GRID (2019) GRID (2019)

[Paul Jeffrey]

Surprise! A new GRID game is heading our way this September 13th.

Having been heavily focussed on their rally and Formula One games since 2014’s GRID Autosport released, Codemasters have today made the surprise announcement that the popular franchise will be making a return to console and PC this year – confirming GRID 4 is set to release this September on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

Featuring the usual mix of real world and fantasy tracks located across four continents, plus plenty of racing content from low power machines to Grand Prix cars, GRID should offer plenty of variety for players of all skill levels when it drops later this year.

Although exact details regarding the depth of content set to ship within the game has yet to be revealed by Codemasters, the British development team have confirmed the inclusion of Formula One machinery, in the form of at the least the 2006 Renault RS06.

With the new title having been developed in conjunction with Fernando Alonso and his eSport racing team, players will have the opportunity to race against the former double World Champion and 2018 Le Mans winner in game, as part of the structured career mode the title is so famous for in previous iterations of the franchise.

“We are also delighted to work alongside Fernando Alonso who is arguably one of the world’s greatest ever drivers” said Chris Smith, GRID Game Director at Codemasters. “His experience and knowledge has enabled us to make improvements to both the performance and handling of our cars. We could not be more proud to have signed him both in-game and as a Race Consultant. We can’t wait for our players to experience the final version when it comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC this September.”​

As well as the inclusion of Alonso, images revealed from the game also reveal Brands Hatch will be included in the base version of the title, as well as a selection of tin top machines such as a TCR spec VW Golf and various American muscle cars.

GRID is well known as a ‘simcade’ style game, and it looks like the latest release will continue that trend, but with leanings towards simulation in order to appease a wide variety of driving tastes.

“GRID as a racing franchise is revered by our community and we are delighted to bring it to the current generation of consoles,” continued Smith. “The game offers so much variety and depth, from the number of modern and classic cars through to the locations and race options. Renowned for its handling, the game will appeal to all types of player, from casual drivers who want a lean-in challenge, to sim drivers who want some serious fun”​

The game is already available to pre-order, and it looks like Codemasters will be adopting the DiRT 2.0 approach to post release DLC, with space set aside for 3 ‘seasons’ of additional purchasable content confirmed during the initial announcement.

More news will follow, as and when it becomes available.

GRID will release on Xbox One, PS4 and PC September 13th 2019.

Stay tuned to the upcoming GRID 4 sun forum here at RaceDepartment for all the latest news and discussions about this exciting new game.

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[Andy Kettler]

Some new gameplay videos

 

[Lesley Buurlage]

We got Ravenwest, that's all i care about, guarenteed buy now

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

Codemasters give us some more information about the career mode coming to the yet to be release new GRID racing game.

Looking to rekindle the flame of passion that so often followed the GRID series of yesteryear, Codemasters recently announced the franchise would be in receipt of the reboot treatment this year - bringing back from retirement one of the most fondly remembered arcade racing games of recent generations.

As with any good reboot, the new game keeps much of what made the GRID series so popular the first time around, but with a few more bells and whistles thrown into the mix for good measure.

As development continues back at Codies HQ, the studio have taken some time out to shed more light on what the new game will include once it drops onto the virtual store shelves this year, with the first pass at this information sharing routine focussing on the career mode within the new game.

Career mode is your chance to experience each discipline, car and circuit in GRID, in an immersive format that takes you from entry-level motorsport to the pinnacle of racing: the GRID World Series.

A grand total of 104 events are waiting for you in Career mode on launch, spread across six disciplines: Touring, Stock, Tuner, GT, FA Racing, and Invitational.

Those first five disciplines take you on a similar journey: 13 different events to complete, varying in event length and car class, all leading to a final Showdown event (more on those in a moment). Invitational features 26 events, with a huge variety of exotic and extraordinary cars, also leading to a Showdown event.

