GripShift Reviews
- Gameplay
- 9
- Graphics
- 9
- Sound
- 8
- Value
- 9
- Tilt
- 10
- Difficulty:
- Hard
- Learning Curve:
- 0 to 30 Minutes
- Time Spent:
- 20 to 40 Hours
- The Bottom Line:
- "Highly addictive"
The sad thing with GripShift is that so many people wont even remember/have heard of this game in a few months. It's a shame because it really is one of those lower budget releases that actually shines, even among the big guns on the shelves. PSP games have been few and far between recently, and so my hopes were subdued towards picking up this game - but it was only £20 here and looked to be a bit of fun to tide me over.....
Amazingly, Gripshift is now one of my most played games for the PSP. The challenge mode sees you having to drive round courses either finishing in a set time or collecting all the stars and items to collect medals. These medals help you unlock more tracks and game modes. The other modes (of which there are loads) include race mode, time trials, the mini games, multiplayer and a fully fledged track editor. Challenge mode gets hard and frustrating, but the appeal of GS is that you can quickly jump into another mode to ease your stress before giving it another shot. It's pick up and play nature allows for short 3 or 4 minute attempts - but also provides enough to do for a longer hour play session.
The driving itself is bizzarre - don't expect realistic car handling here. But its what sets GS apart really. The cars can turn in the air, accelerate in the air, flip, turn, spin - basically its just crazy! But it works; it works because it allows the race modes to be fun while also allowing crazy platforming levels to be forgiving and enjoyable. The developers really nailed the controls well. The analogue nub steers, X accelerates, [ ] brakes, O fires powerup and R boosts, pretty standard and work fine.
Levels take place around 4 difficulty settings (progressively) and several varied graphical locations. The graphics are beautiful, but seeing as the game was made and designed for PSP, this is probably what we should be seeing! All credit to the developers for making it look so great though. Levels range from the desert, snow to a haunted looking world and although it does become a bit samey, its the tracks that are the best design feature. Tracks include allsorts of crazy obstacles too - jumps, traps, bombs, teleporters, really fun and varied puzzles can be made from these, not to mention some downright crazy courses.
The mini games to keep you playing include penguin bowling, snaker (snake clone in 3D), bomb billiards and soccer (to name a few). They are great games in their own right to be honest, and it's nice to see mini games that I actually feel I enjoy when i play them (rather than an afterthought shoved in for no real reason - like FIFA on PSPs mini game!)
The track editor is stunning and a feature that sets this title apart. Got bored with all the tracks in the game? Because you can make your own and even share them with your friends. It's really easy to use and you can add/set almost anything into your levels. Personally, im a big fan of creative features like this and once again, the developers deserve a huge amount of praise for not only including this, but for making it so user friendly and powerful at the same time. Brilliant stuff.
So great playability, lovely graphics, good music and sound effects (some music is really nice, I must mention) and theoretically limitless replay value thanks to the track editor mean than this budget priced title is, in my opinion, one of the best PSP titles available. If you haven't yet given this a go, it's well worth it and comes massively reccomended!
Amazingly, Gripshift is now one of my most played games for the PSP. The challenge mode sees you having to drive round courses either finishing in a set time or collecting all the stars and items to collect medals. These medals help you unlock more tracks and game modes. The other modes (of which there are loads) include race mode, time trials, the mini games, multiplayer and a fully fledged track editor. Challenge mode gets hard and frustrating, but the appeal of GS is that you can quickly jump into another mode to ease your stress before giving it another shot. It's pick up and play nature allows for short 3 or 4 minute attempts - but also provides enough to do for a longer hour play session.
The driving itself is bizzarre - don't expect realistic car handling here. But its what sets GS apart really. The cars can turn in the air, accelerate in the air, flip, turn, spin - basically its just crazy! But it works; it works because it allows the race modes to be fun while also allowing crazy platforming levels to be forgiving and enjoyable. The developers really nailed the controls well. The analogue nub steers, X accelerates, [ ] brakes, O fires powerup and R boosts, pretty standard and work fine.
Levels take place around 4 difficulty settings (progressively) and several varied graphical locations. The graphics are beautiful, but seeing as the game was made and designed for PSP, this is probably what we should be seeing! All credit to the developers for making it look so great though. Levels range from the desert, snow to a haunted looking world and although it does become a bit samey, its the tracks that are the best design feature. Tracks include allsorts of crazy obstacles too - jumps, traps, bombs, teleporters, really fun and varied puzzles can be made from these, not to mention some downright crazy courses.
The mini games to keep you playing include penguin bowling, snaker (snake clone in 3D), bomb billiards and soccer (to name a few). They are great games in their own right to be honest, and it's nice to see mini games that I actually feel I enjoy when i play them (rather than an afterthought shoved in for no real reason - like FIFA on PSPs mini game!)
The track editor is stunning and a feature that sets this title apart. Got bored with all the tracks in the game? Because you can make your own and even share them with your friends. It's really easy to use and you can add/set almost anything into your levels. Personally, im a big fan of creative features like this and once again, the developers deserve a huge amount of praise for not only including this, but for making it so user friendly and powerful at the same time. Brilliant stuff.
So great playability, lovely graphics, good music and sound effects (some music is really nice, I must mention) and theoretically limitless replay value thanks to the track editor mean than this budget priced title is, in my opinion, one of the best PSP titles available. If you haven't yet given this a go, it's well worth it and comes massively reccomended!
More Player Reviews
-
- SlayrUK's Score
- 6.8
- fair
Gripshift doesn't Grip To The Me Like Lumines! continue »
- Posted Jun 11, 2006 2:55 am PT
-
- SlayrUK's Score
- 5.8
- mediocre
Never has such a wealth of variety felt so monotonous. But when you're driving 10 mph, who wants variety? continue »
- Posted Mar 23, 2006 1:17 pm PT
-
- SlayrUK's Score
- 9.7
- superb
Dont be put off by what many claim is poor handling and physics. It does not take long to get a feel for the game. continue »
- Posted Feb 2, 2006 4:48 am PT
-
- SlayrUK's Score
- 6.3
- fair
Cool idea, but the repetition will annoy you to your wit's end. continue »
- Posted Jan 31, 2006 4:24 pm PT
-
- SlayrUK's Score
- 8.8
- great
they say the driving`s awful, its just right for this game CANT YOU SEE!! continue »
- Posted Jan 30, 2006 8:29 am PT
Tell the world what you think of GripShift.
GripShift Quick Links
Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices
- GameSpot Score6.5fair
Critic Scores
- PSX Extreme 6.2 / 10
- IGN 7.5 / 10
- Worth Playing 7 / 10
- VideoGamer 8 / 10
- Eurogamer 7 / 10
- Gaming Age B-
- GameZone 7.8 / 10
- Game Chronicles 8.2 / 10
*The links above will take you to other Web sites and are provided for your reference. GameSpot does not produce or endorse the content on these sites.
User Submissions
User Videos
-
GripShift gameplay vids #1
Just a couple of short vids and clips of GripShift. Nothing fancy, just showing off some of the gameplay.
- Posted Jul 29, 2006
by GAMECAMILLER | 2'04" | 640 Views
- Posted Jul 29, 2006
-
Gripshift speed run throughs
Here's 3 quick speed runs in Gripshift. I tried dong it while recording (not an easy task balancing both. It was a shot.
- Posted Jul 29, 2006
by GAMECAMILLER | 1'11" | 448 Views
- Posted Jul 29, 2006
- Sony Platform Publishing
- Sidhe Interactive
- Mission-based Driving
- Release: Sep 12, 2005 »
- ESRB: Everyone
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