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Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Codemasters
Release Date: May 30, 2008
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PC
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site
0:00 I've heard this game compared favorably to
MotorStorm and
Dirt, two other driving games I enjoyed quite a bit.
0:01 "CODEMASTERS PRESENTS" some generic shots of European cities and tracks. Extremely shiny car porn commences, complete with extreme camera shaking during some spectacular crashes. Nice shots from inside the cockpit and wheel well. My wife Michelle watches from the couch: "I'm not the demographic, but it doesn't even seem like good car porn to me."
0:02 "Please Press Start," the screen says. So polite! Most games would just order me to press start. "Welcome. Please fill out your driver profile," says a semi-robotic female voice. I enter Drivey McDriverson, causing Michelle to say, I'm "very predictable." What can I say?
0:03 I can choose from a list of "audio names" for the voice actors to call me during play, I guess. I choose Spanky, because it's just so ridiculous. I mean, come on, Spanky?
0:04 "Hello, Spanky. You're now ready to race," says the semi-robotic voice. I nearly fall out of my chair with laughter. SPANKY!
0:05 Looks like there's a 900 number I can call to unlock "Bonus codes." I wasn't even aware 900 numbers still existed in our internet age.
0:06 On to "GRID WORLD" mode, which sounds like a bit like a sci-fi movie. After some quick loading, a zoomed-out satellite shot of the globe appears and quickly zooms down to track level. Revving engines and the title appears again. Before I know it, the race has started. "OK, kid, San Francisco is a tough track to start your career on, but if you want your rookie license you're going to have to finish this race," a male voice says over a radio.
0:08 I don't even make it through the first turn before crumpling my car violently into a wall. At least I took a couple of cars with me. The voice in my ear explains I can restart the race or just "rewind" the last few seconds of replay, and choose a pre-crash point to restart from. I like the backwards video effect. I choose a safe point and with a few camera flashes I'm taking the turn again -- safely this time.
0:10 A few bad crashes have crumbled the front end of my car. The suspension is drifting the right something awful -- I have to correct by steering left constantly. I can't do the "rewind" replay thing unless the car is totaled, it seems.
0:11 Apparently I can only do the "rewind" thing once per race, as I find out when I crumple into a wall again and I'm forced to restart. So far, I'm a big fan of the camera, which swoops around as I turn instead of just being anchored behind me. It's amazing how this changes the feel of the racing. I also like the controls, which feel realistic without being overwhelmingly technical (I'm looking at you, Gran Turismo).
0:14 I race more carefully this time, using some love taps to get out into first quickly on turn one. I'm lonely for much of the rest of the race, including some hilly sections. The voice in my ear says "Don't do anything stupid" just before I do something incredibly stupid -- turning too sharply right into a wall. A bunch of cars pile up behind my prostrate vehicle and I get the "Road Block" achievement for 10 Gamerscore points. Amazingly, the car isn't totaled, and I drive off to a 7th place finish.