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Race Driver: GRID
Author: Harry ButlerPublished: 10th June 2008
Racing All Over the World
However, advancing through GRID’s event system requires more than just lots of cash - you also need to earn reputation to advance to the higher level events. Reputation is earned by competing in and winning events, and the amount of rep gained is heavily weighted by the selected difficulty of the opposition and the amount of driver aides you choose to use.Drop the game down to easy mode with stupid AI drivers and all the drivers’ assists turned on and you’ll need to complete a lot more events before progressing up to the 80,000 and 250,000 reputation race event tiers than you would if you were racing against competitive opposition with traction control and ABS disabled.
This innovative approach encourages gamers to set their own difficulty level dependant on their degree of driving skill, and because it’s adjustable between events, means that you can easily change it if winning gets too easy.
The event tiers themselves are split into three separate schools of USA, European and Japanese racing, with a varied selection of events spread between them. In the USA you’ll compete in destruction derby style stock car races, as well as muscle car and street racing events, while in Europe you’ll find traditional touring car and open wheel (Formula Ford-ish) racing, and in Japan you’ll find downhill "Touge" one on one duels and drifting competitions.
However, most of the events and the selection of cars overlap between areas, and the only real difference between the three regions, bar their specific events, is the names of your opposition. Each region’s events are split into three stages, and you’ll need to earn 80,000 and then 250,000 reputation in each region to advance to the next tier, although realistically this means you’ll only need to achieve a podium finish in three or four events in each to advance.
The variety of different events available really is outstanding, and when combined with the freelance jobs you can accept, which also have their own bonus objectives, it’s clear that there’s a lot to see in GRID. I spent a good 20 minutes competing in a downhill drift competition, then grabbed some quick freelance work behind the wheel of a Nissan Skyline, before rounding out my session with a few laps of Donnington Park in an open wheel Formula Ford.
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The choice of races in career mode really is outstanding, with each providing its own unique thrill and challenge. Downhill drift tournaments will test your handling and throttle control, super car street events will push your reflexes and concentration, and stock car racing is good for a laugh to see cars flip and crash like matchbox toys. However, what’s great is that it’s up to the player which events they tackle, and in what order - another example of GRID’s open ended approach letting players pick and choose rather than forcing them to compete in the same circuit racing or drifting league over and over.
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