GRID Demo Review (xbox 360)

I just played the xbox 360 demo of GRID. GRID uses the same game engine as Collin Mcrae’s DIRT.

My first impression? This game has a great menu screen. I know it seems like a strange thing to compliment, but I was really impressed by it. The game feels light and quick, as do the cars.

The selectively destructible environment makes you feel as though you’re driving through a “real” virtual world. Yes, that’s an oxymoron. I even tried ramming my way out of the racetrack a few times just to see how far it went.

The drifting portion of the demo is great, once you get a feel for it. It brings back memories of early Project Gotham Racing style fun. The cars are unexpectedly quick, but not uncontrollably so.

I did have a hard time just keeping up with the pack in the actual racing portion of the game, but I had turned off all driving assists, meaning I was driving without braking control, traction control, etc..

Without the assists on, you can fully lock up your tires when you slam on the brakes. You can burn rubber in first gear. This makes you very aware of how far you’re pulling the triggers on the controller.

I may have to give the game another go with the assists turned on, just to see if I can actually compete against the computer opponents, but I thoroughly enjoyed the demo nonetheless.