--DAY 1--
I've put in a few hours with the X360 version so I figured I would post a little bit about my initial thoughts on the game.
My first impression of the game is that the game plays a lot like Dirt--but on asphault. But the handling in the game is a tricky thing. If you're a fan of arcade racers (like me!) then you'll probably be able to find a feel (with patience) thats comfortable for you between all the dirving assist options. This game doesnt play like Forza, GT or PGR. Again, the demo is available and I highly recommend anyone who's interested in the game to try it out before paying for it. I tried several different configuations and before finally settled with automatic transmition and tracktion control turned on. You aquire more of a bonus (respect + cash) if you playing using less driving assits programs. Plus it's a little more challenging with these options turned off and probably play closer to the likes of Gran Turismo and Forza--but not by much. That's not what this game is trying to be. When it comes to sims those other games are in a seperate league for sure--especially GT.
One of the coolest new features in the game is the Flashback ability. Flashback allows you to restart your game from a replay once you've taken a nasty spill. What this means is if you if you brake too late into a corner and smash into a wall, the game will offer you to the option to rewind back up to 30 seconds before the incident. You choose at what point in those 30 seconds where you would like to continue--it's awesome. But there is a cost--you get less bonus cash for every instance you use Flashback (up to 4 times per race). For someone like me who just wants to have fun with the game and takes stupidly insane risks--it's a godsend of a feature.
There is some bad news that's almost a show stopper. During a few races I found that the game froze for a fraction of a second several times during races. Twice it resulted in frustrating crashes. On top of that, it makes Pro Mode even tougher (Pro = more respect points, money and no restarts or Flashbacks allowed).
This game has the most spectacular crashes I've ever seen in a racer. Bumpers will rip off flipping into the air, flakes of fiberglass will twist off in the 130MPH racing winds and shattering glass will scatter about the roads. The graphics are really impressive here, but again if you've played the demo you know what I'm talking about.
Load times have been improved from Dirt but it's still a little lengthy between the race and garage visits. :-/
-Day 2-
Got a posttive update here. Yestreday the terrible pausing I talked of (above) only reared its ugly head once the entire 3 hours I played--NICE! So, I dont know what's going on there franky. Anyway--on with day two:
Something happened when I played this game yesterday--something just clicked. At around 1.5 to 2 hours into the game you earn enough money to fund your own race team which includes a car and a garage. This is the point in the game that, for me, really began to stretch its legs out and show you what its got. The first few races are almost like a tutorial--but without any acknowledgement by the game of that fact.
Once you have your team you start out with just an old mustang that your team of mechanics has restored to near mint condition. You choose your team name, set up a color and design template (that's applied to all new cars). There is bad news for the grease monkiey gamers--those that love to customizing engines, tires, and gear ratio--is going to be disappointed to hear that the game doesnt offer the ability to any of that. For me that was a disappointment initially but as I move through the game it hasnt bothered me in the slightest.
Ebay Motors is integrated into the game but from what I've seen it's really nothing special. When you are offered the option to purchase a car you have the option to buy it new or go to Ebay Motors and look for an identical (used) car there. There are usually 3 cars to choose from with varying prices, depending on how many races they've been in, and what their win/lose ration is. The idea is to pick up the car that has the best used/win ratio as it's already been "proven" as a car. A new car might be new, but it's still considered a gamble in comparison. It's not really as effective of a system as it could be as there is no bidding back-and-forth between...well anyone at all. Isnt that the beauty of an auction? It just comes across as a promotional thing and isnt very interesting.
The main thing that really clicked for me though was the feel of driving in this game. Once I found the right adjustments for my dirving style and turned most of the "Driving Assists" off, it slowly began to make sense. I guess I had to sort of give in to what it was trying to do here, which is basically what happened with Dirt for me. After a year of playing Forza 2, PGR4 and GT5P--the "arcadeiness" of Grid really began to sink in and make sense. Again, I want to mention that this my prefered type of racing game. So it makes sense that I love that the game is more Arcade-like than simulation. I enjoy the exageration of smoke from my tires that never seem to melt as I peel aaround corners at breakneck speeds, the fantasic replay-friendly crashes, and the grisly robustness of the cars. Which reminds reminds me--last night I was racing one of those really high-speed Formula One type cars and as we reached the first turn everyone began to slow down properly but me (I just didnt see the corner--doh!). Because my car was shaped like a wedge traveling at 170MPH, I slide beneath 6 of the cars in front of me, pushing them up and over my car. I giggled as I quickly took 3rd place from such a dirty deed despite the fact that it cost me half of my car. I was so freak'n excited, cheering myself on, that I didnt notice the 2nd corner as I sorta wobbled into it and smashed right into the wall. BOOM! My crunched, buckled and spun into the middle of the lane backwards--uh-OH! Surprisingly the incident didnt compeltely destroy my car until all of the cars behind me caught up and smashed into me. Man it was SPECTACULAR! Tires screeched, chasises cracked, and pieces of fiberglass exploded into the air. One of the very last cars tried to slip by a slight opening near the right wall but just couldnt make the squeeze causing him to flip and land on this top side--something you would never see in some other games. A big deal? Nah--but it was so rewarding and enjoyable.
Last night I reached the "24 Hours of Le Mans" race which isnt really a 24 hour racer (I hear the option is there to run the race in real time if you wish, but I cannot confirm this just yet), but a 24 minute race--and during the race the game goes through a full day and night cycle. Its really a beautiful sight seeing sunset while traveling at 190MPH in this game. Once nightime hits, the headlights come on and all of a sudden the race is a bit different now, that is until dawn.
Also, last night I hit my first Destruction Derby race. You're armed with a tough, re-enforced, suped-up Cadillac and was racing (not in an arena) in a fairly short track that was in the shape of a figure-8, with a jump in the middle. The jump was nothing more than..well a jump until the last 2 laps when the cars were more spead out. Now, cars using the jump at the same time were smashing into each other in mid air. This happened right above me as I decided to slowly drive of the hump to retain my first place position. The guy in 2nd place took it at full speed and seconds later half his car was showing down on me--it was freak'n awesome.
This game is just a lot of fun. Sorry this turned out to be a longer post that I anticipated.
-Day 3-
I find myself skipping the "24 hour le manns" races because they're so long and I always end up in last because my car sucks. I'm going to wait until I have a ton of cash to purchase a really nice car.
Damn this game is awesome! :smile:
