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Grid 2

Developer / Publisher: Codemasters
31 May 2013
Grid 2 - cover art
Glitchwave rating
3.09 / 5.0
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133 Ratings / 2 Reviews
#2,835 All-time
#136 for 2013
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Ten minutes into Grid 2, and I thought I'd hate it. Racing games aren't really my forte anyway, and the more realistic they are the worse it tends to get for me, so when I spent my first race sliding around all over the place because the cornering was so weird, I did wonder whether I'd be able to take any joy out of playing this.

Thirty minutes in and I was really enjoying myself. Grid 2 has a learning curve, but it's a very quick one, and it took me next to no time at all to get used to firing the car around corners with just the right amount of sensitivity and learn when to avoid or actively seek out contact with other drivers. A physics engine that seemed totally alien to me at first felt as natural as anything I've played in the genre at a point when a lot of modern games haven't even stopped introducing new game elements.

That's ultimately the least I ask for, that the racing itself is intuitive rather than frustrating, and ultimately fun as a result. Grid 2 is actually a little odd in this respect, in that it punishes mistakes in a way that almost no other big-budget game I can think of matches, but it gets away with this by having a very welcome built-in anti-frustration feature (one button is all it takes to rewind the race and start again from a point of your choosing) and by making it so easy to avoid those mistakes by effectively teaching you to not be an idiot. That'll explain the quick learning curve, then; when I first booted up the game I was ragging the car around the track like I'd had a fight with the brake button and we weren't talking. Grid 2's message is pretty simple - keep an eye on your speed and you'll basically be alright. If that sounds like amateur hour, you're probably into driving a hell of a lot more than a perpetual pedestrian like me, and this probably isn't the game for you. For me, though, it's pretty much exactly what I want.

Outside of the basics, the career mode unfolds nicely in a way that reminds me, in a weird sort of way, to some of the latter-day Tony Hawk's games. In addition to the basic races, you get involved with sponsors who ask you to take part in events for them, get challenged to one-on-one drag races, and are set extra objectives to complete during the events that you can choose according to your own playing style (another nice anti-frustration feature). Beat a certain lap time, finish in the top three of an event, yadda yadda. Basic stuff. But it's fun and it keeps the racing fresh and interesting, so it does its job. You can also collect cars as you go along, but I struggle to tell them apart when they're the same colour, so....eh, whatever. Doing that did at least teach me that Dodge is a manufacturer and not just a model, so there's something.

Grid 2 certainly isn't a game I could imagine myself playing for more than about three weeks, but then, almost nothing in this genre is. It's an admittedly creepy analogy, but a really good driving game for me is more about a summer fling than a commitment, and this is one of those fleeting romances I'd end up reminiscing on fondly for a few years at least.
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Iai 2016-04-19T19:45:13Z
2016-04-19T19:45:13Z
3.1
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My introduction to the Grid series was with the third game; Autosport. There was a drastic difference when jumping back to the original game in terms of graphics and style. Grid 2 almost seems like a middle-ground between them which makes the entire series quite confused.

The first Grid game had quite a dark, gritty aesthetic which I thought made it stand out from other racing games. To me, it seems a weird decision to change the aesthetic to a more realistic look. The graphics are very impressive though, and are far superior to the first game. It actually comes close the style in Autosport, but is so far removed from the original game, it does seem weird to brand it with the same name.

Another change that seems weird is the story. Previously, you were creating your own racing team. To do this, you chose a name, some team colours, hired a racing partner, and raced to build up the reputation of your team. You were judged based on your finish, as well as your team's finish. In Grid 2, you are racing solo, but are tasked with acquiring fans to increase the popularity of a new racing championship; World Series Racing. Personally, it doesn't feel as cool, especially when the video footage is showing you how people are talking about you on social media, and features interviews on ESPN. It's actually well done, but also feels a bit cringey at the same time.

