GRID Legends Preview: At The Hop

[ICEYOU3]

Yes.

Good, wish we could have done that in Dirt 5.

 

[FLX1981]

This game just feels "extra" in the wrong places and lacking in the right places. Classic case of just trying too hard.

Funny you shall say that, this is exactly 100% my feeling about GT7. Here, on the other hand, it seems like they actually thought about improvements while you are on the race track, which is nice. It sure sounds like they had some good ideas to make multiplayer more interesting.

That multiclass car limitation is a bit weird, though. It makes sense to limit the amount of different cars in a session from a technical point of view, but I am sure you can choose more than 5 different cars when racing in a single class (GT3, for example), like in every other racing game.

 

[Ande3200]

Watched some gameplay yesterday, this is nowhere at the level of gran turismo 7 in my opinion, gt7 will have much more to do in the longrun

 

[MroczMR]

That multiclass car limitation is a bit weird, though. It makes sense to limit the amount of different cars in a session from a technical point of view, but I am sure you can choose more than 5 different cars when racing in a single class (GT3, for example), like in every other racing game.

Funny thing... Classic Touring Cars class have actually 6 cars in its class...

 

[matrix_gt1]

Funny you shall say that, this is exactly 100% my feeling about GT7. Here, on the other hand, it seems like they actually thought about improvements while you are on the race track, which is nice. It sure sounds like they had some good ideas to make multiplayer more interesting.

That multiclass car limitation is a bit weird, though. It makes sense to limit the amount of different cars in a session from a technical point of view, but I am sure you can choose more than 5 different cars when racing in a single class (GT3, for example), like in every other racing game.

Yeah for some reason all the Grid games have seemed like filler to me. Like an in between until a new Toca or something. I have been proven wrong every release though XD

 

[Staquix]

I'll grab this and GT7 after the reviews give it a green light. I would grab GT7 right out of the gate but i only have a PS4 and want to see how the old girl handles the new game. I hated Autosport but loved the original GRID and TOCA games so ill take a wait and see on this as well.

 

[doblocruiser]

Funny you shall say that, this is exactly 100% my feeling about GT7. Here, on the other hand, it seems like they actually thought about improvements while you are on the race track, which is nice.

Feel the same. GT7 has left me completely cold so far. We continue the same lackluster gameplay but have fantastic graphics. Grid Legends though has a story mode which I always have liked in the toca series. Add the beefy career and packed with content, something Codemasters hasn't done for a long time. The game play and racing seems action packed and intense. I am very happy the release is only one week away.

 

[PJTierney]

From the article:

Guess @Famine was in this one then



I think this was the session after mine, so unfortunately I didn't get to battle with GTP on the road this time

 

[LeGeNd-1]

You think nfs games are unplayable? The physics while deep into the arcade style, work well for what they are going for and is all intentional. Many people enjoy them for what they are and once you get used to the driving model you can win races fairly quickly.

i think the new Grid will improve but not change to much from the previous physics model.

I'm not singling you out specifically, just using this post as prompt to share my thoughts on arcade game physics in general (and maybe feedback to PJTierney, since NFS and GRID are both under the same umbrella now).

• PS1 era NFS were decent handling titles for its time. In fact the very first game had input from Road & Track and tries to be a sim. Porsche Unleashed on PC was as good as GT at the time.
• PS2 era HP2 and Underground/Most Wanted/Carbon titles were also good. Easy to pick up and intuitive despite being arcade.
• Then everything went south as NFS enters its schizophrenic state. ProStreet was crippled with understeer. Undercover is a total disaster. Shift feels like driving with pogo sticks instead of suspensions. The Run is decent but still not intuitive like the UG/MW/Carbon era.
• Then came Criterion and its infamous "brake to drift" mechanic from Burnout. You either love it or hate it. Personally, HP 2010 feels stiff for me and has weird drift initiation, but I absolutely loved MW 2012. It's basically Burnout Paradise with better sense of weight and suspension travel. I skipped Rivals so I can't say too much about it.
• Then came the Ghost era. Oh boy, 2015 was a total disaster. Even worse than Undercover. Zero feeling of driving, inconsistent physics, walls that act like magnets. I've played indie arcade racers on PS1 that drives better than this. And yes despite that, I completed the game and got all the trophies. Even after all that, I still couldn't tell you what the car is going to do in the next corner.
• Payback improves things a lot, but offroad physics feels like a pendulum and there is a weird transition when going from high speed to low speed cornering.
• Heat improves things again. Offroad feels a lot better as does transitions. But it's still a bandaid over the brake-to-drift mechanic and not as intuitive as the grip based UG/MW/Carbon era.

Now, onto TOCA/GRID.

• I played TOCA World Touring Cars on PS1, and it was a pretty good alternative to GT at the time.
• Skipped the whole PS2 games so I can't say anything about those. But from reviews and videos they seem to have stable, intuitive driving models.
• Race Driver Grid was great. More arcade than TOCA but still grounded on reality and also intuitive. Though looking back now, it is very floaty (unfortunately the hallmark of all Ego engine games).
• Grid 2 was a complete departure from reality. No matter if you drive racecars or road cars, everything drifts like Ridge Racer. To be frank, once I got the hang of it, it can be quite fun. But it takes a lot of getting used to and doesn't suit the Grid ethos. For an open world game, fine. Not for a circuit racer. Online is very messy because once you're committed to a trajectory, you're basically a passenger until the car is straight again.
• Grid Autosport brings back the realism, but to me it just feels like all they did was increase rear tyre grip of Grid 2's physics. It's workable but still feels off on the limit.
• Grid 2019 is a disaster again. Chronic understeer that turns into snap oversteer whenever you touch a kerb. No feeling of weight transfer. Cars feel like they have zero suspension travel.
• From what I've seen, Legends is more similar to 2019 than Autosport (but boy I hope I'm wrong). The perfect Grid handling for me would be combining RDG's balance but eliminating the floatiness, and adding Autosport's weight transfer.
• It's a similar trajectory with the Dirt games: Dirt 1 was floaty, Dirt 2 was perfect, Dirt 3 was dumbed down. Haven't driven 4/5 but from videos 5 looks to be plagued by the same issues as Grid 2019.

Arcade games don't have to have bad physics. They can be good, consistent and intuitive (see Driveclub and Driver San Francisco). Conversely, sims can also be bad. It's not as simple as "it's an arcade game, so who cares about how the car drives". Imagine if you play an FPS shooter, and the bullet doesn't go where you're pointing the gun. It's no fun and it's the same with driving.

I'm not asking every game to handle like Assetto Corsa, but at the same time, they cannot drive like a soap bar on wheels. Intuitive & predictable. That's all I ask