Hands-On Preview Steam Key Provided By EA
Unique racing games are a dime a dozen lately. While the genre has its standouts such as the Forza series, F1, and Mario Kart, the rest of the genre can be hit or miss. Most seem to fall into this void of “ok” gameplay where all they do is steal your attention for a short while until the next big one comes along that you’re waiting for. Well, I think GRID Legends may be that next big one.
Gameplay
For me, Legends hits that sweet spot between the simulation racing titles and the more arcade-like ones, like my 2020 darling, Dirt 5. The cars are beautiful, the locations amazing, and the weather and lighting jaw-dropping. This is one of the more gorgeous racing titles out now but it sets itself apart with the spectacle.
Each race has a realistic organic feel. Racers will ram into each other, creating this rivalry during races where that person will continue to push you to the edge. Things like this allow for accidents and spin-outs to happen which adds a bit of action to the already intense races.
Not to mention that your captain will explain to you how you’re doing and what you need to accomplish in order to win. It isn’t super deep but it’s pretty cool to have a more true way of how these things are presented than we've seen before.
The vehicles themselves feel extremely great to drive and fall more into the arcade realm as they aren’t hard to control like most in the Forza series. I’m definitely enjoying what EA and Codemasters are doing with controlling here.
Another aspect I liked about the game is that the story is portrayed in live-action. The story is more grounded than what you may see in a Need for Speed title. Every character feels like a real person yet still definitely feels right for a game setting.
Expectations
I’d really like to see the game continuously up the ante. The various types of races were really interesting and I’m hoping that the creativity kept flowing as the game was made. I’m also hoping that the races and story continue to meld into each other as I enjoyed its movie-like flow because it kept the pace moving pretty well.
Driving feels very great for how everything is set up and I’m hoping that it’s carried throughout the game this way. While the version I played could very well be a dated version, I’d hate to sit down and play on launch day and find something overly realistic. The reason I play games is to escape reality.
Verdict
GRID Legends has the bones to be 2022’s best racing title. It has the GRID name and EA’s money behind it. Pairing the realistic setting with arcade gameplay is the exact type of racing title I’ve been hoping to see. The market is bloated with hyper-realistic simulators or colorful karting games, so finding that happy medium is just what I’m hungry for.
