Grid Legends Review From Rookie To Legend The Nerd Stash

Released at the end of February, the newest Codemasters game, GRID: Legends, is the most recent addition to the racing genre. Available on PC via Steam, Origin, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, and Series X|S for $59.99, GRID: Legends brings back FMV to gamers. So, how is the Codemasters game? Find out in our review of GRID: Legends.

Story: Creating the world of GRID motorsport in an FMV adventure

In GRID: Legends, Codemasters gave fans the gift of bringing back an old favorite. The story, Driven to Glory, will place the player into the racing shoes of Driver 22. This rookie will find themselves at the forefront of the rise of Seneca Racing, a team that has been having trouble finding its footing in the GRID Racing Series.

Cutscenes are shot entirely through a live-action documentary style, almost like many are familiar with a sports documentary. Shot either through interviews with the various characters or through fly on the wall moments, the cutscenes call back to games like Need for Speed: Most Wanted, with scenes shot on an in-game backdrop.

Shot on the digital backdrops reminiscent of the FMV cutscenes in the 90s, Driven to Glory is well-shot and edited and offers a simple but entertaining story. Here, fans of the TOCA Race Driver Series will see these characters brought into the GRID Series, and Codemasters are merging the two universes. Reintroducing Ryan McKane, the hero now villain from the TOCA racing series, and introducing his nephew Nathan the long-time GRID series AI opponent causing headaches for players.

Leaving the story of Driven to Glory is what is supposed to lead to the broader main career mode, which felt empty compared to the Driven to Glory counterpart, offering a mechanic and teammate that can be upgraded. With your new team, you begin to race through the different events. Separated into different event classes, which is an improvement from GRID 2019‘s layout of just displaying everything at once. Unfortunately, the season mode felt underwhelming, leaving a sour feeling after the opening Driven to Glory mode.

Surprisingly, while the story isn’t something you’ll find winning any awards, however, it adds a whole new depth to the GRID franchise, and honestly, I’m here for it. This alone makes this Codemasters game worth a try, even with the lackluster season mode that follows. Finally, another racing game with an actual story and characters that can accompany the Need for Speed franchise. For a decent story-driven racing game, GRID: Legends isn’t half bad.

Gameplay: A bit of copy and paste, needs a fresh coat of paint

Here is probably one of the weaknesses of this current Codemaster’s game, with not much changing from the previous releases. Controls, tracks, and AI have remained relatively unchanged from the GRID 2019 release, which can be a hit and a miss depending on the chosen track and cars.

GRID: Legends isn’t offering a simulation track experience, more of a hybrid experience. You’ll find much of the track racing experience mixed with the physics and handling you’d find in more of an arcade racer. Combining the two comes with mixed results. At times the cars and tracks are poorly matched. Supercars are challenging to drive due to the arcade driving style. At high speeds become like sleds across the snow.

The difficulty settings of GRID: Legends are all over the place, with customization of the difficulty being necessary. Suppose you’re a veteran of the racing genre. In that case, most of the difficulty levels will be far too easy, but placing them on the highest will make all of the AI professional drivers and you a sloppy unremarkable mess. The settings in this Codemaster’s release need more balancing to give players a more realistic challenge.

GRID: Legends offers multiplayer gameplay and cross-play between console and PC. The multiplayer is confusing. There is a dedicated multiplayer mode. Yet, once the player enters multiplayer, it will change the default setting for the player. If this isn’t changed back, then any of the races in the season mode can have the chance of players entering in unknowingly.

Ultimately, while the gameplay isn’t perfect, it has its flaws. However, the flaws don’t get too much in the way of the player being able to enjoy the game. With some adjustments in the settings, the player can reduce how glaring these issues are. With our review of GRID: Legends, we still recommend players give the game a try, even with the flaws in its gameplay.

Graphics/Audio: Excellent presentation, with few issues

Codemasters again uses their in-house graphics engine, the Ego Game Technology Engine. The engine lends itself to GRID: Legends offering an attractive racing experience. Players will get to see beautiful backdrops are they race through the streets of various cities across the planet. Showing great weather and lighting effects, and there were little to no graphical bugs or errors.

The sound compliments the graphics of GRID: Legends. The cars sound fantastic are they roar across the track, with the same quality of environmental sounds of the wealth and the crowds. The soundtrack in Driven to Glory is especially fantastic, helping to lend almost a grandiose feeling to each race. It would almost feel like some epic in some of the final races. Rounding the last few turns as your rival is right on your heels, an electronic orchestral soundtrack is pumping in your ears. Together, they give GRID: Legends an excellent presentation.

Conclusion: A worthwhile racing game with its flaws

GRID: Legends is a bit of a departure from the previous GRID in 2019, while it may not be apparent. Offers a more extensive collection of circuits, more race types, and hop in multiplayer. But, at the same time, these changes aren’t going to revolutionize the series. The reused car roster and bare minimum car customization don’t offer much.

With our review of the Codemasters game GRID: Legends, we can say it shows promise with the added live-action documentary-style single-player and a fantastic story soundtrack. GRID: Legends is recommended for fans of the racing game genre.