Grid Autosport

Nintendo Switch owners finally get a racing and simulation game with a realistic approach.

The British company Codemasters, in collaboration with the development team Feral Interactive, fills a gap in the games library of the Nintendo hybrid device and presents the company’s most popular racing game, Grid, in a version that combines home and mobile, what was the result?

Codemasters has a very long history in racing games and it’s no secret that the company specializes in producing these types of games. The company was founded in 1986 but had great success, putting it on the map with the release of the wonderful game Micro Machines, with which we have many fond memories. With the release of series such as the TOCA racing game series and the Colin McRae Rally series, the company began to specialize more and more in racing games.

The company preserved this legacy when it launched two wonderful series in the past generation: the first is the Grid Racing series, a racing game that combines realistic simulation with unrealistic arcade gameplay, and the second is the Dirt Racing series, both achieved commercial success and public admiration. Grid received a second part, which did not meet the expectations of fans of the first part due to the exaggeration of the arcade gameplay and the abandonment of the realistic driving elements that were present in the first part, so Codemasters started planning again and came back the series back to their roots through Grid Autosport. The game was released in 2014 on last-generation home devices and PC, was also transferred to smartphones and is now making its way to the Nintendo Switch platform.

Features of Grid Autosport on Nintendo Switch

Since this game is not completely new, we will first talk about the features of this version of the game. The development team at Feral Interactive has put a lot of effort into ensuring that this version of the game meets the expectations and ambitions of racing game fans. The game supports many control options, including motion control, button control, and increasing speed with the ZR button, or even using the right analog to gradually increase or decrease speed. This is because the ZR and ZL buttons on the Switch’s Pro Controller are not smooth like other devices. The game also allows use of the GameCube controller, which includes incremental shoulder buttons for those who find it necessary. Of course, there are also a number of driving assistance options that can be switched off or the intensity changed.

Graphics and Performance

When it comes to graphics, the development team also made sure to provide plenty of options to satisfy all players. The game runs at 1080p resolution in home mode and 720p resolution in mobile mode. There is also a free 3GB pack available in the store to upgrade the models of all cars in the game. You can choose Performance Mode in the game, which lets it run at 60 frames to provide a truly wonderful and smooth driving experience, although the frame rate drops below this in crowds and the presence of many other cars. You can choose the graphics mode that improves the visual experience, such as: B. by improving shadows and light reflections in return for reducing the frame rate to 30 frames. There is even a battery saver mode that significantly reduces charges to extend battery life to the greatest extent possible.

We spent most of the playtime in Performance mode at 60 frames, and the graphical difference wasn’t significant or noticeable compared to the mode that offers better graphics and lower frames. In general, we applaud the development team for achieving all of this. Great efforts have been made for this version of the game, and even the game’s menus are large and fully compatible with the mobile version, unlike many other device games with small fonts. The game even supports HD Rumble vibration technology, where you can feel the car’s contact with the ground and its movements, interacting in a wonderful way. You can also increase or decrease this. Vibrate as much as you see fit.

Gameplay and Modes

For those unfamiliar with the game, Grid Autosport features a career mode, individual races, the ability to create your own competition, and several other types of races such as Drag and Time Trial. Career mode in Grid is a little different from other games in that it doesn’t force you to start with a slow car and then gradually compete and acquire better cars, nor does it dictate the type of races you should do you will play. Instead, the game features five different types of competitions, with each type spanning multiple seasons and allowing you to complete each season and then move directly to seasons of a different type. One such competition is Endurance, where you take part in long-distance night races, or Street, where you have to compete on city streets.

The game stands out for its artificial intelligence and there are many different challenge levels. Grid is a game defined by multiple choices, and this philosophy is evident in all aspects of the game’s design. Even the effects of collisions and damage to the car can only be visualized, and you can affect the performance of the car, making the experience more realistic. The game is also playable for non-professionals as there is a rewind option that will take you back if you perform poorly while driving and want to try again. The game also includes a bar that appears on the floor of the race tracks and guides you to it. It shows the optimal driving path and its color changes between green and red to help you increase or decrease speed when cornering.

Conclusion

Now, is the game bug free? of course not. We can say that the driving experience in the game is not comparable to masterpieces like Microsoft’s brilliant Forza in terms of the physics of the cars and their sounds and the game also lacks various weather conditions such as rain and fog. With the mention of the weather conditions we mention one of the Games that was very creative in this regard and Project Gotham Racing 4 is a game for Xbox 360.

The game’s graphics are some of the best yet on the Nintendo Switch, and the streets and buildings look absolutely beautiful. The car models and lighting may not look at the same stunning level as we’ve seen in some recent console games such as Sony’s Driveclub for interactive entertainment, but they match and exceed the best of what has been seen in this type of gaming on recent consoles Generation was presented with a higher resolution in home mode or ideally in portable mode. This game is a beautiful technical demonstration of Nintendo’s hybrid platform, measuring just 6 inches tall. It’s amazing that a device this small is capable of running a game at this level of graphics while consuming less than 15 watts of power!

Grid Autosport is a game that uses its resources and distributes them intelligently to create a gaming experience that can give the player several hundred hours of enjoyment. We regret that the game did not have an online multiplayer mode from the beginning, which the publisher promised in a later update, but even without this it is the best racing and driving game that leans towards realism on the Nintendo Switch platform and perhaps on every mobile device to date.