You don't purchase cars either. Instead, you just win them over the course of the game. There's different 'styles' of cars; Balanced, Drift, 4WD, FWD and RWD. There seems to be more Drift-style cars than the others, which gears the game to more of an arcade-style racer as you slide around the corners.

I found over the course of the game that I was progressively using the drift mechanic, rather than drastically slowing down like you would do in a simulation racer. This change in handling makes the series even more confused since the original game seemed geared towards simulation with an arcade edge. Autosport that followed had the handling geared towards simulation.

The rewind mechanic is much improved. In the original game, this was a poor feature because you couldn't rewind more than a couple of seconds; which meant you ended up rewinding to a point you already has lost control. Now you can rewind beyond this point, so you can actually undo your mistake.

There's a variety of race types: Race, Endurance, Time-Attack, Elimination, Drift, Touge, and Overtake. I found the difficulty of the Drift races wildly erratic. Early on, I was beating the targets by double, but the latter events I was often finishing towards the bottom, with occasional races finishing in first place. Some events like Time-Attack and Overtake were mostly boring, and Endurance races weren't long enough for them to claim the title 'Endurance'. The 1-on-1 Touge races were always difficult, often being decided on the last stretch. Even if the opponent crashed, within several seconds they would be on your tail as though the game had some extreme rubber banding. I didn't notice this problem in the other game modes though. The normal Race mode is where I found the most fun.

The courses are similar to what is found in Autosport. There's a mix of street racing, circuit racing, and end-to-end racing through windy uphill/downhill scenic routes.

Usually, racing games end up taking upwards of 20 hours at a minimum, but you can get through Grid 2's career mode within 12 hours, so it's a bit disappointing in that regard.
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CaptainClam 2019-10-20T19:19:55Z
2019-10-20T19:19:55Z
3.5
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I played this? The mix of simulationist and arcade racing made the turn-to-turn action a bit more exciting, but without the complete difficulty curve or the real variety in courses, it's not exactly up there with Gran Turismo.
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Lowlander2 2017-08-21T18:51:17Z
2017-08-21T18:51:17Z
3.0
1
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Catalog

CaptainPlasma Grid 2 2024-03-26T02:19:41Z
Windows / Mac
2024-03-26T02:19:41Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
polaroid_android Grid 2 2024-03-15T19:54:48Z
2024-03-15T19:54:48Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
eliottstaten Grid 2 2024-03-15T06:02:42Z
2024-03-15T06:02:42Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
zhabaaa Grid 2 2024-03-04T18:39:43Z
2024-03-04T18:39:43Z
3.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Bearzebaa Grid 2 2024-03-04T07:30:10Z
Windows / Mac
2024-03-04T07:30:10Z
4.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
SKTUD Grid 2 2024-02-22T01:28:53Z
2024-02-22T01:28:53Z
2.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
CodaScapegoat Grid 2 2024-02-11T14:04:19Z
2024-02-11T14:04:19Z
3.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
multi
TheKarmaPoIice Grid 2 2024-02-01T04:32:35Z
Windows / Mac
2024-02-01T04:32:35Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
jhiny Grid 2 2024-01-15T19:09:52Z
Windows / Mac
2024-01-15T19:09:52Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Cyclotomic Grid 2 2023-12-30T18:32:49Z
2023-12-30T18:32:49Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
unddertaker Grid 2 2023-12-13T22:56:49Z
2023-12-13T22:56:49Z
3.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
fshit Grid 2 2023-11-19T18:30:15Z
2023-11-19T18:30:15Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
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  • SystemsEngineerofaDown 2021-04-02 18:53:56.776323+00
    I thought I wouldn't finish the career out of sheer boredom, but then I got to Tier 3 and that Caterham SP/300.R unlocked something primal in me.
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  • frankenoise 2021-12-16 00:58:51.339767+00
    Great game and I remember putting in twice as many hours online. To bad it's gone now because once the career mode is done there isn't much replay value.
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  • Coldplaz 2023-01-11 01:32:30.831445+00
    Weird how this has more ratings here than the first game
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