GRID Legends review
GRID Legends
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The latest rendition of the long-running GRID racing game series is the first across the finish line during what promises to be a blockbuster year for fans of console racing games. GRID Legends is a solid entry that has more personality than its 2019 predecessor and boasts an interesting story mode to ease players into the game. Some floaty handling and an uncertain online environment are the only things holding GRID Legends back from arcade racing royalty.
GRID Legends is the fifth game in Codemasters’ arcade racing series, and first, since the studio was bought by Electronic Arts. Compared to the 2019 offering, Legends feels ultimately more polished and fully featured. A good variety of vehicle types are here — touring cars, semi-trailer trucks, open-wheel cars, stadium trucks, drift cars, and electric vehicles. Tracks range from real-life locations like Brands Hatch, Indianapolis, and Suzuka, to street circuits in places like San Francisco and Paris.
The core game modes include a new story mode, called “Driven to Glory,” a tiered single-player career reminiscent of Forza Motorsport, a race creator mode, and online racing. If you’re only counting the story and career modes, there are easily 20-plus hours worth of racing to partake in.
Driven to Glory
“Driven to Glory” features a wide variety of racing events as the story follows along with the upstart Seneca Racing team as they try to break into the GRID World Series and take down the mighty Ravenwest team. The mode drives home the variety of cars, locations, and race types, wrapping it up in a narrative.
The story and acting are often cheesy — especially early on — but the production for the live-action cutscenes is crisp and clear. A big moment about halfway through the mode brings some gravity to the proceedings, and drives home Ravenwest and the McKanes as villains. By the end, I wanted nothing more than to put Nathan McKane in his place.
The biggest pitfall of the mode is its inability to adjust based on the player’s performance, as well as the complete lack of personification of the player’s character. The player is just known as Driver 22 throughout the whole story, as you’ve brought in to play second fiddle to a generally pleasant driver named Yume. You’re given goals to beat certain drivers or places in a specific spot in each race. Despite consistently beating Yume on race day, the story still called for her to be the team’s lead driver. Some of the commentaries just came off odd in light of this.
Overall, “Driven to Glory” is a great introduction to GRID Legends and is inspired by Netflix’s Drive to Survive series and the F1 game’s Braking Point story mode. You should play through the mode.
On the track
After playing through the story, you’re given a brief setup for Driver 22 putting together a new team, and you’re given some basic customization options before heading into the career mode. This mode is broken down into different car classes, with a variety of objectives to complete as you work your way up to the GRID World Series’ Gauntlet and attempt to win the championship.
One thing that carries forward from the 2019 game — in a big positive — is the teammate and nemesis system. You’re able to upgrade your teammate and work together to score points during races. On the other hand, bumping into other drivers too much will turn them into enemies. Their driving visibly gets more aggressive at this point, and it becomes more difficult to get past.
I’ve waited to say anything negative to this point because GRID Legends is an enjoyable arcade racing experience. However, in light of other major games like last year’s Forza Horizon 5, the imminent Gran Turismo 7, and Codemasters’ entries like Dirt 5 and F1 2021, GRID just doesn’t quite hit the mark in gameplay.
I frequently feel like my cars are just skating along the pavement, rather than feeling the tires touch the ground. Running over the curbs doesn’t feel any different from the road; and it can be hard to get a feel for driving in the wet, as well. My brakes also don’t feel responsive no matter what car I’m driving. Cars also feel remarkably similar — aside from the obvious differences between driving a semi vs. driving a basic open-wheel car.
Computer drivers can also seem like they’re completely on rails, up until the point you run into them and they start behaving more aggressively. I’ve also seen some rubberbanding and major difficulty differences between racing disciplines. Aside from just sucking at driving the stadium trucks (I just can’t get a handle on stadium trucks in any game), my races in GT cars are just exponentially easier than in open-wheel, even when set at the same difficulties.
Graphically, GRID Legends looks at home on the last generation of consoles. Nothing looks as crisp or vibrant as last year’s Forza Horizon or Dirt entries, and honestly doesn’t look like much of a departure from 2019’s game. It looks fine but isn’t anything special. I’ve also noticed some frame-dropping occasionally, though nothing that ruined the game for me.
The final piece of the puzzle is online. Racing games in 2022 need strong online components to truly have legs and compete in the marketplace. Unfortunately, I don’t have high hopes for GRID Legends’ long-term viability. This is due in part to the games releasing in the near vicinity — Horizon Forbidden West, Destiny 2’s newest expansion, Elden Ring, and Gran Turismo 7 all release within a week of GRID.
Online seems simple enough to get into. You can choose to either hop into whatever lobby is open, or you can search for specific lobbies. In playing prior to the full release, the player counts are low, but I was still able to find a couple of lobbies. Online racing works, and I genuinely had a fun time with it. You can join races in progress, though if it’s too far along in the race, you’ll likely jump in so far behind that you don’t have a shot to compete.
So far, I haven’t been able to successfully transition from one online race to the next. When I’m in the lobby, it says I’m picking my car, but I just can’t find it. So I usually back out and hop into another online race that’s already in session. I know I’ve got to be missing something simple, but the system overall just isn’t intuitive. Ultimately, if online racing is your jam, there are just plain better options no matter what console you’re playing on.
The good thing is, even if online falls flat, GRID Legends’ core single-player modes have plenty of meat on them. 2022 should be a great year for racing game fans, and GRID starts the year on a good note. Unfortunately, it will likely be overshadowed by heavier hitters later in the year. In the meantime, the latest GRID entry undoubtedly scratches the itch for a racing game.
Article By Kevin Austin
Kevin Austin has been in gaming journalism in one way or another since the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube. Married and father of 3 children he has been gaming since the ripe age of 6 when he got his first NES system and over 30 years later he is still gaming almost daily. Kevin is also co-founder of the Play Some Video Games (PSVG) Podcast network which was founded over five years ago and is still going strong. Some of his favorite gaming series includes Fallout and Far Cry, he is a sucker for single player adventure games (hence his big reviews for Playstation), and can frequently be found getting down in one battle royale or another. If it's an oddball game, odds are he's all about it.
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