Grid Legends Reviews

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How the mighty have fallen. From being one of the biggest names in racing games to just another EA subsidiary that lost it’s way. To be clear, I’m not blaming the EA curse in any way. Codemasters has long lost its way as a racing game developer with subpar game after subpar game. Most notably this very game’s predecessor, 2019’s GRID. It was right on the hells of Dirt Rally 2.0, which is in my opinion one of the greatest racing games ever made. It could also very well be the high wate...

With Grid Legends, Codemasters has taken a different tack to try and make a racing game that has broad market appeal. Besides the traditional career path that is standard with racing game, Grid Legends has added a Story Mode. In this narrative branch of the game, you play as Driver 22, a rookie driver, looking to make your mark in racing. An opportunity arises when one a racing team loses one of their drivers. This team is struggling though. They’ve not had much success in their previous seasons and are on the brink of failure. The owner, drivers, and crew have everything riding on attaining some success. Which means they are looking for a savior. Of course, you play the role of said savior. So, everything depends on how well you do.

Grid Legends is a more than capable racer but not quite up to par with Codemasters' previous games.

GRID Legends finds itself in a bit of a tough spot. Launching a racing game in close proximity to any competition can be a bit dicey, but Codemaster’s latest entry in the GRID series is releasing just a mere week ahead of Polyphony’s much-anticipated Gran Turismo 7. Considering the near nine-year gap since the last properly numbered Gran Turismo game, hype levels are understandably sky high; can GRID Legends rise above the noise and prove its own worth?

Although its addition of plot and characters doesn’t quite work the racing action is as thrilling as ever, with a huge diversity of vehicles and the compelling handling fans have come to expect from the series.

Codemasters and EA made a risky decision to release GRID Legends just one week ahead of Gran Turismo 7. It turns out they prepared some strong arguments against this gargantuan rival, but is it enough to avoid a road disaster?

GRID Legends is the best the franchise has been in quite some time. The new story mode is engaging, fun and varied, the driving model feels precise yet accessible, and the amount of content and replay value is high enough to come back for weeks or months. It may not have the highest of production values in every aspect, and there are various (fortunately relatively rare) technical hiccups to fix in future updates, or maybe in the day one patch already. Yet, Codemasters’ new racer is a truly great experience on the track, with drama that renders nearly every race a memorable and exciting ride. Isn’t that the most important aspect, after all?

GRID Legends builds on the foundations of the 2019 reboot, improving the driving experience in certain areas, adding a big new story mode, and throwing more variables and variety into the mix. There's enjoyable, pulpy action racing to be had here, but some of the fundamental weaknesses from the last game remain, and as the racing game community increasingly looks toward sim racing, it feels like this franchise is in need of another reinvention.

With GRID Legends, Codemasters has delivered one of the most generous and inclusive racing games of recent years. Though while its moment-to-moment action is pretty much second to none, its career mode just doesn’t quite get its hooks in you like it should. Throw in limited multiplayer offerings, and you have a racing game that’s great but not spectacular. If you want to fling cars around a whole load of city-based tracks and gleefully trade paint with your competitors, this is the racing game for you. Just don’t go in expecting to get all that invested in your career exploits.

GRID Legends misses a few opportunities to be truly excellent, but still exceeds the limitations of its predecessor to become arguably the best GRID game yet.

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GRID Legends is the fifth instalment in the franchise, taking drivers on high-octane races around street circuits and real-life race tracks. Known for its edge-of-your-seat racing and Codemasters’ driving game specialty, GRID tries to bridge the gap between the competitive crowd and casual racers. Now that EA is publishing, this entry adopts full-motion video (FMV) with professional actors for a unique take on the story mode. With over 250 career events and many, many licensing deals, the c...

It doesn't reinvent the wheel by any stretch, but there's no denying that on the track GRID Legends is a fun time.

“Grid Legends' Driven to Glory story misses more than it hits, but this is an otherwise solid, if unambitious, racing game.”

While DIRT 5 and F1 2021 remain Codemasters' best racing games to date, GRID Legends runs a very close second, with an enjoyably daft Story mode, absorbing Career, and a wealth of options to fiddle with. Driven to Glory, indeed.

The Driven to Glory campaign is the big push, but is actually only a thin layer of what this package offers overall. GRID Legends has a solid career mode, with a ton of cool activities and customization options. The content gating is a bit frustrating (be prepared to grind a bit), but overall there is a mountain of fun to be had with this rock-solid arcade racer.

You usually know what you’re getting with Codemasters’ various racing series. The F1 games are an ultra-detailed ode to everything Formula One and Dirt is all about gritty off-road-racing spectacle, but the Grid games are somewhat harder to pin down. The series’ precise focus and spot on the arcade-to-sim spectrum has shifted from game to game, but broadly speaking, Grid is about approachable racing with a wide range of different vehicle types. The upcoming Grid Legends largely builds on the foundation laid by 2019’s Grid, sticking with a winning engine while adding new content and a more fleshed-out story mode.

GRID Legends absolutely nails its role as a tried and true "simcade" experience thanks to well-balanced gameplay mechanics, a healthy variety of vehicle types and track designs and just an overall fun feel. It's easily one of the most well-built racers I've played in a while.