Codemaster’s Grid Demo Fails To Impress
Posted in Gadgets & Toys, Rants / Emo-isms on May 17, 2008 by Dom
I really didn’t like the Grid demo. The drifting in it is especially horrible. You’re given one of Team Orange’s S15 to take around a harbor which is disturbingly reminiscent of F&F4.
When playing, the first thing you notice is that the SR sounds like a VQ. The second thing you notice is that it’s impossible to drive in a straight line without the rear wanting to slide to the side. Yes, it’s the drift segment of the game but it’s honestly really ridiculous. As you play, you can forget about the VQ engine sound and almost forgive them for the mistake, but only because your attention is turned to how the driving feel quickly goes from bad to worse.
I’m no pro-drifter but if you’ve ever done any real drifting, you quickly realize that nearly everything in Grid’s drifting is counter-intuitive to what you know.
A tip soon flashes up on the screen, “Use the e-brake to initiate a drift.” Might be a good tip if only it actually did what it’s supposed to..
The car feels more like an RC than a real drift car. It’s like driving on ice, but worse. Any input to the left analog stick send the rear end out further than you intend. You want the rear to hang out a lot, but you want it in some moderation. You want it to protrude like Vida Guerra, not Queen Latifa.
I suppose I’m holding it to a high standard though. Maybe Codemaster’s intent was more of an arcade feel than a simulation. It could be that they were letting Gran Turismo be the simulator and Grid be the quick arcade, get-in-and-drift-immediately alternative..But the thing is, even if it was meant to feel like an arcade game, I think it fails at that too. It just feels entirely wrong.
Grid’s other modes (Le Mans and American something or other) aren’t as bad. Still very arcade feeling, but less ridiculously proposterous. Just stay away from the drifting. Gran Turismo, on the other hand, does it pretty well.
I really wish all videogame companies spent more time on things and paid more attention to detail. Even Gran Turismo needs to work on their sound. Ever notice that they use the same tire squeal sound in ALL the GT games? Regardless, Codemaster’s Grid is just bad in my opinion. I’d say “at least it looks good,” but they butchered most of the vinyl schemes for cars in the game. Sure they might not be able to entirely replicate certain cars for legal reasons, but they could at least prevent them from looking like they belong in F&F. Now that I think about it, maybe that’s what the whole drifting segment of their game was going for…
I didn’t know what to expect from Grid, but I’m honestly not all that surprised at what I found. There was a disclaimer at the beginning of the game that said “This demo may not be fully representative of the final game.” Let’s hope and pray that it’s true. If anyone from Codemasters reads this, please look into hiring a qualified consultant. I guarantee they’ll make your games better.
Oh and don’t fuck up the F1 game. I’ll be quite perturbed and I’m sure Bernie Eccleston wouldn’t be happy either.
I just downloaded the Iron Man demo. I hope that’s better.
