Nuclear Throne is a no-nonsense top-down shooter with plenty of variety. It reminded me of old-school shooters, except for using the keyboard to move and the mouse to aim.
Pros
There are plenty of Weapons and they pack a big bang. Even the lowly pistol sounds powerful and works. Not as good as the more powerful guns, but they do work fine. For those that prefer being up close and personal, there are melee weapons as well with different damage and range.
The procedurally generated levels make for a fun and varied play through each time. I cannot play continuously for an hour, but I keep coming back for short stints of shooting fun.
The different characters have different abilities that encourages different styles of play. It sure adds to the variety. Only two characters are available at the start and the rest must be unlocked.
There is a tutorial even though the game really does not need it. It is simple enough to learn by looking at the keys and trying stuff out.
The enemies are interesting and varied.
Cons
There are no save games. I don’t mind the whole permadeath mechanism, but I do wish I could save my current progress just in case I need to quit in a hurry. Each play through is not that long, but I still wish I could save part-way.
The Epic Games Store version of Nuclear Throne is missing the daily and weekly challenges.
Other Points
Nuclear Throne is a very difficult game and there are no settings for easy, medium or hard. No matter what I do, I still cannot reach the Nuclear Throne.
The graphics are pixelated and not bad, but I did not like it. I wished it was clearer to see.
Like the classic arcade shooters of days gone by, once you are dead, you are dead. Unlike the classic arcade shooters of days gone by, there is no putting in more credits to continue.
Grid (2019) is the 4th racing game in Codemasters’ Grid franchise. Better graphics, car damage and being easier to get into are some of the things Grid (2019) brings to the table. As fun as it is, the game is not very Grid like though.
Pros
Grid (2019) is more beginner friendly than the original Grid and Grid 2. There are variable driving assists, racing line guides and steering sensitivity adjustments that work for keyboard as well. For the experts, everything can be turned off and the AI difficulty increased.
The game sounds great. I don’t know how accurate the cars sound are, but everything in the game sounds great to me.
The graphics are beautiful, even on ultra-low settings. The cars, the environments and of course the damage all look superb.
In-car view is back and it looks wonderful.
Free play earns you money that can be used to buy cars for career mode. So, all racing contributes to progression. The con side of the coin is, only loan cars or cars you have purchased are available for use in free play.
Replays look good. The shaky cameras that were in Grid are not in Grid (2019), but there are many camera views that are too low (like Grid 2), so you hardly get to see the top of the car. There are enough nice camera views that make the replays enjoyable though, including the return of in-car views. Original Grid still has the edge in the replay department though. Here is a replay comparison video.
There is car tuning. Although not the most detailed like more accurate driving simulators, it does make a difference. I managed to tune a car to suit my driving, and it took me from always placing near last, to winning the race.
The Nemesis AI system is interesting, but it is also quite difficult to spot. In general the drivers seem to drive just like the original Grid and Grid 2. They will stick to the racing line and bump into you a lot. The only time I noticed a nemesis try to take me out is when I am trying to overtake on a straight section. He/she will veer to hit you. I can only guess they try the same thing during turns, but I just cannot spot it.
In addition to night driving from the previous Grid games, there is now driving at different times of the day and rain driving. There are fixed event races that require driving in different conditions, or you can select the conditions for free play. The handling for driving in the rain is not as slippery as I expected though.
Cons
I recommend anyone with a low spec or old PC to stay away from Grid (2019). There is a very nasty bug where car textures will appear blurry and progress to cars not appearing at all. At this point, the game stops loading and does not allow you to do anything. I could not even alt-F4 to quit. I always had to go to Task Manager and kill the GRID process manually. Sometimes, this would happen after a few races, but there have been many times where it would happen only after one race. Very, very annoying. Updating to the latest graphics drivers does not help with this. One workaround is to set texture quality to high. It may not work for everyone, but both ultra-high and high texture quality worked for me. Unfortunately, that means setting all other graphics settings to ultra-low for my 2016 PC.
When looking at cars to choose from, there are only three pieces of information: power, weight and drive type. No top-speed, no acceleration, no grip, no information that is more useful. I don’t know what on earth Codemasters was thinking. The original Grid had all these on display when buying cars. No excuse to leave them out.
