We were able to get our hands on the story mode of the racing game and were pleasantly surprised. Why there is still some sand in the gears, you can find out here.
What a surprise! In our first preview of Grid Legends, we were still very sceptical as to whether the latest instalment in the series would be able to restore the series to its former glory. Then we were finally allowed to lay our hands on the heavily advertised story campaign and lo and behold: the chances of a really good arcade racer have risen rapidly!
In this second preview, you’ll find out why the well-staged story is exactly what Grid Legends has been lacking up to now, and which little gems are still doing their worst in the game’s fun gear.
David vs Goliath in the pit lane
The starting point of our racing career is the Seneca Racing team, or more precisely its owner Marcus Ado. He is passionate about what he does, but anything but successful. While his first driver, the tough Yume Tanaka, can still keep up, the second driver regularly disappoints across the board. That’s why team boss Ado kicks him out without further ado.
Then driver 22 comes on the scene: That’s us, because unfortunately there are no custom names in Grid Legends, let alone a real avatar that you can see. The helmet always sits on your head with the visor closed, probably driver 22 also showers with it.
Anyway, our new team boss is not interested in our personal hygiene, but in success in the prestigious Grid World Series. At every career event we are presented with a new target. Sometimes we have to win, sometimes we have to finish ahead of a rival or beat a set lap time.
For this we get rewards in the form of money and XP. With the experience points we increase our driver level, which gives us access to new racing series and cars. The money, on the other hand, is needed for expensive technical upgrades of our cars.
Thanks to the changing objectives, victory is not always necessary to progress in the career. This provides more variety and promotes motivation, so it is a clever design decision. Unfortunately, the objectives are not particularly varied; potential for even more variation was wasted here.
In addition, the races are so easy to master, at least in our preview, that even with a required top 6 finish, we easily came in first place. Although you can make your life more difficult thanks to several AI difficulty levels and deactivatable driving aids, you can usually overtake the opponents relatively easily, especially in the corners. Hopefully Codemasters will improve this a little before the release.
If you are interested in the other aspects of Grid Legends apart from the story, you should also put our first preview on your reading list. There you can find out everything about the scope, drop-in multiplayer and the exciting Nemesis system:
Grid Legends wants to shine where hardly any racing game succeeds
A telenovela for lead feet
But anyone who clicks on a preview of Grid Legends wants to know one thing above all: How good are the lavishly produced cutscenes? After all, they even put well-known and capable actors like Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education on Netflix) into the racing overalls. But many fans fear that the films are cheesy and above all cause foreign shame.
Fortunately, we can now give the all-clear. The film clips impress with a lot of attention to detail in the sets and staging and have about as much in common with the cultic, quirky cutscenes of Command & Conquer or Wing Commander as the ADAC Oldtimer Cup Westfalen-Lippe has with Formula 1.
And speaking of the premier class: Even compared to the Netflix F1 documentary Drive to Survive, GRID Legends cuts a surprisingly good figure. Everyone involved does a more than decent job and there’s plenty of racing flair.
The best way to see for yourself is to watch the brand new trailer for the story mode:
Grid Legends wants to convince racing game fans with an elaborate story mode
The plot provides an interesting starting point and revolves mainly around our own careers, but is also closely linked to the rise of the Seneca racing team. We are a newcomer to the crisis-ridden underdog team, which immediately welds us emotionally to our guys and gals in the garage.
As the championship progresses, we are also to be gradually involved in important decisions and have a say in team management and car upgrades. However, we have not yet been able to play far enough to be able to judge the depth of play of this management component.
A lot of potential, but still a few stumbling blocks
Other things have changed since we first played the game in December 2021. The menus, which were dull at the time, are, well, still menus, but thanks to fast-paced background music and harmonious sound effects, they are much more attractive. The graphics have also been improved, especially the lighting sets the scene impressively.
Where does the shoe still pinch? Still with the AI and the driving physics. Anyone who activates more than just the visual damage model in Grid Legends earns my respect. Because the opponents often still go about their business so uncompromisingly that I barely got to see the finish line with mechanical damage.
These almost unavoidable car crashes are probably intended to force the exciting rivalry system. On the one hand understandable, but on the other hand I don’t want to constantly have the feeling that I’m taking part in a crash derby (but there are those in the game too!).
It’s also annoying that the AI colleagues like to pile up behind each other in corners like in a car wash and brake out, so that a column is created that we simply can’t get past – unless we unpack the crowbar again.
When it comes to driving behaviour, the cars still stick abruptly to the rail from time to time at the slightest touch, but that happens much less often now. And even with completely switched off driving aids such as traction and stability control, it is still sometimes a difficult undertaking to position the rear of the car as you would like it to be for the exit of the corner.
But hey, it’s an arcade racer, and what counts most is action, speed and fun. And in all these areas Grid Legends can finally shine. The speed feeling is great, the races are varied and some cars are simply terrific to control. If the developers don’t blow a tyre in the last round before the launch on 25 February 2022, fans can look forward to a really good racing game!
Editor’s Verdict
To follow on seamlessly from the verdict in my first preview, here it is, the cherry on the sundae that finally makes Grid Legends a gripping gaming experience! The story mode clearly enhances the overall experience and seems more coherent in all respects than the rather dull individual races. This is due on the one hand to the surprisingly good film sequences, but on the other hand also to the better presentation of the races as well as the changing objectives.
To clarify: You should expect neither an Oscar-worthy performance from the actors nor the almost frighteningly stylish racing action of a Forza Horizon 5. Grid Legends, despite all the improvements, remains a game that requires your engine to warm up before it clicks. In addition, I still can’t quite take the driving behaviour of the cars to my heart.
However, the chances are better than ever that Grid Legends will be the best series part since Grid Autosport. Since the latter was particularly disappointing in the single-player career, Legends could even take the second place on the podium – but the original from 2008 will still be on pole position.