Each event includes an objective you must complete to unlock more events in that discipline, and the objective won’t always be to win the race. Whilst more rewards are on offer for consistent race wins, sometimes you’ll only need to finish in a target position to progress further.​

Of course a detailed, story driven career mode has always been at he very core of GRID games in the past, and it looks like this is set to continue within the new title. For this latest instalment Codemasters have thrown a couple of little twists into the standard offering, further expanding on what was always the strongest aspect of the game in years past.

Showdowns are the high-stakes concluding events to each discipline. Each Showdown is a two-on-two race, pitting you and your teammate against the top team from each discipline, so use your racing prowess and tactical skill to win these challenging events.

You’ll need to win four of the six Showdown events to progress to the final chapter of Career mode. That means you don’t have to complete every discipline if you don’t want to. You can focus on the disciplines you’re enjoying the most and lean on them throughout the Career.

Winning four Showdowns will allow you to progress to the GRID World Series – the final stage in Career mode that combines the very best of each discipline for a star-studded racing series like no other. This is where the infamous Ravenwest Motorsport will be waiting for you, so expect any victory to be hard-earned.​

As with any good story driven game, customisation is a key ingredient for the new GRID, with players able to create, develop and campaign their own customised team.

Before you hit the track, it’s time to create your own racing team. Choose the name and livery of your team; feel free to change these at any point, but this will be the team that you and your teammate represent throughout Career.

To progress in Career mode, you’ll need cars – and you’ll have in-game currency from the start to purchase some eligible cars for the opening events. As you progress, you’ll earn more currency, giving you the chance to purchase more cars and enter more events.

Alongside you will be your teammate, who you can hire and fire at any point in Career mode. Any teammate you choose to race alongside will have a different personality you’ll have to keep in mind. Some teammates will be fast but uncooperative; others will be less competitive but more willing to help you; and all kinds of characters in between. Pick the perfect teammate and manage their personality to give you the best chance of success.​

All sounds good, doesn't it?

More news to follow as and when it becomes available...

GRID will release on Xbox One, PS4 and PC September 13th 2019.

Stay tuned to the GRID 4 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for all the latest news and discussions about this exciting new game.

Like what we do at RaceDepartment? Follow us on Social Media!

 ​

 

[111111]

Just gimme back grid1 servers

 

[Ghiblifrost]

This looks like the best of both worlds between GRID 1 and 2 (never played Autosport), but it's really harsh on the computer. I hope it can live up to the standards we've seen so far.

 

[Jonathan Young]

I know it’s honest about being an arcade game and not a sim, but does that rule out proper wheel support and FFB at the level of, say, Wreckfest? If that were the case, then I might be interested in this but don’t know much about Grid. Not interested in an out and out arcade game that’s really meant to be played on a controller though. Particularly if it’s reliant on aggressive hammering of the nitro button.

 

[Jerec]

Will there be cockpit view? No cockpit view no buy!

 

[Matt Y]

1. What the hell is FA racing?
2. I hope they fix the damage physics.

 

[Rory Wetherington]

Will there be cockpit view? No cockpit view no buy!

From a early video I saw the other day they will have fully working dash with cockpit cam. Shame as 99% of the reviews on youtube are using chase cam (much like F1 2019 and the T-cam), but I did see one that was going back and forth with the cams so it looks to be good for us who prefer a realistic cam with working dash gauges, still a bit dark for my taste,but that's okay I'll just use my LED display.

Here's the video and you can judge for yourself;

 

[R1Joel]

No pre-release DLC, no buy!

 

[Areston]

ehm, release date has been postponed to october.

 

[krzysiek_aleks]

1. What the hell is FA racing?

Fernando Alonso's team

 

[OZ67]

Loot boxes ? UK courts just approved EA's Loot box Scam as Legit , so don't be surprised.

 

[Dobermann92]

I don't see how this is an improvement over Grid:Autosport other than in the graphics department...

 

[RJRacer]

FFB on Dirt Rally 2.0 (road/hard surface/tarmac) is truly awful. Cars have no weight, no progressions, no road feel, no nothing! The wheel is entirely dead!

Loose surface is better but not great, infact Dirt 4 has way better feedback than DR2.