There is multiplayer, but hardly anyone plays online. There are also no challenges like in Grid 2. Replays cannot be viewed or saved, so it is all about racing.
The Bathurst Mount Panorama Circuit is absent from Grid (2019). It is in Grid, Grid 2 and even though I have never played it, I know it is in Grid Autosport. It has already been in three Grid games, why can’t they put it in the 4th?
With some driving conditions, you don’t drive with lights on, and the road is simply too dark to see.
There is a graphical bug where rain can be seen inside some of the cars when looking backwards with interior view. Quite funny.
Other Points
The driving feels more realistic than Grid and Grid 2. This is speaking from the view point of a keyboard driver, so take this with a barrel of salt. There is no tire wear or pit stops, but you will lose control more easily than in the previous Grid games.
Earn money to buy cars for racing in different events, just like the first Grid. More Events can only be opened by completing objectives of available events, just like Grid 2. One departure from both games is the ability to loan one car for an event. You have to give 10% of your winnings for the loan, but at least you do not need to earn enough to buy a car before entering the event of your choice.
I don’t know where the talk about going “back to its roots” came from, because Grid (2019) is missing a lot of stuff that made Grid, Grid. Gone are the other racing varieties like drift, touge and 12 minutes of Le Mans. There is no choosing sponsors with attached objectives to try to earn that little bit of extra cash. The career story is not there at all. It is simply, here are the events, here is some money, go buy a car and race. There is some team management with hiring different team mates, but then it is back to winning races, unlocking events, buying more cars and racing some more. Grid(2019) feels more like just another racing game rather than a Grid game. I still think it is a good racing game, just not a Grid game.
Biases
I have only played the original Grid and Grid 2 before Grid (2019). As such, any comparisons are with those 2 Grid games only. It looks like I will never get to play Grid Autosport, so I will never no how that stacks up against the rest.
I played Grid (2019) with keyboard only and varied the AI difficulty between very easy, easy and medium.
I played mainly the single-player parts of the game with only a few multiplayer games. Looking at the number of events available, it looks like I am less than 10% through the single-player career.
Grid 2 brings to the racing genre more Grid, but not necessarily better Grid. With the improvements also came the disappointments.
Pros
Grid 2 has more event types than Grid like extreme overtake, live routes and point-to-point races that are not Touge races.
There are more tracks than Grid. They include real race tracks as well as fictional ones. Some are just different configurations of a track, going in reverse or have a day/night option. It still adds a good variety. Notably missing though is the Circuit de la Sarthe track and the 12 minutes of Le Mans event.
Graphics have improved since Grid. Among the general improvements to cars and tracks, debris can be seen flying around now.
Flashback is back. It sure keeps the fun rolling for longer to be able to just rewind the few seconds to prevent a bad crash.
There is split-screen play! Pro point just for having the option even though I have not tried it out. The game prevents two people from using the same keyboard, so at minimum another controller is needed.
Cons
Driving with a keyboard is worse in Grid 2 than in Grid. Driving assists have also been removed from Grid 2. It made me wish I didn’t complain about the driving assists in Grid, because now I wish it was there. It did not help much, but it was still better than nothing. As bad as Grid 2’s keyboard driving is, winning races is still possible on the easiest difficulty.
There is no in-car view! Very disappointing considering that it was in Grid.
The single-race mode in Grid 2 only allows you to use cars that you have unlocked in career mode. With Grid, you could select cars that you don’t own in career mode. It sure reduces the fun when you just want to quickly try out some cars.
The replays look worse than Grid. Sure the graphics have improved, and the annoying shaky camera has been removed, but there are more things that ruin the replay viewing. First, the number of drive by camera views have been reduced. I love drive-by/fly-by cameras. Crashes just don’t look as good without drive by cameras. Second, most of the camera angles are close to the ground. You hardly get to see the top of the car. Thirdly, there are some annoying shots of scenery without a car in sight that interrupts the race viewing. Here is a replay comparison video.
Other Points
Just like its predecessor, Grid 2 strikes a good balance between realism and fun. The cars handle fairly realistically and damage will reduce performance, but at the same time there is no tire wear, fuel management or pit stops.
