GRID Autosport Preview: Kicking It Into a New Gear

GRID Autosport is in control and stirring up rivalries. Here’s a quick preview that focuses on control and rivalries based on my experience with an early build of the game. I’ve also published gameplay videos that show off the game’s good control and provide GRID fans with a sense of the team play offered in a more intense rivalry race.

I’m a big fan of GRID and GRID 2, and so far GRID Autosport looks to keep my appreciation high for the series. I made sure to play GRID and GRID 2 prior to getting my hands on a build of Autosport, and it’s interesting how all three games are so unique. GRID is incredibly sensitive to touch with each turn while GRID 2 is a more natural flowing control that lets players easily take turns at seemingly higher speeds, but when it comes to GRID Autosport, its speed sensitive. Players aren’t going to be making those fast turns around each corner like they did in GRID 2, they’ll have to obey the vehicle they’re driving and make sure to slow down to an appropriate speed to successfully make the turn. This probably sounds like as if it’s more simulation, and it certainly borders on that style or something that’s more similar to what we see in Forza. However, GRID Autosport is still its own style.



Recent gameplay video of GRID, GRID 2, and GRID Autosport

GRID

GRID 2

GRID Autosport (Full Race Part 1)

GRID Autosport (Full Race Part 2)


While players must respect the speed and cornering of every turn, the vehicles are very responsive and allow players to adjust while in the middle of a turn. Obviously, if someone is cruising along at too high of speeds while approaching a corner, they’re always going to go flying off the track. However, in my progression to become a better driver in GRID Autosport, I’ve been able to learn what corners I can play at higher speeds and which corners I need to slow down with. The great thing about the vehicle control is that I actually feel in control with every turn. I can sense if I need to slow down or if I can speed up while making my turns, and again it feels so natural.

I don’t want to make it sound as if cornering is easy though as it’s far from it. Mastering each track takes a lot of time and turns. While players may feel in more control throughout each turn, they’re still going to struggle to find that sweet spot. Meaning it can be easy to make a turn, but it isn’t always going to be pretty. It’s going to take some effort to find that sweet spot with the handling, but it’s certainly there and feels so very good when getting a good taste of it.



GRID Autosport (Touring Gameplay)

GRID Autosport (Open Wheel)



GRID 2 introduced the World Series of Racing where every race is a big event. That particular atmosphere isn’t here in GRID Autosport as it takes on a more ‘Professional’ approach to race day. That doesn’t mean there isn’t an atmosphere, because there most definitely is a sense of intensity going on around each race. A lot of this has to do with teams and rivalries.

Never in a racing game have I really felt like I had a rivalry during the race. Well, unless they bumped me, because then it was ONNN!

With teams and rivalries in GRID Autosport, for the first time I feel an actual sense of team play and rivalry during each race. There are 8 teams of two involved in every race, and after each event the drivers earn points for their placing. What helps make it fun is that the driver’s points are then added to the team’s points, so if I do really well and my teammate does horrible, we may not be the first place team after that race. I could finish first with my teammate finishing last, while another team’s drivers finish second and third; they would then have more points for that round. This heats up the rivalry for the next round. Not only is it just a driver by name that is your rivalry, but it’s a team based rivalry. If I’m playing as Ravenwest and Intel is currently ahead on the charts, I’m doing everything I can to slow them down and make sure my teammate stays ahead of them while also trying to make sure I keep myself in a strong position to finish at or near the top. This creates a lot of strategy for each race!

I have multiple videos from the preview build that show just how fun the rivalries can be between the teams. I’ve certainly had rounds early on when playing on a lighter difficulty where I would play a lot of bump and run with rivalries. This is still a dangerous game, obviously, as players still need to be careful with just how much contact they make with other vehicles as one too many hits can cause damage that’s difficult to handle during a race. However, that does leave the door open to blocking out the rival opponents.



GRID Autosport (Team Play)



The preview build provided me with just a small sample of what’s offered in GRID Autosport, including one event in each of the five disciplines; Touring Car, Endurance, Open Wheel, Tuner, and Street Racing. I love how from season to season I can jump from one discipline to the next or continue to play my favorite repeatedly. It leaves the door open for a bit of change when it’s needed, or allows a player to master one discipline at a time. I played the single street event multiple times already, so I can easily see myself mastering the street discipline before moving on to the others.

I love GRID 2 for its arcade style racing approach to a world series of racing events. It’s just fun and exciting to play along to. So, when learning of GRID Autosport and its driving line to something similar to the liking of Forza, I was a bit worried because I just recently played a ton of Forza 5 on the Xbox One and wasn’t looking for something that looked similar to it. However, even with the similarities, by only playing the accessible events in the preview build, it’s still by far a fresh experience. The team play, the rivalries, and the outstanding feel and control of the vehicles make this title stand out.



Interior View Part 1

Interior View Part 2



Codemasters is showing everyone once more why they are the kings of the racing genre. All three GRID titles are very different from each other, and even with all the changes between the three, GRID Autosport is still shaping up to be another completely satisfactory racing experience for all fans of the genre.

The keys to this vehicle arrive on June 24th, and all Steam, PS3, and Xbox 360 players need to do themselves a favor by taking this game for a test drive on that day. I can’t see how it’s going to disappoint anyone when it already drives so smoothly.

In case you missed it, be sure to check out our interview with the Chief Games Designer on GRID.



Goofing off at the finish line!



Image gallery that shows off just a small piece of the action in GRID Autosport!

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