Race Driver: GRID

Race Driver: GRID launched in May 2008 simultaneously on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, which was traditional practice for Codemasters - the studio had years of experience with racing titles on computers going back to the older TOCA and Colin McRae Rally series. The PC version benefited mainly from higher graphics quality on sufficiently powerful hardware, higher resolution, and support for steering wheels and other peripherals, which consoles of the time supported only to a limited extent and with a smaller range of compatible devices.

Content-wise, the PC version was identical to the console ones - the same set of tracks and cars, the same career mode taking the player across European, American, and Japanese championships, as well as the characteristic crash-rewind system called Flashback, which forgave players small mistakes while driving. Even on PC, the game lacked a cockpit view, which was a frequent target of criticism at the time from simulation-oriented players used to that view from other computer racing titles such as rFactor or GTR.

Thanks to simultaneous release on all three platforms and solid technical optimization, the PC version of GRID managed without the significant problems that plagued many other multiplatform ports at the time, and it became a popular choice even among console gamers who owned a sufficiently powerful computer.

Furthermore, the modding community gradually created a range of improvements and tweaks for the PC version, from additional textures to fixes for minor bugs, thanks to which GRID kept a fresh look on computers for many years after its original release.

For Codemasters, this confirmed a long-term strategy - even after shifting toward gameplay oriented more toward action than simulation, the studio stayed true to the idea that main entries in the series should release on PC simultaneously with consoles, rather than with a delay, as was then the case for many other racing titles ported from consoles to computers.

Why play it: For fans of Codemasters' more arcade-style take on racing, whose strategy of simultaneous PC and console releases was an exception at a time of many delayed racing ports.