GT vs GRID (My take)

[sxboyd]

I got my $59.99 reserved copy of GRID the other day and finally installed and started playing. This morning I returned it to GameStop and got only $22 back - it was a $38 lesson and exercise in frustration.
First, when you first enter the game, you are immedaitely, without warning, thrown into a "race" to see if you can "qualify" as a rookie - you just have to "finish" the race - no matter how far back - so take your time. If you don't make it, don't worry, you can start again, and no matter where you finish, you get the same results - I tired it several times to see what the difference would be. Dumb. It did serve one prupose. You realize right away that the the steering wheel is not set up right so you go on a quest to get it set up right before you start to race in earnest. Not like GT at all, where you just get in and the driving feels "real" right off the bat, with only personal preference setup required for your driving.
Second, the steering wheel setup and response is nothing short of a joke. As my son said it, it looks like you are driving a boat on the road. You have several adjustments for the response of the steeering wheel - one of those being linearity, which is set to +4. The note at the bottom says "If you have trouble steering the caar in a straight line, increase the linearity." I increased it in steps until I reached 10 and it was like driving a car with bungy cords attached to the steering wheel. The center was very washy with little response then the car would suddenly respond, then seem to over-react and go the other way - it was weird. Finally, I set the linearity to -10 and it got to where it would respond somewhere like I wanted it to, but it still had a "soft zone" in the center - unlike GT where you have a very life zone at the center of the steering. In addition, in GT upon entering a straght away, once you get the car pointed in the right direction, you can let the steer ing wheel go and it will center itself the same way a real car does. Don't try this in GRID unless you just want a good laugh.
Oh, BTW. You can race up to 20 cars in GRID. You know what that means. You have more idiot AI to bash you on the track. The online Beginner class Daytona Speedway in GT5 NEVER got that bad. They weave erratically on the straight aways, they take unexpected, unpredictable lines through the corners, they can go through corners at speeds that rival the best arcade games, passing on both sides of you when the time comes. Don't worry, once you gain the confidence you can go through corners much faster than reality, too the cars just don't feel real - they don't even feel half as good as the cars in TOCA Race Driver 2. I can't even begin to compare the AI and cars here to those in GT5, GT4, GT3, GT2, OR GT1.
The cars are FLAT all the time. They don't dip under braking, they don't lean in the curves, they don't squat under acceleration. They just stay flat. And what is with the steering wheel shake under upshifts in a rear wheel car TVR Tuscany). And no torque steer whatsoever with FF cars - really?! In GT, the cars are individual and respond according to their weight, downforce, steering dynamics, drive line (FF, FR, MR, RR), even the weight distributiuon of the car is considered and factored into the driveing dynamics.
The gameplay sucks - it was modeled just like the game setup in DiRT. While the game is loading between races, etc., you get the same kind of pop-up stats like miles run, restarts, flashbacks, best drifting, etc. Just load the darned thing!!! After that "qualifying race", you have a choice of races in the GRID World. You have a choice of racing in one of 3 events, each with a differenct kind of car which you've never seen or driven before, on a track you've never seen or driven before, without any means of practicing, qualifying, or getting to know the track map whatsoever, but don't worry. In some modes you get all the restarts you need - and you are going to need a LOT of them. If you are started anywhere near middle to back of the pack, you're going to need a lot of luck to keep from getting punted all over the track by the AI, especiall if you starting passing toward the front. Now GT does this in some of the races, but not nearly at this order, and you can select the car you want to race in most events. In addition, the only way to get SOME practice on some of the tracks is by going to the Instant Race (?)mode, but you cannot select the car or set up its dynamic characteristics.
So how do you gain knowledge of the tracks or the cars in this game, GRID? How do you test your setup of your steering wheel or the response of the car? How do you make the cars behave the way they should, or improve their dynamics? How do you get your money back? I didn't even bother to try to go online with it. After racing several games and racing La Sarthe especially, I just started laughing and had my son drive it (he is very good at this too). He drove all over the track, then drove his battered car which had damage to ALL of the functions on through the race with minimal effect. He said it felt like the cars were on rubber bands.
This game seems like a BIG step back from TOCA (any version) and comes nowhere near GT. In fact, when I unloaded GRID and put GT back into my PS3, I made the mistake of going online to race almost immediately. The car in GT5 was so responsive, that I immediately ran it off-track and let TAKATA_DOME go by me, then went on to garner 4 more penaltiesduring the first two laps of the game. Needless to say, I got a lesson in humiliation from Mr. DOME. Those of you that have raced with me know that I don't make THAT many mistakes. I sent an apology to TAKATA_DOME with a brief explanation.
So I thought I would give it one more try. I got up early, jumped on the PS3 and did some offline stuff. Same feel of arcade and design for non-driving teenagers who don't know what it really feels like to drive or just don't care for simulators - cause this one is NOT. Then I made an even bigger mistake, I went out and got into my car and started down the road - with the same results that I had gotten from GT last night.
I have NEVER had trouble going from GT or Enthusia to my car. But that was downright scarey - going from GRID to a real car should carry a warning that tells you to recalibrate your brain to the real responses of the car after racing - WHOA!!!
If you are under 25 and like to drive ARCADE games, then this game is right up your alley. If you are looking for anything that simulates reality, save your money until something else comes along. GRID vs GT - no contest. Apples and tomatoes comparison.

