Grid Autosport is stuck in neutral. Find out why in the review
I can check race car driver off the bucket list as I became one in Grid Autosport for the Playstation 3. Let me just start out by saying that the game looks fantastic, graphically. The cars look like they could speed right by you on the street and then get pulled over by the cops. There are locales that are “life-like” that you could drive by one of them on the street and say “I drove by here in my video game!” However, is a game good just by how it looks? That will be up to you to answer but I and probably almost everyone who will read this, feels that looks and game play should be held as equals.
As I mentioned before, the game looks fantastic. If you beat the car to hell, it will look like you beat the car to hell. It will also drive like that as well so what you do to the car will affect the driving. You start out as a rookie on the racing scene, trying to make it in the big leagues. You’ll join up with a team to show that you can cut it and you start out in one of five disciplines/race styles.
You can choose from Street/Touring/Endurance/Tuner/ and Open Wheel Modes, each with different challenges and driving styles to master. These modes will give you the skills needed to be the best driver out there and the better you perform on the tracks, the better offers you’ll receive from other teams. The game does a good job teaching you the basics before you pick which discipline you’ll start with as well as introducing you to the racing scene.
While moving up the ranks, you’ll build your legacy as a great racer and earn experience points to upgrade cars and parts. While racing, you’ll have a teammate that you can advise their style of driving/aggressiveness. How you advise them could make the difference in how well your team does. The game has an interesting feature while racing called Flashback. Flashback allows you to rewind the part of the race that just happened so you can change the outcome. This will come in handy when you crash and then rewind to avoid doing it!
The game has different modes that you can play in like Online, Career, and Custom Cup mode as examples. Careers mode builds up your image/brand as a racer, Online mode has you playing against your friends or random people, and Custom Cup mode lets you set the rules and regulations for racing. The game also has Youtube connectivity where you can share race videos and the prime example of online interaction is Mario Kart 8, since the two games have similar web connectivity.
The Street Discipline/race is the most fun because you drive in life-like locations and you need to react quickly and be on your guard at all times. You never know when a turn down a short alley will appear and you’ll have to react to that. One little mistake and it could be curtains for you in that race. I found that out quite a few times trying to make a sharp turn and driving into the guard rail/wall.
The game is compatatible with add-on steering wheels that make for easier driving. I feel this way because I didn’t have a steering wheel and I had a very tough time steering and staying on the track. The steering/controls isn’t as tight as they should be. Braking quickly to make the sharp turns in the game doesn’t slow the car fast enough to actually make the turn. The Flashback feature will be used a lot because staying on the track is a tough proposition for the drivers.
To conclude, Grid Autosport looks amazing, in terms of graphics and music. It looks great in High Def and the locations in the game look great as well. However, the controls aren’t as tight/crisp as they need to be considering all the quick/sharp turns you’ll have to make. Playing with a steering wheel instead of the PS3 controller might make things easier. The online mode plays similarly to Mario Kart 8 and that is a welcome sight, seeing how simple the Mario Kart 8 online interaction is. However, I just can’t overlook the controls not being top-notch and it’s these reasons that I’m giving Grid Autosport for the PS3 a 7.5/10.
Score: 7.5 / 10
