GRID 2

 PC
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. Gamer.no
    Jun 18, 2013
    70
    GRID 2 is an action-packed and intense experience, where the cars behave like in a Hollywood movie. It is an entertaining arcade racer, but there are a few flaws. The AI is weak, the number of tracks should be higher and the game is too simplified in a few areas.
  2. Riot Pixels
    Jul 2, 2013
    69
    Every situation in GRID 2 feels the same, and there is a reason. Having collected more than 50 cars in my virtual garage, I can’t point out my favorite ones – they all behave the same way, without any distinctive quirks of ‘character’. And locations that repeat ad nauseum only make this feeling worse.

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Best PC Game of 2013
51
#51 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
46
#46 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 655 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 262 out of 655
  2. Mixed: 194 out of 655
  3. Negative: 199 out of 655
  1. fw190a8
    May 30, 2013
    3
    Horribly disappointing arcade "racing" game dumbed down to the maximum possible level. Lowest common denominator gaming at its worst, and aHorribly disappointing arcade "racing" game dumbed down to the maximum possible level. Lowest common denominator gaming at its worst, and a real let-down from Codemasters.

    The main problem is the handling. I understand this is an arcade game, but this should have been labelled as a drifting game rather than a racing game. Cars handle exactly the same as one another, so there's little point selecting a different vehicle, and the fastest way around any corner is always a 4-wheel drift, defying physics and common sense at any opportunity.

    I have played a great deal of racing games, including arcade games like Blur, Mario Kart and the Need for Speed series, as well as more sim-based titles like the RACE series, Forza, Gran Turismo and iRacing. I am familiar with different handling models, from arcade through to simulation, and the different characteristics and properties of the various car configurations, power levels, and drivetrains. GRID spectacularly misses all of these and applies the exact same "drift" model to every car, with small tweaks to acceleration and top speed.

    All of the aforementioned games are a great deal of fun for a variety of reasons, but GRID 2 seems to deliberately attempt to suck the fun out of the game at every turn. The AI drivers are absolutely moronic (but that's nothing new for a racing game) and regularly take corners impossibly fast, or idiotically slowly. The rubber banding is woefully obvious, and promotes no-skill driving. You can race as hard as you like in second place and watch the car in front stay in front, then ease off, relax into a few corners, and not see the car pull away. Conversely, despite picking your way through the entire pack, you can make your way into first place, only to have the second place driver somehow find some extra speed and keep up with you.

    Collision physics is also way off. Cars regularly stick to one another like glue, and only become detached when colliding with the track edges. Damage appears all over the car regardless of the place that made contact with the obstacle.

    Infuriatingly (although the first GRID also had this problem), you always start near the back of the grid, meaning that on the tighter circuits, it is a mad scramble to bash people out of the way to get to the front, because if you attempt to race cleanly, the race is over before you can get there.

    Live routes, the system by which the course changes randomly each time you play it, is an absolute disaster and only contributes to the misery of playing the game. There is no minimap in this mode, and no possibility to learn the circuit, so you are just guessing going into every corner. The best racing drivers (in the real world) are consistent and precise and spend a great deal of time getting to know each and every corner. When it's impossible to know what the corner is going to be like, the parallels to the real world disappear, as does the immersion, and this, again, might as well be a drift simulator.

    The graphics are very pretty indeed and the game does run smoothly, although far too much time has been spent on the environments, since no driver is going to be looking at those while playing. Time could have been better spent on the damage modelling instead here. The environmental sounds and the engine noises are impressive, but the announcer is highly irritating. The first time I took to a particular track, I was told I needed to improve my sector 1 times, because I was slow, despite it being my first time ever in that sector and just come off the grid.

    Gone are the large fields of cars from the original GRID, as is the co-driver system, and any concept of money. Gone is the freedom to choose an event from a decent selection; instead the game forces you down prescribed choices in order to enhance the story, which should not be the game's focus, yet manages to dominate regardless.

    All of the above is replaced by the insipid, vile "dudebroism" that insists the most important things in the world are gaining fans, 4-wheel sliding into every corner, and "rad" performances. Almost every in-game sentence is followed by "man" or "bro", which is exactly the kind of thing I imagine might appeal to teenagers, but is a long shot from the Codemasters of old, who developed genuinely excellent games like TOCA Race Driver and Colin McRae Rally.

    So, GRID 2 has been relegated to the same tragic fate as the DIRT series, where the emphasis is on doing handbrake turns in a supermarket car park in a stolen Vauxhall Nova, rather than the precise, cool -headed and skill-based mechanics of the earlier years.

    Having read all of this, if you are after a simple arcade drift racing game that is easy to pick up and play and you're not bothered about having any depth or learning any actual racing skills, this title might just be perfect for you. For anybody on the simulation side of the racing fence, or anywhere near, this is a terrible buy, so wait for the Steam sale.    … Full Review »
  2. Tontolcul
    May 29, 2013
    1
    Sorry Codemasters, but you are now only the sade of what you where before. People who like arcade racing games have better choices, likeSorry Codemasters, but you are now only the sade of what you where before. People who like arcade racing games have better choices, like Burnout, Flatout or (sigh...) Need for Speed series. People who like simulation racing games will be very disappointed with Grid 2 and will keep playing Rfactor, the SimBin variety, Toca 3 or even (sigh...) the first Grid.

    So, this game is for... nobody. Oh, no, I better say this: this game is just for those impatient people who pre-ordered it and won't admit they have wasted their money.    … Full Review »
  3. Mike234
    May 28, 2013
    4
    I was expecting a good game with a mature driving system but instead I got a watered down arcade racer covered up as an immersive simulator.I was expecting a good game with a mature driving system but instead I got a watered down arcade racer covered up as an immersive simulator.
    Fans are your currency, cars are unlocked randomly rather than bought, no upgrades at all or tuning, all you can hope to do is change the livery which also leaves you with very few options.
    Old, boring and tiring drift-if-even-slightly-touched-the-brakes with what could have been a nice driving model but ultimately collapsed under the console demanded control.

    Graphics are quite good and sound is decent as well but this alone cannot save this game.
    GRID 1 wasn't that great to begin with and this feels more like a downgrade if anything.
    Not worth the time and money.    … Full Review »
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