[Miles Dugran]

i just cannot argue wih that.
thank you for the detailed expressionary insight.
kudos,Sir!

[Milzywoo]

grid

[jimbles]

wow...

i didnt even bother

[wolfkill90]

GRID is fukin ace compared 2 GT5. handling is better and theres damage

[Milzywoo]

ye i perfer grid. Its a bit for funner

[razgriz]

Originally Posted by wolfkill90

GRID is fukin ace compared 2 GT5. handling is better and theres damage

i'm guessing you're about 15 and have never driven a car in your life
gt5 handles much more realistically than grid. Grid is an arcade racer, gt5 is the real driving simulator
there's no way you could hit a corner at the speeds you could in grid without going off the track and dying. Maybe in an f1 but definitely not in a touring car

[wolfkill90]

Originally Posted by razgriz

i'm guessing you're about 15 and have never driven a car in your life
gt5 handles much more realistically than grid. Grid is an arcade racer, gt5 is the real driving simulator
there's no way you could hit a corner at the speeds you could in grid without going off the track and dying. Maybe in an f1 but definitely not in a touring car

im 18 and can drive, it was only an opinion, if GT5 is real life simulator wheres the damage and the car feels like a brick going around corners, my motor dont

[sxboyd]

Originally Posted by wolfkill90

GRID is fukin ace compared 2 GT5. handling is better and theres damage

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA

huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA

Try this junior. I've been driving for 46 years, and I've raced cars in 4 different classes (real cars) and they DO handle almost just like they do in GT3, 4 and 5. If real cars handled like they do in GRID, there would be a mad accident at almost every intersection and around every curve on the scenic highway every day.

Try this. Spend 4 hours playing GRID then go get in your car and, without taking any readjustment period, and see if you can make it around the cruviest road near you house at the speed limit. NHow try the same thing after playing GT for 4 hours straight (that is, if you make it home safely from your post-GRID run.

Oh, not a valid test? Why? Oh, you are not using the steering wheel in GRID. OH. My mistake, all of my cars are equipped with instant responding steering/brakes controlled by a Sony SixAxxis controller too.

I think you missed the whole point of the original post, too. My biggest problem with GRID is that, after being marketed by Codemaster, and compared by the gaming magazines and websites as being a comparison to GT, it is not. GRID is an arcade racer, not a driving or racing simnulator. My biggest disappointment is that after Codemaster did such a great job with the TOCA series Race DRivers, and the Colin McCrae Rally series, they seemed to have taken a big step backward in every aspect of GRID. It was a BIG disappointment to all of uis that had expectations of being another great racer (near simulator). It is DiRT (which I love to play) made to play on Asphalt race tracks, without changing the dynamic characteristics of the cars.

Not only that, they copied the DiRT menu, but left out the great ability to go into a series and select any number of races within your level of license or play - no immediate tiers. It is as if they were more interested in getting this game to market and make their big bucks before the real racing games came out for the PS3. Go read the comments of the other readers up on the GT Planet GT forum site.

GRID is an arcade racer which is probabgly your favorite venue (probably next to a full set of Need for speed) - so play it and have fun. My favorite venues are driving simulators/racers and GRID wasn't even close, so I will play GT5 on my PS3, and GT3 and 4, TOCA RAce Driver 2 & 3, and Colin McCrae rally series on the PS2.

Am I sorry for taking GRID back to GameSpot? You bet I am, I could have sold it on Craig's list for almost the full price I paid. DOH!!!!!

Oh. And the damage in GRID - nice modeling. You hit 3 cars hard enough to break the windows out of the car, your radiator is steaming, you ricochet off the wall hard enough to knock the whole car out of alignment and parts are falling off all over the track, then you just press the little acceleraotr button and keep on racing. When codemaster makes realistic damage, people like you will not want to play it because after the second hit (or even the first), your car would be so damaged you wouldn't be able to continue the race - period. I'm glad that GT does NOT include damage, it allows players of all levels to compete without the phoney damage - no pretention of damage. But again, that is the jist of the game - it is an arcade racer and it looks "cool" to damage the cars during a race, then you get to see it all again in the replay.

[fps_noob]

I tried the GRID demo for about 5 minutes before I deleted it. This was after I watched a couple of videos online and got interested in the game. It only took one race to turn me away from the game. I approached a turn as I would have in GT5P, and I ended up in last place, simply because the car handled nothing like the real thing. Even without damage, I would rather play GT5P than GRID.

[jimbles]

jebus man! he really don't give up!lol

[mmccx]

you also may like to know that gt5 the fuill game will have damage physics,

the damage physics in grid are horrid, they in know way accurately portray a car break up in a collision its rubbish, and even i know that grid is in no way a driving simulator and i dont even drive.


accept it wolfkill you arent right

[wolfkill90]

MMCCX i aint trying to prove im right. I was just stating i prefer GRID. Im sorry if i pi$$ed any1 off.

[xells]

well wolf your opinion is fare its clear your more of a arcade racing fan which is fine and i myself like arcade style racing tho when GT come into it i feel nothing beats it its the cod4 of driving games always has been always will GT5 is a unreal game and even offering up GRID as a comparison is unfair to the mighty GT5