The music is not spectacular, but it has definitely improved since Grid. It is not annoying any more.
There is no damage indicator. The car’s performance will degrade, so that is the only damage indicator.
In Grid 2’s career mode, you must complete objectives to open up more events. You do not always have to come first. This also means you cannot grind to open up events and get more cars like in Grid. There is no money or car purchasing. When new events that require a certain car type appear, you are given the option to choose one car. The other can be won by completing challenges.
The opponent AI drivers are almost infallible. I hardly see them lose control, let alone crash. Other than this point, they seem to behave much the same as in Grid.
Some events are governed by stricter rules than in the first Grid. There are now penalties for cutting corners in circuit races and drift points are removed if you spin-out, even if you did not hit anything.
The online part of the game has a separate career mode. You must win money from racing other people or completing challenges, then use the money to buy more cars. Hardly anyone plays Grid 2 online, so unless you really like the challenges, the online part is pretty pointless.
Grid 2 and its DLCs are no longer available on Steam. At the time of writing, the following stores are still selling Grid 2. Buying means paying a premium for a very old game without any DLCs though. I also don’t know how reliable they are when officially the game is not for sale anymore. Fanatical
Sonic Mania is a solid Sonic the Hedgehog 2D platformer. Run, Jump and Spin your way through different zones to defeat Dr. Eggman and his cronies. You can also fly, glide or climb walls if you play as Tails or Knuckles.
Pros
The music sounds great.
There are only a handful of graphics options, but the game still looks good despite the low resolution. Those that like the look of the classic Sonic games will feel right at home.
As expected from a Sonic game, it plays crazily fast. The keyboard controls are very responsive though, so all stuff ups are my own doing. All the characters’ behaviours and animations look and feel right, like the original Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 game.
The levels have got a lot of hidden areas. Those with keen eyes and extra quick reflexes can find some extra goodies in these areas.
The bonus stages are played in chase view and are good fun in their own right. The controls are just as responsive and each successive bonus stage is harder than the previous. Completing enough bonus stages earns some neat unlockables for the game.
There are a lot of levels to get through. This combined with the choice of three different characters, makes for a wide variety of 2D platforming goodness.
Cons
I have no cons for Sonic Mania.
Other Points
Mania mode is the main story mode where you take Kunckles or Sonic and/or Tails through different levels. Completed levels can then be played in time attack mode or split screen competition mode.
Two players can play locally in competition mode and in mania mode when both Sonic and Tails are selected. The game allows both players to use the same keyboard and keys can be remapped, but key jamming could be a problem.
In mania mode, Tails as a second character is quite expendable. The screen always follows Sonic, so Tails can just go off screen, get damaged and nothing will happen as far as lives go.
The game only saves your progress when you complete the whole level. That is, you have to complete both acts before the game saves your progress.
Biases
My views have definitely been clouded by the lens of nostalgia.
I mainly played single-player mania mode, but I tried competition mode and controlling Tails at the same time using the keyboard for both characters.
Before Sonic Mania, I have only played and completed Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game). I enjoyed it a lot.
I have played a lot of 2D platformers including Mario games and Jazz Jackrabbit. They were all good fun.
Headsnatchers is a 2-4 players multiplayer party game comprising of short and weird mini-games. Each mini-game is played in an arena with different goals all involving hitting your opponents, snatching their heads and doing things with them. Once the goal is complete, that game ends. Each match has 4 mini-games.
Pros
The weirdness and humour of the mini-games are entertaining. I can see how Headsnatchers would make a good local multiplayer boredom buster, even if it is for just a few minutes.
Cons
There are no bots for trying out the different mini-games.
I have the game’s resolution set to 1920×1080, but it keeps displaying in 1536×864.
There is only one mode for online play, and functionality is seriously lacking. There is no lobby for public matches; only quick match or invite friends through the Steam Overlay. There is no chat. There is no connection information or number of people online. There is no online rankings or leaderboards. You cannot pick what arenas/mini-games to play. They are chosen for you randomly. I guess the game’s main focus is local multiplayer.
Online games have been pretty jerky for me. This may be due to my Internet connection. I cannot tell, because there is zero information regarding connection.
