Seductive appeal with terrible execution.
User Rating: 3 | Race Driver: GRID PC
This was one of those games that (for me at least) was beckoning to be embraced. And, indeed, there is a kernel of enjoyment buried within a terribly executed package. The graphics are brilliant and I do like the game's orientation towards realistic controls and consequences...However, they have taken that drive for realism to the extreme. The steering is extremely "twitchy" and acceleration is full throttle on both a gamepad and keyboard. The game was incapable of detecting a Logitech Dual Action controller (a fairly standard piece of equipment these days) and when I tried to map the controls manually, the results were terrible. The game does not have an accommodation for gradual lefts, rights, and acceleration...a soft touch to the right on an analog stick sends your car into a tailspin. The game does offer control adjustments...but they are ineffectual. When paying $30-$40 for a game, I except an accessible control scheme that I can then tweak with in-game sliders. One shouldn't have to spend a half hour with the sliders just to make a game playable...only to realize that the controls are awful.
This game is similar to the Hollywood blockbuster - its tantalizing eye candy is out there in the market, begging for you money and time...but once you buy into "the experience," you realize that the product is all style and no substance. At around $5, this game could qualify as an amusement. At its current price point, the best advice is to resist its charm.
