I decided to preorder on Steam, especially since you get the Black Series DLC, 10% off as GRiD 2 owner and DiRT Showdown for free at the moment....
Basically I've had a lot of semi-sim fun with a lot of Codemasters games, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here. They've admitted that their recent games left behind their core audience, which is a good step to regaining trust
I've been a Codemasters race/rally game supporter for many years, from CMR/TOCA through to the Race Driver series and up to the modern DiRT/GRiD games. For me, Codies rally/race games were always the "quick blast" option for evenings when I want to race but don't want to load up a full-on simulator. They have always had good graphics, crisp controls (see below), good AI, fun career modes and plenty of varied content, while going easy on mistakes and letting you enjoy yourself. GRiD Autosport looks to follow that ethos nicely.
Comparing recent Codies (EGO engine) experiences:
- I never bought DiRT 1 or GRiD 1 because from trying the demos they were far too tuned for gamepad and horribly floaty with the wheel.
- DiRT 2/3 had a lovely direct steering feel which obeyed your controls without any floatiness. The rally, trailblazer and raid (at least in 2) were my favourites, but rallycross was surprisingly fun too: I played both of them for 50+ hours and definitely got my moneys' worth.
- Didn't buy DiRT Showdown because I hated gymkhana in DiRT 3
- GRiD 2 was originally a no purchase, but after I tried the demo I changed my mind. This is because they used the same direct steering controls as DiRT 3 so it was better with a wheel than expected. However, the whole slide-to-go-fast grip concept was only fun on the slower cars: I lost interest in the later classes because of that.
GRiD Autosport hopes:
- the variety and racing of the Race Driver series and GRiD 1
- the directness of controls from recent DiRT and GRiD offerings
- Consistent and believable physics: not pure simulator of course but when you chuck a car into a corner you should be able to tell in advance what will happen, without floatiness or slide-a-thon
- The ability to race my preferred cars (probably touring and GT cars) through most of the game if I want, without needing to spend much time on the stuff I find to be less interesting
- Good AI and close action without minor bumps destroying my race
P.S. DiRT 4 is the one I want most from Codies, admittedly. Bring back a heavy rally and rallycross focus while not throwing away RAID and trailblazer, and I'm a day one purchase there too. A next gen engine with Dakar cars, world rallycross championship tracks and cars, WRC/S2000 rally cars and Pikes Peak unlimited class cars could only be more awesome if they actually include Pikes Peak, real rally stages, real world rallycross tracks, etc...
People still use that
You can have many many squirels on Le Mans @