When I first started playing, I could not find anyone online. Then the game was given away for free again on 21/03/2020. Now I could play some online matches, but there was still too few people. Most of the time I had to wait about 3-5 minutes to get a game going. On 29/03/2020 there was no one at all. I guess everyone is gone until the next time the game goes free.
Other Points
The single-player mode called Zombie Castle is an isometric platformer where you simply try to get your character from A to B. You have to jump, dodge and whack heads off zombies to use them for some obstacles. It is certainly different from other platformers and does provide a challenge, but it also feels quite pointless. The fun in Headsnatchers is definitely in the multiplayer side of things.
Each mini-game is quite short, but sometimes environmental hazards can drag a game out for some time. 2-4 minute games can become 8-10 minutes long. It may not seem like much, but I wish I could skip to the next stage, because it gets boring quite fast.
There appears to be a large variety of mini-games. Bowling heads, placing heads on a square to count down the timer and throwing heads into a container are just a few examples of the weird mini-games. Unfortunately, this variety is marred by some mini-games needing to be unlocked first and the fact that you cannot pick which ones to play for online matches.
You can design your own heads or pick from a list of heads. I started with random heads from those available, but ended up designing my own head, because I had difficulty finding my character in the game.
Biases
The only party games I remember playing are Rayman Raving Rabbids and Micro Machines V3. Actually, I cannot remember anything about Raving Rabbids, but I loved MMV3.
I got Headsnatchers for free, and I only played the online and single-player modes.
Monsters attack! Joey Claire is trapped in her house; her younger brother is trapped in his tree house and the dog is in the dog house. This point-and-click adventure starts by attempting a rescue.
Pros
HIVESWAP: Act 1 is hilarious. There are some serious themes surrounding the characters and story, but at the same time a lot of the dialogue, puzzles and solutions are simply hilarious.
Other than being funny, the story is also very interesting.
Joey Claire is the main character, but you get to play other characters as well.
There is a mix of different types of music, but they all fit nicely to their respective situations and sound great.
I really like the cartoony look of the game. It is not as colourful as Deponia, but the drawings look nice and are very well animated.
Wait! Was that Teddy Ruxpin? And a Popple and a Snork! When the game’s description mentioned “hyper-detailed environments”, they were not kidding. There are so many familiar things and even more unfamiliar things. Familiarity with the 80s and 90s probably helps with the enjoyment of the game.
Cons
HIVESWAP: Act 1 is a very short game. I know it is only the first act, but when the game ended after only 3 hours and 31 minutes, I still got frustrated. Frustrated because the story is so good and the other acts are not available yet. So, do not get HIVESWAP: Act 1 if you have an obsession with reaching the end of awesome stories… or if you want a game with a much longer play time.
Only some of the text can be progressed by pressing space. Others you must click the mouse button to continue. I wish I could use space to progress all texts.
Other Points
Either the puzzles were super easy or the clues were very obvious, I didn’t get stuck once.
There is no speech whatsoever. It is all written dialogue and descriptions. I did not put this as a con, because when playing the game, it just seemed normal and I did not think that speech was needed. It helps that the writing is superb with loads of humour. Then again, maybe it is because I grew up playing text adventures, that reading felt normal to me.
Biases
I played Deponia a bit before playing HIVESWAP: Act 1. Both of them reminded me of Sam & Max Hit the Road and The Curse of Monkey Island from long ago. I have played the entire Monkey Island series, but Curse was the only one that had the cartoon look.
I don’t know what Homestuck is, but I love this game anyway.
I played the Steam version of the game. The game is also available DRM-free from GOG.com.
A Story About My Uncle is a first-person platformer for explorers. Run, jump, swing and rocket your way through a fantastic world. Search for clues as to what happened to your missing Uncle and follow his footsteps.
Pros
The graphics are not the best in the world, but the environments look beautiful. The motions of your hands and of the world around you are also very well animated.
A Story About My Uncle is quite a quiet game. There is music and the sound effects reflect what is happening with you and around you, but it is still quiet. The quietness of the game really creates a great atmosphere.
