GRID Legends review: Drive to progress

GRID Legends was released around two weeks ago. I have had my fair share of run-ins with the GRID series during my yesteryears. Going back to the series through GRID Legends, however, blew me away with the sheer amount of content that has been put into the game compared to the last time I tried the series out.

Developed by Codemaster, who are now under the blanket of the AAA giant EA, the sheer amount of content crammed into GRID Legends is impressive. However, the game is not without its fault. One of the selling points of this year’s edition of GRID is a disappointing one.

GRID Legends and a tale of rising through the ranks

Just like Codemaster’s F1 2021, GRID Legends features a story mode for newcomers to get the hang of how the game works while at the same time giving the returning players something new to spend their time in.

The mode, called “Driven to Glory”, follows behind-the-scenes documentary-style storytelling showcasing the journey of a Senaca Racing team and how they rise through the ranks to victory because of the player characters’ phenomenal driving.

The story mode is very narrative-focused and features 35 different scenarios, which comprise various race events in which players have to partake. Before the start of each race, the storytelling mentioned above comes into place, shot in real-time FMV format by real actors, dropping the backdrop of what happened during that particular race.

The actors play their role reasonably well, and returning GRID players will be up for a surprise, thanks to the appearance of someone in this mode.

In terms of storytelling, it is a pretty straightforward tale of rising through the ranks to become a great racecar driver. However, which disappointed me, the story became very bland too quickly. So much so, in fact, that I lost interest in it by the point I reached the tenth race in Driven to Glory.

It felt like I’ve watched this story a million times already, somewhere before, and even though I applaud the team for trying out something new, for me, what we get is very lukewarm and borderline disappointing for my taste.

Live your career

GRID Legends has a story mode that interests newcomers and the existing player base. But the main course is outside that and boy, is it the main course! The meat of the game lies in GRID Legends’ career mode, which is divided into four different sections.

Each section features various events, which feature different races, and completing each one will unlock the next ones. Completing them while fulfilling certain conditions rewards players with GRID points, which is required to unlock cars for your team.

Playing a lap cleanly and efficiently will also reward the player with driver XP, which, upon crossing certain XP milestones, will unlock player profile customization, such as team logo or player profile cards.

It's your playfield, so customize it the way you want it and duke it out online

Of course, the most impressive feature of GRID Legends has to be its unique choice of offering players so many options for customization that they can change the overall experience provided out-of-the-box into something completely different.

First up, once the upgrades for your vehicle and mechanics open up, it can change how a car behaves during a race, much so that it drastically changes the overall experience to what a player wants. Players can micro-tweak various aspects, creating a compelling racing game that suits their needs.

Furthermore, even before starting a race, players have the option to tune and adjust how their car behaves by changing the minimum yet essential features, such as tuning the length of gear ratio or softness of the springs, among others.

That is not all. Players can also decide whether the damage will affect how their car behaves, the AI difficulty and whether they want to benefit from the flashback functionality.

It not only ends here, but GRID Legends also allows players to create custom races, where they can choose the track, time of the day, modifiers, the type of race they want, among many other options which they can mix and match to create a path of their liking and open it up online.

Speaking of online, if playing against the AI is not something one enjoys, fear not. GRID Legends features a very non-intrusive multiplayer. Players can search up and join various matches against other players or play in the hundreds of custom tracks made by the community members.

It can get a bit tedious

While the hundreds of new tracks and cars offered in this game are certainly something to look forward to and get excited about, one thing that bothered me is the game's progression.

You see, regardless of playing the Driven to Win mode or career mode, players win GRID coins, which increases depending on how clean they play an event, and decreases if they ever collide with someone or go off track. These points can then be used to buy the cars needed to play in career mode and for your racing company.

Now here is where the problem lies, the progression for earning points is pretty slow and, in turn, makes unlocking a car tedious and frustrating at points. Even though it does make the wait exciting during the initial hours, down the line, it is bound to make people feel heartbroken.

Another thing that disappointed me was the usage of the soundtrack. GRID Legends features a pretty decent soundtrack, which is fun to listen to and enjoy. Unfortunately, the said soundtrack is locked behind the story mode and is not at all playable on either the career or the custom tracks. I don't know what reason was behind taking this decision, but it certainly was not a smart one.

In Conclusion

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Even though I tend to avoid racing games for my reasons, GRID Legends surprisingly made it fun for me to enjoy. Throughout my time with the game, I kept on attempting one extra event for that progression to unlock the shiny BMW car that I was eyeing. The tweaking available made me customize the game to fit my playing style and enjoy it even further.

GRID Legends is the best the GRID series has to offer. While the story mode leaves a lot to be desired, and the underutilization of the soundtrack is disappointing, the sheer amount of customization options available and cars will certainly impress newcomers and returning GRID fans alike.