Video Game Vintage Title: Race Driver: Grid

Race Driver: Grid

Race Driver: Grid, released in North America as simply Grid, is an addition to the TOCA Touring Car series, which is published and developed by Codemasters. The game is available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and was released in Europe on 30 May 2008, in North America on 3 June 2008 and in Australia on 12 June 2008. on March 28, 2013, Feral Interactive published for The Mac OS X version of the game was also released.

Race Driver: Grid Gameplay

Grid was developed and published by Codemasters, the creators of the TOCA/Race Driver series. It is a game in which the player runs their own race team, acting as the primary driver. As players progress they gain sponsors and can hire a teammate to drive alongside them in certain events.

The game begins with the player accepting jobs to drive for other teams to earn money, and once the player gains enough capital they can purchase their own vehicles and drive independently, as well as continuing to drive for other teams should they choose to. Grid features a gameplay mechanic known as Flashback which allows the player to rewind gameplay by up to ten seconds and resume from their chosen point. This is a limited-use feature, determined by the difficulty setting.

Grid features several modes of competition using various cars. Three main regions are found in the game, United States, Europe, and Japan, each with their own championship. Each of the game's 43 cars are tied to one of these three regions. Grid also features several types of events to compete in, including GT championships, drifting, touge, open wheel racing, and demolition derby, as well as variants on several of these motorsports. Players can also participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the end of each racing season.

Courses in the game are a mixture of real world and fictional circuits and point-to-point tracks. Real road courses such as Le Mans and Spa Francorchamps are included, while some defunct street circuits such as the Detroit street circuit in Michigan and the Washington D.C. street circuit are also included. There are also several fictional tracks inspired by real-world locations and circuits, such as street courses in San Francisco, California and Milan, Italy as well as Mount Haruna.

Reception
Grid received high praise from critics. Aggregate site Metacritic lists an average of score of 87 across all three platforms.

Official Xbox Magazine awarded Grid a 9.0 out of 10, proclaiming, "This game isn�t about simulating racing; it�s about creating fun out of it. And it succeeds beautifully, one thrilling white knuckle at a time," with the only negative point in the review regarding its relatively meager online offering. X-Play has given Grid a 5 out of 5, stating, "the Flashback feature is superb" and claiming "the damage is excellent". Game Revolution gave Race Driver: Grid a B, calling the damage "fantastic" and calling the Flashback feature "a lifesaver". IGN.com gave the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 versions of the game an 8.7/10, writing "Grid captures the soul of the track like none other". Official UK PlayStation Magazine, VideoGamer.com, Edge and Eurogamer all gave Grid a score of 9/10. PC Format gave Grid a score of 90%.

GameSpot gave the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game 8/10/ Game Informer gave Grid a score of 9/10, with a second opinion score of 9.25, calling it "the best racing title out there". PC Gamer UK gave Race Driver: Grid a score of 88%, saying that the racer was made of style and substance.

Edge ranked the game #41 on its list of "The 100 Best Games To Play Today", stating "It blows cobwebs from the genre, with handling a great balance of sim twitchiness and arcade abandon, breathtaking speed, and a sense of being there like no other racer."