The BETTER driving simulator. Everything bad about Gran Turismo is fixed here.
Some of you may remember the game Need For Speed: High Stakes (from before NFS became stupid), which was one of the only games in history to have actual car damage on actual licensed cars. The damage wasn't just aeshthetic though, it had severe effects on handling and performance. Unlike it's predecessors and followers, this game forced you to learn how to control your car, while maintaining a fast line. Grid does the same thing, but better.
In Gran Turismo (aka Bumper Cars HD), if you enter a turn too fast, or want to pass someone, the best course of action is to slam into the car next to you, bounce off, and claim the lead. Not so in this game, when you hit another car, you actually wreck-up your car, and cost yourself time, speed, and car reliability. Also, AI opponents are very aware of your presence. In GT, if you touch an opponent's rear bumper, they'll slow down, causing you to get stuck behind them, resulting in both of you losing position. In Grid, if you're on an opponent's bumper, they'll actually move out of your way. But that's not to say that the AI isn't aggressive, they're jsut very smart, and use real racing tactics insted of trying to just follow the programmer's preset line.
Car control isn't easy, but it's much more friendly than Gran Turismo. Ya know how in GT, when you're flying down a road, and you hit your brakes and turn the wheel, and nothing happens except skid marks and screeching, followed by a dent free crash into the wall? Not so in this game, the car's are very responsive, and actually do what you tell them to. But be warned, this is not Burnout, you still have to use real driving techniques to keep your car on the road. Drifting is tough, but not so tough that you'll be pulling your hair out. It's harder than Burnout, but easier than Tokyo Extreme Racer Drift 2.
Something not important, but still fun is the great presentation. You can list what name you want to be called, and the game integrates it very well. Better yet, they don't overdo it, they jsut periodically reffer to you by name, and it's very fluid and natural sounding. Great voice work. The menus are very nice too, no Capcom style HTML menus, these things work in real time, and are integrated very well.
Now for the complaints. No mechanical car customization, not even a little (though you can customize your paint job). I honestly don't car about adjusting gear ratios by thousandths of a millimeter, but I do wish that they had SOMETHING in the way of customization. However, i see why they excluded this option. The cars are all tuned idealy, there's really no need for improvement, but the option still would have been nice. My other complaint is the one I'd like to see addressed the most, which is load times. Oh my GOD, I'm growing old through these load screens. There's no installation when you first run the game, so all the data is comming from the disk every time. Installs are a pain, granted, but these load times are tedious.
Overall, the game is great and well worth the money. This is as close to real racing as I've ever seen. If they fix the load times, this game will be classic.