After almost three years, a new spin-off of the series is released with GRID Legends. It is the first from EA SPORTS. Does the company continue the tradition of the series? Or are there new ideas?
Today sees the release of GRID Legends, the fifth instalment in the GRID series – but the first since EA SPORTS took over. eSport has already played it for about ten hours.
Similar to Gran Turismo, the driving classes are colourfully mixed: Drifter, Trucks, Electric or Trackday. Everything your heart desires. But the formalities are also the only thing the game has in common with the aforementioned competitor, because: GRID Legends rather carries the arcade DNA.
This becomes clear in the first few moments of the story mode. It begins with a loud bang and countless questions: Who am I playing? Which team am I on? And what is the significance of the race I’m in?
Spectacular start
But then it quickly becomes clear: it’s the last lap and her teammate starts an overtaking manoeuvre for first place. However, her rival objects and pushes her into the guardrail. What follows is a pile-up, overturning cars – in real life this would not have ended smoothly.
Regardless of this, the driver then takes the virtual wheel. The goal is to take advantage of the situation, clear the field from behind and cross the finish line first. Once this is achieved, a hard cut follows and no answer as to how the crashed drivers are doing, for example.
Instead, the rewind button is pressed and the story before this experience is told – as a fictional documentary with real actors.
To realise this, the developers rely on volume technology: with the help of a real-time engine, the projected background reacts to the movements of the camera on set. Visually, there is hardly any difference to the real background.
Filmic staging, but: actual plot insignificant
With a total of 36 chapters, the story is also not played through in the twinkling of an eye. The question mark, however, is behind the narrative. Especially with the last Need for Speed spin-offs, EA often had to listen to the fact that they had created a rather bland and unspectacular story.
And this continues in GRID Legends, because tension and rivalry are not built up at the beginning. It is disappointing that the events from the races have no influence. That means: it doesn’t matter if your opponent is miles behind or is overtaken only millimetres before the finish line.
This means that the sequences, which are good in terms of design, waste a lot of potential. For the fun of the game could be increased by influencing the story. If the supposed rival comes last in the race, but is shown in the film clip as if he had been in the lead, it seems unrealistic.
Easy control – hardly any loss of control
Different events provide variety within the story. This means that you don’t always have to go through the same procedure. Sometimes it’s about setting the fastest time, winning a race or not being eliminated. This is also clearly oriented towards the arcade player, just like the controls.
Because no matter whether a car comes from the drift or GT class, the controls are identical for almost all classes. Even with the aids switched off, it is not particularly difficult to drive curves or risky manoeuvres. Even rain or storms do not pose any real additional challenge. However, we have to criticise the damage model and the collisions.
Generally, motorsport is a non-contact sport. That means: touches are penalised. This is not the case in GRID Legends. If the damage model remains deactivated in the settings, the races can also be used perfectly for stock car events.
Meaningless opponents?
However, if the player throws others off the track – or touches them even slightly – the opponent mutates into an adversary. What influence this has on the race, however, is not yet apparent. In any case, it has no effect on the story, which would also be a wasted opportunity here – on rivalries and tension.
But even when the damage is activated, the cars can take a lot. Racing into the crash barrier at full speed – that works several times.
Nevertheless, if you don’t want to take damage, you have to be quick to react. Why? For reasons unknown so far, the AI cars suddenly lose grip and spin. This gives the impression that the player is supposed to get an additional obstacle.
Many possibilities aside from the story
Once the story is over, the game still offers a career afterwards. However, this is not staged. It’s all about advancing in the individual leagues, earning money, buying cars and tuning them. By the way, the tuning is much simpler than in Need for Speed, for example.
Experience points can be earned within the events. The player can then use these to level up the car. As in the predecessors, the mechanics and teammates can also be improved through skill points.
The upgraded cars can then also be used for online laps – across platforms. And as in Formula 1 2022, there are also weekly challenges.
Conclusion
So the objective is clear: an arcade racer in sim racing guise. That is to say: it is especially suitable for those who want to get into the scene. The story is staged in a refreshingly different way, but gives away a little of its potential because the player cannot influence it.
The end result is a racing game that can be classified between Need for Speed and Gran Turismo. The events are fun, the possibilities are great and it is easy to use. The story is well staged, but at first glance rather lame and unfortunately not related to the racing results.
With this, EA SPORTS creates a good successor, but reveals well-known problems. Thus, it does not stand out from the crowd.