The level designs make full use of the vast expanse of far and wide spaces. They make you not only use your skills to traverse effectively over the huge spaces, but also force you to observe where and how to connect your grappling swings. You must think in all three dimensions by figuring out how to go over, around and also under obstacles to reach the next platform.
The combination of the graphics, sound and level designs make for a very engrossing experience. The game made me move in my chair as if leaning more would make me travel further in the game. I cannot remember the last game that made me move in my chair.
The game is very easy to learn. Step-by-step instructions are displayed as you play the game.
The story is touching. There is nothing fancy, no dramatic twist, just a simple heart-warming story. The ending does not explain a lot of things, but I still found it very satisfying.
Cons
A Story About my Uncle is a very short game. It only took me 5 hours and 21 minutes to reach the end and that includes all the falling and retrying. I only managed to collect 11/25 collectibles, and I did not spend a lot of time examining everything, so there is some replay value. The fact remains, it is a very short game. Not the shortest game I have played, but still short.
I found it disappointing that your hands are so well animated, but you cannot see your own legs or feet.
Some sections only allow you to walk around and zoom in on things. I managed to get stuck exploring because the jump function was disabled.
I encountered a few bugs where the events did not trigger properly if I continued from some checkpoints. They were not game breaking bugs, but they did ruin the immersion. The bugs also made their affected sections easier, which was okay by me.
Other Points
The game uses checkpoint saves and has only one profile to save the progress. As you play through the game, the checkpoints get further and further apart which contributes to increasing the difficulty. As you complete each level, you can also start from the beginning of the level without going through the whole game.
There is a lot to explore with lots of running, jumping and grappling to be performed. For budding investigators, finding hidden things and taking a closer look can reveal some interesting stuff. There are also collectibles to gather which unlocks stuff for the game. Other than that, there is not much else to do. There are very few things to interact with.
The game looks like it would be a tremendous VR experience. But it does not look like it supports VR at the moment. I do not have a VR headset, but experiencing the game on a normal screen is already so engrossing, a VR version would truly be out of this world.
A Story About My Uncle is promoted as a non-violent game. The developers should put a disclaimer saying the game may cause players to be violent towards their computers. More than a few times I have rage quit the game out of frustration.
Biases
A Story About My Uncle reminded me of Quake 2 and Just Cause 2. They were the only games I remember playing that had grappling hooks. Of course they were nothing like A Story About My Uncle.
The frustration also reminded me of platform jumping in Half-Life 2. Another game that is nothing like A Story About My Uncle.
Be stealthy. Sneak in, complete your mission and sneak out without anyone realising you were there. Be crazy. Launch some rockets, blow-up stuff and run in guns blazing to get the job done. Be your own “Boss” and do things how you see fit in The Phantom Pain. This feature presentation of Metal Gear Solid V, continues where Ground Zeroes left off and with more of everything.
Pros
The following pro points from Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes also applies to The Phantom Pain: the audio, the AI, the on-rails shooting and the ability to replay completed missions.
The Phantom Pain takes the open world-ness of Ground Zeroes and expands it to gigantic proportions. It might not be Skyrim or Just Cause 2, but there are still very large areas to explore. Main missions have an area that you cannot leave, but outside of missions, can free roam a region and do whatever you want, including completing side-ops.
The introduction is really something. All the cutscenes being skippable can save time if you start again, but you must still play through some very slow moving parts. It is very long, but makes for a very good beginning for the game.
The graphics have improved since Ground Zeroes. Not sure what they did, but everything looks more realistic.
The ultimate in stealth technology returns in Metal Gear Solid V; the cardboard box! I absolutely loved the cardboard box in Metal Gear Solid 2, for the humour and for its effectiveness. The weird thing about The Phantom Pain is, rather than having boxes lying around, you summon them and they drop from the sky, even indoors!
Time flows continually unless you pause the game. Be careful where you check your map or information. A patrolling enemy may bump into you. On the plus side, waiting for nightfall to sneak around in the dark is a workable tactic.
Sneaking around is fun, but stealing a rocket truck to launch rockets at the enemy and rushing in to extract a prisoner makes for more creative fun. Vehicles and fixed weapons provides for more ways to get jobs done.
