Play Station Official Magazine - UK (2019-12)

087

REVIEW

arewiserandwillnolonger
allowtheirbeautifulcreations
tobesmashedapartina 2019
racinggame,butotherrecent
racershaveprovedthat’snot
thecase.
Eventhecareermodeis
lessinvolvedandfarmore
repetitive.Whileyoucanstill
hirea teammateandaskthem
toattackordefend(whichthey
mayrefusedependingontheir
loyaltystat),therelationshipis
underplayedandeventucked
awayinthePlayerProfile
menu.Thepitradiosystem
alsonolongercallsoutdrivers
bynamewhentheycrash,and
speakslessfrequently.
Thecarhandlingis far
heavierthanit wasinoldGrid
titles,andyetit’salsoless
sure-footed(wheeled?),and
there’sfarlesstorqueinmost
vehicles’engines,whichmeans
mostofyourtimeinmanual
gearswillbespentjusttrying
tokeeptherevsupratherthan
focusingonyournextdaredevil
passingmanoeuvre.AIcars

braketooearlyforcorners

too,makingforunfulfilling,

exploitableracing.

Mostpeoplewon’tnotice

orwon’tcareaboutallthat,

andwilljustmarvelatthe

incrediblevisuals.Andbythe

timeyouhittheeventson

thefarrightofthecareergrid,

you’llhavebecomeaccustomed

toit allandrelaxedintoits

hyper-deluxegameengine

too.NewGridis evidently

extremelywellmade,and

definitelyworthplaying,but

it simplyisn’tanywherenear

asthrilling,deep,variedor

spectacularasitsdecade-old

namesake.Obviouslythat’sa

massivedisappointment.For

thoseintheknow.

VERDICT

THE OPM BREAKDOWN

Right AI drivers
take exception
to your using
them as a
brake, but
some are bargy
anyway.

Below You can’t
layer up shapes
to recreate a
Banksy, but you
can customise
the decals.

Above left There’s a trackside commentary duo filling you in on the action.

The incredible visuals don’t

(quite) make up for the

unbalanced racing, and the

kinetic feel, pit radio, career

mode, and damage modelling

are all inferior to the 2008

original. Justin Towell

22% Watching

the replay just

once more. How

can a game look

sogood?

18% Lamenting

the fact your

pickup purchase

means you now

can’t buy a

Ferrari.

15%Crashing

intothebackof

carsastheybrake

tooearly.

5%Wonderingif

it’spossibletohave

every AI car be your

‘Nemesis’concurrently.

WHAT YOU DO IN... GRID

30%

Marvelling at just

how amazing

everything looks.

Coooooo.

10% Loading

up Race Driver

Grid to make

sure you aren’t

going mad.

STAT PACK

Cars on the track

at once. It looks

so good,

sometimes you

won’t believe

your eyes.

Cities to race in:

Shanghai,

Barcelona, San

Francisco and

Havana.

Oh na na.

Distinct career

events (many

with multiple

races), plus the

final Grid World

Series on top.

400 4 16 9 7

AI drivers, each

with their own

personality. As

in real life, some

racers are

total gits.

HOW TO... CONTROL YOUR TEAMMATE

You choose a buddy,

trading a little of your

profit each race for

their wingman services

on the fly. If you want

them to attack the pack

ahead, push 8. If you

want them to defend

their position (read

‘slow everyone else

down’), just tap 2.

SH

OW

OFF

TROPHYCABINET

RA

CE

DR

IVER

RT

IP

LE

C

RO

WNE

D

BRONZE

Win a career event,

crossing the line

backwards. Engage

reverse gear for

maximum cockiness.

SILVER

Beat Fernando Alonso

himself in the final

Formula 1 showdown

event. This is

pretty climactic.

GOLD

Reach Driver Level 99.

It’ll take you quite a

while to hit that

standard – easily

30-plus hours.

THEFIRSTFIVE HOURS...

1 2 3 4 5

1 Things have only just got going and someone’s already rolling off the

track. Will it always be this exciting? No. 2 Events unlock quickly... but

you can’t yet afford the cars to enter them all. 3 Choosing a teammate

to boss about. 4 Customisable driver cards! Great – how about winning

something worth showing off, eh? 5 After many ‘accidental’ crashes,

car knackering is confirmed. Takes a lot of knocks to do it, mind.