Thursday, September 3, 2009

Grid, Try before you Die!

This is not a complete article that can explain Grid to you in three paragraphs. Besides, you can anyway find a lot of reviews on the web considering that it has been a while since this game was released. But the point of writing this post, is to make sure that no petrol-head misses this awesome game. Even if you are just a gamer who likes a couple of racing games, this is worth a try. Let me tell you why..

I tried this game a long time back but back then, I played only a lap or so. Today, I played the game for well over an hour in a proper rig and let me tell you, its one of the best racing games that I've ever tried. I'm not a guy with usual tastes & you will understand that when I say "I love ProStreet". For those of you who don't understand why that is awkward, is because, the game was hated by the fans of the NFS franchise. The reason why I loved it is because it reminded me of Colin McRae which is considered by many as the best racing franchise ever. How does all this explain about Grid?

Its very simple. Grid is like the friendlier version of ProStreet. Gamers hate ProStreet because it is too hardcore and tough meaning it ain't fun. I had to sweat & swear at the top of my voice while trying to finish that game. I used to get frustrated & upset after trying certain races for long hours but to me, that was fun. I loved the way the game challenged me to push myself to the extreme and made me struggle & fight, thus giving me a real racing experience. That is just my personal trait. Grid on the other hand, will give you the same feeling of a real life racer but without the frustration part.

The first couple of races, you might crash & burn. But once you get a hang of it, its an entirely different experience. It is not street racing; the races take place in proper tracks or blockaded streets with proper curbs etc. The cars are not like toys; they handle like a real car & so, taking the corners in the proper speed is everything. You can't crash into walls without paying a price for it. Don't worry, there is a small icon at the bottom left that will tell you when to break. Besides, the difficulty can be set for every single race which also implies that if you race with higher difficulty you will simply get more points. Instead of having to restart a race after a major crash, if the difficulty is set low, you can simply travel back in time dynamically just seconds before the crash & try the corner again.

Besides all these, what captured my attention was the reality in the way the car handled. If you go too fast, you WILL crash. If you go too slow, you WILL be overtaken. If you make a mistake, you will pay the price. The car won't turn like a remote controlled toy but would rather drift on all four wheels if you are too fast in a corner. You should know exactly when to brake, which line to take in every corner & when to step on the accelerator again. All those three factors together decide whether you make it out of the corner instead of just pressing the left/right arrow & bouncing back from the wall without damage. Pushing your car to the limit in such circumstances knowing very well that if you even slightly push it beyond the limit, you will crash, is an intoxicating experience. This is what games are supposed to do, which is to make everything feel real & then challenge you to push the limits. Grid caters to both the hardcore racers who are looking for a challenge & the fun loving casual gamers. So, it doesn't matter which category you belong to, just give it a try..

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