Learning to play The Phantom Pain is much easier than Ground Zeroes. Everything is explained as you play the game and with greater clarity. For people new to Metal Gear Solid, I recommend learning the ropes with The Phantom Pain before going back to Ground Zeroes.
You get a horse and a dog! What’s not to love. There are also other buddies you can call to your aid and each has different abilities. Animals are cooler though!
There is an interesting online mode of play called FOB missions. You build a FOB (Forward Operating Base) and you can try an infiltrate other players’ FOBs to steal stuff (or people). Other players can do the same with your FOBs. Unlike normal missions, there is a 30-minute time limit and you cannot pause. Plus, aborting the mission before completion means failure and there are penalties that go with it.
Cons
It does not look like anyone plays the Metal Gear Online part of the game anymore. I did not try it out many times, so it could be that I look around at the wrong time.
When I have the joystick plugged in, it stops the mouse from working. There is no option to disable the joystick, so I have to unplug it to make the game playable. Annoying!
Other Points
The following other points from Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes also applies to The Phantom Pain: being a points game, having side missions on the same maps, having checkpoint saves with only one save slot and continuing the interesting but confusing story.
Apart from FOB missions, there are also special online tasks and rewards for the single-player component of the game. Unlike HITMAN, if you play The Phantom Pain offline, you still get access to all the single-player missions and side operations.
There is a lot of base management. Research weapons and upgrades, assigning staff to jobs, managing resources. It felt like X-COM. Everything is explained in-game, but I just cannot remember what is what. The system works well and I am sure some people will welcome the extra variety to the game. Personally, I just wanted to quickly get into the action and found the whole management thing a bit in the way.
The Phantom Pain no longer deducts points for kills like in Ground Zeroes. Instead, you get bonus points for not killing anyone.
You can select other people to play missions. It was a bit weird, because all the dialogue still refer to you as Boss or Snake, even when you are not.
There are no difficulty settings for The Phantom Pain. Because of this, I found it to be more difficult than HITMAN 2.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a third-person stealth action game where you play as an exceptionally skilled soldier known as “Snake”/”Big Boss.” Your mission is to sneak into a military base to rescue a couple of people. Ground Zeroes is also a prelude to the much larger Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Pros
Very nice graphics. Everything looks excellent.
The audio is also excellent. It certainly helps since you need to listen in on conversations and figure out enemy movements by ear.
The map is completely open, similar to HITMAN. Where you go and how you go about completing your missions, is up to you. I don’t remember Metal Gear Solid 2 being open like this.
Cutscenes blend seamlessly with the playing sections and really boosts the atmosphere of the game. Some cutscenes are quite lengthy, but they can be paused, or skipped entirely to get straight into the action.
The AI is excellent. It makes for a difficult game, but not to the point that the enemies have super powers.
There is some on-rails shooting. It sure makes for a good break from all the sneaking around. The only bad thing is, you still lose points for kills.
Completed missions can be replayed. So, if you want to try for a higher score or complete other objectives, you can.
Cons
My favourite action in Metal Gear Solid 2, hiding in boxes, is disappointingly missing from Ground Zeroes.
New players to the world of Metal Gear Solid may find it difficult to learn how to play Ground Zeroes. There are hints on how to play, but there are also things that are not explained. The old fashioned learn the keys and experiment procedure is required to figure out everything. Alternatively, play The Phantom Pain first to learn everything, then return to Ground Zeroes.
It only took me 2 hours to finish the one and only story mission. That is very short considering that I was just bumbling around at the start. Not a surprise though, since Ground Zeroes is only a prologue game.
Other Points
The plot is presented with background reading material, cutscenes, general dialogue and cassette tape recordings. There is a lot to digest and can get confusing at times. Confusing, but interesting, just like Metal Gear Solid 2.
There are side missions that take place on the same map, much like how HITMAN works. Not sure if this makes Ground Zeroes worth buying without The Phantom Pain, but it is still good fun.
Also similar to HITMAN, Ground Zeroes is a points game. You will lose points if you alert the enemy or kill non-targets. Of course, if you don’t care for points, the game does allow you to have fun and just go on a rampage.
