GRID 2

Codemasters had a hard act to follow in Grid, but with this sequel it’s delivered a dazzling package that can proudly take its place among the best racing games of this generation. It not only smooths off nearly all of the awkward edges that have plagued the studio’s ongoing attempts to cohere its racing games with driver-focused storylines, but it does so with enough pomp and spectacle to send current-generation hardware off with a memorable bang.

GRID 2 continues many of the things that made the original one of this generation’s finest racing games, but suffers from a more lifeless career mode.

GRID 2 has a handful of head-scratching design decisions, but it's a solid, varied, and challenging racer set in strongly realized environments. Allow yourself to think outside of the cockpit, and you can't go wrong.

Codemasters provides a little something for everyone in GRID 2. There are a wide variety of cars and racing styles to choose from, and the accessible yet challenging driving physics strike a good balance. A couple of innovative new race types incrementally freshen the genre, but there is nothing here to elicit a "Wow!" All around, it's a solid effort.

The skittish handling and lack of assists may deter some racing fans but for those looking for a gorgeous racer with depth and a true challenge, GRID 2 is a tidy little gem that will provide countless hours of enjoyment.

A very good arcade racer with a sim DNA, very entertaining and satisfying for lovers of drifting and paint swapping, with a great sense of weight in the cars. With a more compelling career mode and a rear-view mirror it would have been perfect.

Grid 2 is a fantastic racing game in which you'll have to fight for a decent classification. There's no 'perfect line'-crap, but purely the battle. Because of this, a victory really feels like a victory. There's enough variation to keep you going, but the career mode seems a bit bleak. Because of that, it barely misses out on a 9 or higher.

Codemasters shows that they haven't forgotten the art of creating circuit games. Very well improved driving behavior and a extremely gratifying audio-visual presentation gives players a great racing sensation. The lack of a cockpit-view is a shame though, and you'll need some perseverance to get the most out of it.

With terrific handling, gorgeous environments, and a broad selection of event types, Grid 2 slams on the gas and rarely slows down.

Grid 2 might not be quite up to the lofty standards of an all-inclusive open-world competitor like Forza Horizon, but it does more than enough to carve out a comfortable niche worth exploring.

Aside from a few missteps in track selection and ambiance, GRID 2 firmly establishes Codemasters as one of the premier racing game developers around today.

GRID 2 is a solid racer, addressing some of the complaints players had with the first chapter. Still, some features have been left out of the package like the cockpit view and the chance not to use flashbacks in the PRO difficulty settings. An easier comeback.

GRID 2 is the ideal sequel of Race Driver GRID: a well packaged racing game with solid foundation, a harbinger of great variety, fun and "healthy" fidelity to the racing world.

Grid 2 retains much of what made the first alluring, but falls short of pushing racing games forward like the original.

Though the tracks get repetitive, the multiplayer is a grind, and you’ll be forced to race with an in-front-of or behind-your-car viewpoint, these flaws are insignificant compared to the huge payout that is GRID 2’s campaign. It’s easily one of the better racing games to come out this generation.

All in all, Grid 2 is a beautiful game that does a spectacular job on the presentation and delivery for an authentic as you're likely to get racing experience. Enthusiasts will find the experience a little too thin for their lacking, but the mainstream audience will find much here to keep their attention if they are willing to put in that initial investment.

Grid 2 will speak to fans of the original game, but it doesn’t really do anything brand new or different. But in the end, sometimes we don’t need a revolution, just something that’s bigger, faster and prettier.

While it doesn't do anything particular to improve upon the original game, the driving pleasure and excitement in GRID 2 is guaranteed.

Like its predecessor, Grid 2 offers a pleasing mix of driving sim and arcade racer and is accessible to seasoned veterans and tarmac newbies alike. It’s an evolution which doesn’t take many risks, instead opting to refine and polish the original game to a glistening sheen, but doesn’t do it to the game’s detriment.

Grid 2 is a fun racing game that has an unfortunately aggressive AI and begins to feel a little stale about halfway through. It's still a strong arcade racing game that's more often fun than frustrating—even if you find yourself spamming the flashback button when clubbed by aggressive drivers who blast you into a spin or are a little too late or early on setting up a drift. It's a fun experience with varied race types, even if it loses some of the exhilaration later on in the game.

GRID 2 may not meet the expectations set by the original game but overall it is still a solid racing experience.

The best racing game I’ve played in a long time. It’s fast, beautiful and extremely rewarding. Still there are better titles out there, including the unforgettable first Grid. [CD-Action 07/2013, p.70]

With tons of cars, multiple events and a fantastic multiplayer mode, Grid 2 is proof that the series deserves to rank among the upper echelon of racing franchises.

GRID 2 offers an excellent feeling of speed within all its furious races. It is visually stunning, the gameplay is both accessible and subtle, the career and multiplayer modes are long and interesting... In short, despite the lack of cockpit view and tuning options, what we have here is a great racing game, with an almost perfect arcade/simulation compromise.

So is it enough for Grid 2 to just be a great racing game? For many of you, yes. But it’d be remiss of us to not to point out that the game doesn’t really push either Codemasters or the racing genre in any particularly new direction, and from such a talented developer that’s a shame. There’s plenty of content to get through and on a mechanical level it is the perfect blend of arcade and simulation, but we need a little more to make it a must-have racer.