FFB on F1 2019 and every F1 game before it, is beyond truly awful!
I own all F1 games from 2010 and have tried to believe them every year, and I always buy the game, but I'm done with them now.

I own 9 F1 games athey all have truly awful FFB.

Grid Games have utterly awful wheel FFB... truly unusable. Incredible fun on a pad though.
I recently reinstalled them all as I wanted to find a game like Forza to have fun with, I tried every mod, every thing, every patch and they just suck with a wheel, and I mean they suck!

If there is 1 thing codemasters CAN NOT do, it's hard surface road feel and Tarmac FFB. They have had over 10 years to achieve it and they can't, they either don't have the talent or don't car. It's a real shame as if I wa she FFB programmer, if want to make a name for myself as having great FFB not the worset? I mean his name is on the credits, but I'd be ****in embarrassed if after 10 years of copy pasting the same game I couldn't make the road feel like road???

If they cant do hard surface and road feel FFB in their current flag ship titles using the same shitty engine, I don't see how miraculously overnight this game with be the best FFB ever.

With that said, codies do make a good "game" as Dirt Rally 2 is amazing with a controller, and I mean amazing!

With a wheel it's complete dog **** and an embarrassment to anything sim related, it is far surpassed by D4/D2 and DR1.

As a company they are progressively getting worse?
I suspect a lot of that is because most of the expert/senior devs left (like Paul) and some even moved to SMS.

So I am a firm believer that these new titles are being made by the junior or B team and it absolutely shows.

A rally game, where you take a balls to the wall rally car, down a hard surface road at over 120mph bouncing and bumping and skidding around like a crazy madman... and yet your wheel has ZERO road feel, rumble, tyre flex, progressions etc is truly pathetic!

You just end up sawing at the wheel pushing the car around corners (with no variable force) into a skid then counter rinse and repeat.

Utter trash and I suspect this game will be the same (with a wheel) pads are 100% great!

But don't get me wrong. I'm not bashing them entirely!
These games are amazing with a pad! Really great! But they are trash with a wheel.

With that said, it's worth noting that DR2 has all dash cameras removed from the game (present in D4 and DR1) so I would again suspect that the dash cam is gone in favour for the back set driving head cam instead.

A real shame to watch what could have been sheer excellence be transformed into control pad kiddie games.

 

[theravenousbeast]

I know it’s honest about being an arcade game and not a sim, but does that rule out proper wheel support and FFB at the level of, say, Wreckfest? If that were the case, then I might be interested in this but don’t know much about Grid. Not interested in an out and out arcade game that’s really meant to be played on a controller though. Particularly if it’s reliant on aggressive hammering of the nitro button.

Apparently the DiRT team is helping out with handling. Now I know DR2's FFB wasn't the best and still isn't amazing but it is better than anything that was in past GRID games.

 

[theravenousbeast]

Loose surface is better but not great, in fact Dirt 4 has way better feedback than DR2.

FFB on tarmac felt good in 4. I believe a lot of the issues for DR2 came up simply because of the mixed surface simulation so I'm kinda expecting it to be good enough in this.

 

[NDG]

If it's as decent as the original, why not. I also wish it's as easy to run as AC1 or Dirt series.

Not hating ACC but it's hard to run as a solid not coming out. Too demanding on hardware. Not hating F1 series, but micro stutters still plague the title/s. I sometimes wonder how quality of titles differ big time coming from the same name. Talking about Dirt and F1 series here.

Dirt I like so much, but not F1. Just make this one as decent as Dirt maybe?

 

[RockettSally]

1. What the hell is FA racing?
2. I hope they fix the damage physics.

A un-trademarked name for Open Wheel Formula Racing

 

[Troy Barman]

Just give me Grid 1 servers back, you guys keep making gimmick stuff since Grid 2 and it hasn’t worked. Grid 1 had a perfect career mode that wasn’t flashy but made sense and along the way challenged you really hard with Ravenwest. Autosport was sorta ruined by its handling model although the car roster was interesting.