Playing Race Driver: GRID online with eleven of Codemasters' finest developers, QA testers and PR people, we find something unfamiliar running through our head. It's a Dodge Viper. This happens quite a lot, and this particular one has just knocked off our bumper, but more immediately worrying is that it's flipped our car onto its back and crippled the engine. Thanks for that.
GRID isn't the first online racing game to include measurable car damage, but it is the first to do it this extensively. Damage is modelled for individual wheels and various key areas of the car, with icons in the bottom-right of the HUD to indicate damage levels, and Codemasters has spent a lot of time making sure damage synchronises properly between consoles connected over the Internet, so that when you bang into someone's passenger door, they veer off-course into a tyre wall at exactly the right time. Nothing's been lost in translation. In fact, the only discernible difference between what happens when a computer-controlled Dodge Viper lands on your head and when a human one does is that the host had the option to disable damage modelling before the game began.
The game doesn't recognize the steering wheel. So I just want to start off by saying i've played this game a decent amount on both PS3 (using the standard PS3 controller) and PC (using the standard XboxOne controller), the game feels pretty much the exact same from my personal experience. Race Driver: GRID. The first patch for Race Driver: Grid has been released. Symptoms of the game failing to detect the appropriate controller type are: On a pad.
More significant even than that for the game overall, though, is that GRID's emerging with full damage on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC just as Polyphony Digital makes its first fumbling steps online in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (which will introduce damage-modelling at some undetermined point in the future), and just as enthusiasm wanes for last year's Xbox 360 duo of Forza Motorsport 2 (number ten in the last Xbox Live chart) and, unquestionably GRID's most direct rival, Project Gotham Racing 4. Unlike our friend with the flying Viper, then, GRID's is a timely intervention.
So it's no surprise to see the team really going for it online. Every single-player event and discipline will be accessible, for a total of 32 events across 80 circuits in 15 different locations, including Milan, San Francisco and Tokyo. You can create and search for Ranked and Player Matches specifying region (Europe/Japan/USA/Global) and event, whether damage or catch-up are enabled, and how long the race goes on for. If you're setting up a Private Match, you can also specify racetracks and even particular routes around those racetracks before inviting your friends to join in, and complete wimps can allow for driver assists like traction control. When you first gather in the lobby, grid position is determined by who makes themselves ready first, with subsequent grids in the series determined by the finishing order of the first race.
We begin our session with damage disabled in a straight race around a small Milanese circuit that skirts the front of that handsome cathedral we mentioned last time we went hands-on with GRID. This doesn't go smoothly (I knocked the 360 off the table - don't tell anyone), but it's interesting to compare the experience to what happens when we resume in a muscle car tussle around San Francisco. As a procession of Mustangs pile toward the first corner, we brace ourselves for the inevitable; good, competitive online races are seldom decided at the first corner, but the tone of what follows and the layout of the pack often is, as everyone smashes into each other, aware of the random factor. But, in GRID's case, while a handful of us at the back obliterate one another, it's a short-lived thrill. Two cars are completely totalled, and those drivers have no option but to sit and watch for the next three laps, jabbering into their headsets. Those at the front of the pack, however, have borne the threat of destruction in mind and fought one another fairly for position. Over the course of the races we take part in, the players who are best at the actual game are the most frequent victors.
Race Driver: GRID
![Grid Grid](http://blog.codemasters.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Codies-Paddock-Pass-Banner-1.jpg)
All hail Codemasters' fantastic new EGO Engine. The graphics technology powering Race Driver: GRID really is extremely impressive. Taking a leaf out of Project Gotham 4's book, Codemasters' engineers targeted an unwavering 30fps refresh rate, maximising the level of detail and special effects to create one of the most beautiful racing titles of recent times. Just like PGR4, there are motion blur effects designed to make that 30fps look more flowing and fluid, and also just like the Bizarre Creations game, there's 4x multisampling anti-aliasing to round off those edges and make for an even smoother experience... on Xbox 360, at least.
As was the case with Grand Theft Auto IV, it's plainly obvious that owners of Microsoft's console get the better end of the deal technically, but once again, in terms of the overall package and that crucial gameplay experience, there's very little you're missing out on with the PlayStation 3 rendition of the game, as the comparison video demonstrates pretty conclusively.
Gameplay content is basically identical, the game's still excellent fun and - on the face of it - the only differences are minor and technical. That beautiful anti-aliasing on the 360 version is dropped back a touch and the frame-rate isn't as consistent. Shadows and lighting on PS3 appear to be a touch improved, obvious most noticeably on the 3D writing that is a part of GRID's excellent presentational system.
However, the most major difference between the two games is the level of screen tear. Discussion about this aspect of the PlayStation 3 version first kicked off when the playable demo was first unleashed. While Xbox 360 was generally solid, PlayStation 3 owners were slightly perturbed by the lack of v-lock, resulting in some pretty obvious screen tear not seen on the competing platform. Indeed, from our measurements, around 30 to 40 percent of the 60Hz output of the PS3 was torn frames.
Codemasters moved to reassure gamers by saying that the demo code wasn't final and optimisations were being made all the way through to the game's completion. Due to lead times, it's more usually the case that demos are made after the main game has been sent for submission, so this statement struck me as rather odd. And even if the demo was made before the final game was submitted, we're talking about a huge level of optimisation required to make up the extra performance.
As I suspected, the full game (both review code and the final retail product) operates on basically the same level as the demo and the same 30 to 40 percent of torn frames was still measured using our scanner. Here's a vid to show the differences, with the full frame being displayed and run at 25 percent speed. You'll see the 360 clip first, then the equivalent action from the PS3 version of the game.
The difference is pretty dramatic, and while not as impactful when playing the game, at times the effect can be quite off-putting, especially noticeable with fast left-right movement or when passing a large piece of trackside scenery. It's worth pointing that Xbox 360 version isn't completely immune. However, it rarely crops up during gameplay if it does at all, but is occasionally seen in the spectacular race replays and sweeping intro sequences.
Of course, Xbox 360 owners had problems of their own, thanks to the hard disk caching that in some cases completely paralysed performance. Gamers had to transfer their gamertags to memory cards and rip out the hard disk in order to get smooth gameplay. Apparently it's been fixed now with an Xbox Live update (which I couldn't test, as I never had the problem in the first place) but pity the poor sods who don't have online access and are therefore lumbered with a crippled game.
Griping aside, it's clear to see that Codemasters is on to something special with GRID. While opinion is divided about the handling, about the gameplay, the bottom line is that the company can compete with the big boys graphically and I'm expecting great things from the company's F1 title.