What we’ve tried to do over the years, and even more in Grid 2, is broaden the experience; dirt racing, street racing, open road racing.
More importantly, Grid 2 remains all about the pure experience of the race itself. In fact, the core game philosophy being bandied about Codemasters’ Southam studio is ‘total race day immersion’. “What we’ve tried to do over the years, and even more in Grid 2, is broaden the experience; dirt racing, street racing, open road racing,” said Moody. “Elements get tied together into a much, much wider experience for the gamer, giving them something fresh to experience at every level of the game. I think that’s really important.”“
“From the view of tech, art, design, audio – everything really, we’ve actively sought out areas where we can improve,” Associate Producer Iain Smith adds. “It all comes together to crystallise that immersion. The race feels tangible. You feel like you’re in a tactile world and all those things have been coming together.”
Getting hands on with Grid 2 proves captivating. Zooming around the urban sprawl of Chicago, one of the earlier tracks in the game, is an exhilarating experience. Sunbeams crack through towering buildings as the tarmac speeds beneath you, while the audio authentically bounces between buildings and creates roaring sound funnels as you tear through tunnels.
From the view of tech, art, design, audio – everything really, we’ve actively sought out areas where we can improve.
Moving to the California stage and placed behind the wheels of a beefy Ford Mustang Boss 302, the experience changes. A lush forest track with hairpin turns threads between the trees, the challenge as much to avoid careening off cliff edges as you speed through each curve as it is to overtake your opponents. Professional race drivers, including Formula 2 wunderkind Jordan King, assisted in getting the feel of the cars right, particularly for trickier circuits such as this one, ensuring vehicles’ acceleration out of corners and braking times are appropriate.“
The immediate impression is that handling seems much improved from the first Grid outing and while it still demands your focus, it’s not so punishing as its predecessor could be at times. Codemasters are calling it ‘TrueFeel’ handling, trying to capture the character of driving these vehicles, yet remaining accessible for newcomers. It seems like one for the win column, so far.While the full garage is still to be announced, petrolheads can at least look forward to taking the likes of the BMW E30 M3 Sport Evo. Nissan Skyline GTR R34, Chevrolet Camaro SS, McLaren MP4-12C and even the UK’s own BAC Mono out for a spin. You’ll even be able to race some of these against each other out of class, as the cars are spread across four competitive tiers ranked by performance.
“It’s not classed based on engine size or BHP, but on which cars realistically give each other a run for their money,” explains Toby Evan-Jones, also an Associate Producer. “Each tier will have balance within each level in that tier. You’ll start off with an entry tier-1 car that won’t be quite as good as the cars at the end of tier 1, but it’ll still be competitive.”
With all this and a unique online mode, wholly independent of the single player career, that Moody hopes will “redefine multiplayer” and “show the racing genre what can be done,” an evolved Flashback feature refining those all-important mid-race saves, and full integration with the increasingly important RaceNet service, and Grid 2 is already looking like a must-have. It’s been a long four years, but clearly a case of time well spent. Matt Kamen is a freelance games journalist. When the revolution comes, he's putting anyone who didn't buy a Dreamcast up against the wall first. You can follow him on IGNand Twitter.