Race Driver: Grid Preview

[pk500]

Fishstick is right. If you read any of the advance previews and look at the screens of this game, it's as obvious as the mole on Cindy Crawford's face that Codemasters is steering this game away from its TOCA/Race Driver roots and creating a Need For Speed/Project Gotham clone.

Have you seen many screens of anything but supercars and tuner cars? I haven't. The only proper racing cars I've seen in screens are WTCC touring cars. Have you seen many screens of proper racing circuits instead of PGR-style city tracks? I haven't. Have you read anything about improvements to the racing model or physics model? I haven't.

Hell, the chief designer of the game admits the series is changing direction. From VideoGamer.com:

>>>VideoGamer.com: From what we've seen, it seems like you guys are going for more of an arcade racer feel compared with previous Race Driver games. Why this change in direction?

Ralph Fulton: Yes we've definitely changed direction, although I'd definitely stop short of calling GRID an arcade racer. The change is really manifested in the game's content - we've looked beyond Europe to the US and Japan to find new styles of racing, and new environments to race in. We're also really keen to make the game as accessible as possible so that newcomers to the series aren't put off by the difficulty curve, but I don't think that comes at the expense of depth - there are still a lot of options for the serious racing fan.<<<

Fulton's last sentence was a feeble attempt to keep those who loved the sim nature of TOCA/Race Driver interested in the game. Sorry, I'm not falling for it. Neither is fishstick.

Here's another feature that's a joke, and a clear indication the game is heading down the arcade road:

>>>VideoGamer.com: We've heard about the game's Flashback feature - how will it work? Will there be a cap on how many times you can use it in a race? Will it
implemented into multiplayer games?

RF: Flashback is one of the features we've added to improve the game's accessibility - having an amazing damage system means you get to see lots of cool crashes but it also means races can end in the time it takes to misjudge a corner, which for the new player can be off-putting. With Flashback you can watch a replay of your crash and then choose a point in it to "flash back" to, allowing you to get back in the race and remedy your mistake immediately. It's much less punishing than having to restart your race. The number of Flashbacks you are allowed in each race is determined by the difficulty level you're playing on - higher difficulty equals fewer Flashbacks - and in the career game there's a cash bonus for unused Flashbacks at the end of a race. And no, it's not available in multiplayer races.<<<

Isn't that nice. A do-over. A mulligan. So you can be reckless and get away with it. What a sim.

Here's more news from Fulton that might disappoint some of you graphics' droolers:

>>>VideoGamer.com: What framerate are you guys going for? A locked 30FPS or 60FPS - is it better to have 60FPS or 30FPS with motion blur?

RF: We're going to be locked to 30fps. That was actually a really easy decision for us - the visual improvements I was talking about wouldn't have been possible if we'd been aiming for 60fps.<<<

You may think driving on fictional street circuits with trumped-up Honda Civics and Acura Integras -- complete with spinners, custom exhaust and obnoxious decals slapped all over the side -- is racing. That's your prerogative.

But most people who follow organized worldwide motorsport don't, and most of us in that camp think it's a shame that the Codies apparently are abandoning that world for the NFS-PGR world.

Take care,
PK

[Behindshadows]

I could care less for peoples opinions, even if its not like Toca 2 and 3.

Its racing done by Codemasters! And so far, they've impressed me every title. I won't be doubting them now!

[pk500]

Quote: Originally Posted by Behindshadows2

I could care less for peoples opinions, even if its not like Toca 2 and 3.

Then you might want to refrain from making statements like this in a public gaming forum if you're not interested in conflicting opinions:

Quote: Originally Posted by Behindshadows2

Anyone who doesn't buy this game is simply crazy...Just amazing! Just amazing!

Take care,
PK

[Behindshadows]

Quote: Originally Posted by pk500

Then you might want to refrain from making statements like this in a public gaming forum if you're not interested in conflicting opinions: Take care, PK

Lol...but I still think they are crazy!

I was stating that as an excitement of an opinion! It wasn't directed towards 1 man or 2 men! It was a remark! People make them all the time.

If the guilty party jumps up in defense, thats their bad! Because it really never was about them. Just someone happy about the game, blurting out some excitement for the release.

P.S. Grid is going to be amazing

[mercalnd]

I have to agree with PK and FishStick here. They seem to be completely ruining this great series.

[Behindshadows]

Quote: Originally Posted by mercalnd

I have to agree with PK and FishStick here. They seem to be completely ruining this great series.

I don't think they are ruining it, I think they are making another type of racing game. Its in the name Race Driver: Grid! Mainly targeting that style of racing.

Now I could have sword they were making another Toca Pro Driver too!

But then again, there are so many sim racers, GT Prologue, Forza 2, PGR! Maybe they just wanted to try a new style and then release Toca later!

I don't think it should even been in the same series at Toca Series. This might just be a new series.

But none of us, will truly know until its released. Either of us could be wrong!

[pk500]

Quote: Originally Posted by Behindshadows2

But then again, there are so many sim racers, GT Prologue, Forza 2, PGR! Maybe they just wanted to try a new style and then release Toca later!

PGR is not a sim racer. Not even close. GT has a sim driving model but an arcadish, brain-dead racing model, so it's not a true sim. The only one the bunch you mentioned that can be considered a sim is Forza 2.

So there is not a glut of sim racers for consoles. Not even close. But most gamers want the instant gratification of arcade racers and don't have the patience to try to improve with a sim.

It's an odd phenomenon. Nearly all team sports gamers scream bloody murder if the leading football, basketball, baseball and hockey console sims veer toward arcade qualities. But the vast majority of racing gamers could care less and almost encourage a sharp turn toward an arcade nature.

Guess I'm a minority racing gamer, then. That's why I abandoned console racing games for PC racing sims, as my cravings for realism are more than satisfied there.

Take care,
PK

[Metman24]

Quote: Originally Posted by pk500

Because Race Driver, the offspring of the great TOCA series by Codemasters, always was a sim. It was about real race cars on real racetracks, with an emphasis on a good driving and racing models. The screens and pre-release information for this game show that Codemasters has caved in and is turning this game into a hybrid of Project Gotham Racing and Need For Speed Carbon. As if the console world needs another one of those games -- what a joke. Race Driver has been about real racing since the late 1990s on the PSX. Now one of the few console sim racing series appears to be biting the proverbial dust. Sad. Take care, PK

Basically, what he said.