The game uses automatic checkpoint saves and there is only one save slot. You can only return to the most recent save slot if you die or want to reload. The checkpoints are at set spots and each time you go to those spots, it saves.
Biases
The only other MGS game I have played is Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. I liked MGS 2 a lot.
HITMAN(2) was the most recent stealth game that I enjoyed before Ground Zeroes. HITMAN kept popping into my head while I was playing Ground Zeroes.
I got Ground Zeroes as part of Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience. I got through the story mission of Ground Zeroes before starting The Phantom Pain, but then went back and forths for a while, before leaving Ground Zeroes.
Grid, also known as Race Driver: Grid is a racing game from 2008 that is kind of half simulation and half arcade racer. Start as a race driver for hire and work your way up to have the most successful racing team.
Pros
Everything looks good. Not as good as newer games, but it is good enough for me. The car damage looks particularly good.
The car damage model strikes a great balance between realism and fun. With enough damage, your car’s performance will degrade. It is also possible to render your car undriveable, whether that be by continuous damage or crashing too hard. Lucky for me, repairs are automatic and do not need to be paid for. Here is a replay video showing a Ferrari F430 turning into a semi-open-wheeled racer. Unfortunately, the audio failed to record.
The sound is also good. I don’t know how the real cars sounds, but they sound good in the game and each car has its own sound. The speech from the guy that tells you information while you are driving and your business manager also sound good.
To keep things interesting, there are different event types including drifting, demolition derby and even the 24 hours of Le Mans, which only runs for 12 minutes. There is enough variety of cars and tracks for the different events. Just don’t expect it to be as big as Gran Turismo.
Flashback is a nice helper feature for those that want to use it. It allows you to go back in time about five seconds to alter your driving. Avoid a crash or take a corner quicker. That is what flashback is for. The number of flashbacks available are limited by the difficulty setting and there is a cash bonus for not using them, so choose wisely.
Cons
Grid is the most keyboard unfriendly racing game I have encountered so far. I don’t think the driving assists does enough to help digital controls. The steering is also way too sensitive compared to other driving games. I could still win most races on the easiest difficulty of basic, but it still made me feel like playing other racers instead.
The music is downright annoying. Thankfully, there is a separate volume control for music. I turned it down to 0%.
There are some replay camera angles that shakes so much, you cannot see anything. Codemasters are probably trying to give a realistic live TV view of the race, but I think it is just pointless in a game when you can show off the good graphics with pristine clarity.
I have won all events except for the very last head-to-head race. Playing with a keyboard, the only way I could win races was by setting the difficulty to basic. The last race’s difficulty is fixed to the hardest. It does not look like it is possible to win with the keyboard. Some people might say, “go get an analog controller.” I prefer to say “go get another game.”
Other Points
Outside of career mode, there is the standard pick your track and car and simply race. There is multiplayer capability as well, but I think the online servers are dead and I did not have an opportunity to try out LAN play.
No pit stops, not even in the 24 hours of Le Mans race. Of course 12 minutes is short enough to finish in one play session. As this game is not aiming to be a ultra-realistic racing simulator, I do not hold this as a con point.
You buy cars with race earnings, but there is no buying parts and tuning cars. Even if you don’t win, you can grind earnings to get other cars.
Reputation points is used to open up higher league races. Just like earnings, you can grind reputation points even if you don’t win races.
Although keyboard driving is terrible, navigating the menus in the game is very well done. There is no mouse control at all.
For some strange unknown reason, the manual is not available from Steam any more. For those that are interested, you can get the English manual from here.
To get the game to display in 1920×1080, I had to manually edit the file hardware_settings_restrictions.xml and remove the lines:
After that I could set the resolution to 1920×1080. The file hardware_settings_restrictions.xml is located in the <Grid install folder>\system\. For more information see this discussion.
I highly recommend playing with the 8 Ball & Prestige Packs DLC mod and the GRID World DLC car mod. The first mod adds extra cars plus the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, Australia. The second mod makes the extra cars available in career mode.
If you are really game, you can try my
Mt Panorama in Career mod
. It is a simple mod that adds the Mt Panorama track to the demolition derby event and all the Global Racing League events except for the Drift GP event. The tracks listings do not display properly, but the races seem to work fine.
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