arcade racers also, GRID is 100% arcade, and it has so many bugs, I had to wear misquito repellent when I raced! I finished the single player game in 3 days, and the multiplayer is atrocious! Huge lag, all kinds of cheats, just pure BS online. Hot lapping was the only thing to do after single player, I had about 52 world record laps at one point, then I went back to real racing (gtr2, rfactor). Codemasters should be renamed CodeDisasters, they have alienated their whole sim base.schwinn8 - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
... but it's "brake" not "break". I don't know why so many people make that mistake?MrBlastman - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
It is a shame the demo doesn't support Track IR.I hear the full game does now via a patch. Has anyone tried it? Racing games (or any type of sim for that matter) are impossible to play properly without Track IR.
n00bxqb - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
I got this free w/ my Radeon HD 4870 and I must say I'm thoroughly impressed with the game itself; it's fun, immersive, and the graphics are quite impressive (though I wish it supported 24x CFAA). Physics are more realistic than DiRT, but it still feels geared more towards arcade-style handling than realism. More car choices would've been nice as well, but now I'm just starting to nitpick :PMy only real complaint is the DRM. Half the time the game doesn't even launch (original disc), it gives some random SecuROM error code (with a link that only takes you to SecuROM's homepage; not a page that explains what the error code means). I always try to rip a disc image to my hard drive with any game I own so I can play w/o having to fish out the disc, but that's a no-go, even w/ YASU and other anti-SecuROM utilities. It's not a huge deal as the game doesn't seem to load anything off the disc during the actual game, but it's a pain to have to track it down and find it when I want to play it. On the plus side, it's offered through Steam, meaning no DVD.
HDBanger - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
The Reloaded EXE works with any version of Grid, and it works better than Codemasters EXE with less crashes and graphical glitches. Also, it works online just fine, Codemasters didnt do anything to thwart pirates whatsoever. One of the reasons the online is so atrocious.Omega215D - Thursday, August 7, 2008 - link
I was debating whether to get this game for the PS3($60) or PC ($40) but I heard there were many bugs for the PC version so I wasn't sure if I should pick this one up. The cool thing about this game is that it is more action packed than Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.Now I have something to keep me occupied till GTA IV for PC in November (hopefully).