Codemasters has done a good job upgrading its already awesome Grid racing game. Grid 2 is a good example of how to improve a great project. The Live Routes races are really fun and can dramatically change the way a player approach every single track.

A slick, powerful racer that's the result of a clear vision of intense, streamlined competition. It takes few risks yet scratches many itches, offering a compelling experience to fans on all sides of the racing spectrum. While some will question a few design decisions, the overall package delivers on many levels.

Its continued shift away from its sim pedigree will still disappoint those of us who fondly recall the Race Driver games of old, but it still a great, modern package. A well-curated car list, a great sense of speed, and a well-thought out career mode combine in a racer that is a lot of fun to play through.

That Grid 2 remains so enjoyable despite its reserved approach is to the credit of its formula. It's slick, sexy and hugely accomplished, but without any revolutionary additions or changes that elevate it above what the series did before.

It’s maybe playing things a bit safe, but GRID 2 is ultimately a likable, fun, challenging game with hours worth of content.

Grid 2 is a worthy successor to the original Grid, but it doesn't really do enough to make it any more appealing than other racers out there.

Nevertheless Grid 2 is still a worthy sequel that offers a good and deep racing experience that should please any diehard fan, even if it doesn't give you that OMG face at any time during your experience.

The GRID series goes arcade with this new game. A ruthless and less exigent gameplay are proof that GRID 2 places itself between Gran Turismo and Need For Speed, leaning towards the arcade style of EA's title. In spite of a moderately interesting solo mode, mostly ruined by a criminal IA, the games scores back with a very fun multiplayer very old school inspired. The lack of real link between the two modes is actually a strength as one don't need to hit the solo to unlocks stuff in multiplayer. GRID 2 still carries the original's DNA but it focuses on arcade in order to seduce amateurs of racing games that want to avoir the tech malarkey.

An arcade racer in simulation clothing, GRID 2 has lots of surface thrills and spills to delight racing lightweights but lacks substance for those who want to dig deeper.

A mid-tier racer that offers value and visual splendour, but don't expect it to excel. [Aug 2013, p.66]

GRID 2 is a fine racing game on the track, but it's a questionable package when taken in its entirety.

I enjoyed Grid 2, but much like its predecessor, little about the experience was remarkable or noteworthy when compared to other racers. This is hardly a title that you'll need to drop what you're currently enjoying to check out, but it's something that I'd suggest purchasing when it drops in price. It's certainly worth a rental or demo, just to give you a taste of what Grid 2 brings to the table.

The cars never felt "right." [Issue#99, p.67]

Racing die-hards may find GRID 2′s schizophrenic approach to driving physics an interesting curiosity, but you can find any angle of GRID 2′s experience executed more successfully in other games.

Codemasters' down the line look at racing doesn't quite make it to the final podium. [July 2013, p.74]

We loved GRID and it is still our favourite racer of the generation, GRID 2 is a competent follow up, but doesn’t quite reach those new heights we were hoping for.

A good game that's classic and modern at the same time, that knows its place but often forgets that spark that makes racing fans tick.

No man ever steps in the same cockpit twice, but if they do, the step will be a very hesitatant one. Codemasters have managed to return with honour, however, they've brought nothing new to the table, and by messing about with the time-proven mechanics they are losing their chances to win. This instalment is going to have a hard time in the hands of the original title fans, who still wear their rose-coloured glasses. However, if you are hungry for some racing, GRID 2 serves much better than you think.

In spite of all the youtube-nonsense and the useless frame of a story, Grid feels like a game from another time. It just didn't really evolve all that much from its predecessor, which fit its era much better. The generation was still young back then, but today, Grid 2 has to ask itself, where its place should be, between Shift 2, Forza, Most Wanted, Hot Pursuit, Gran Turismo, iRacing and all the other ones. This field of gaming has great titles for every type of player and the high quality that's on display all throughout Grid 2 has become sort of the bottom line expectation.

A slightly disappointing sequel, that sacrifices too much in pursuit of the almighty dollar, but this is still a great all-round racer with something to please almost every kind of petrolhead.

Grid 2‘s racing once again succeeds at offering a nice balance between true simulation and accessible arcade handling, but the lack of depth offline and a repetitive, punishing second half wind up holding it back.

Grid 2 is a technically competent game with 70 lovely cars and nice physics. Still, it fails to live up to the previous game because of worse online features and uneven difficulty.

A strange backwards step, one that manages to retain some of what made the original great while getting lost in its own peculiar sense of drama and never adding enough worthwhile of its own. What should have been the return of a racing great instead feels like another curious offshoot, leaving Dirt now clearly Codemasters' premier brand.

When the dust settles, Grid 2 serves as a solid enough racing game with generally strong opponent AI. What it does not serve as is a worthy successor to the first game -- instead offering a stripped-down version of itself that is filled with lazy design, unfair AI opponents, special ESPN 'live' broadcasts that no one really asked for, and to top it all off, its bizarrely irritating narrator and loudly drunk or completely apathetic fans.