REVIEW by Jon Donnis
I have been playing GRIP for a while now, and the one thing I like most about this game is the fact the creators keep churning out free updates. Whether it is new tracks, weapons, or new vehicles, they have shown a great dedication to keeping the game fresh and interesting.
Well the latest update for GRIP is a whole new vehicle class of anti-gravity racers. Clearly here they are looking at the classic WIPEOUT game on Playstation and wanting to emulate the success of that with similar vehicles.
So you have the classic Rollcage inspired "Rollers" which are the standard vehicles you use, that can drive upside down, and now the new WipeOut inspired"Airblade" vehicles, which are pretty much hovercraft racers. Much like the Rollers, the Airblades can also flip upside down and ride on any surface. But the AirBlade does have one big advantage, when you come to wet surfaces, instead of being slowed down like the Rollers, the Airblades just keep on going, gliding majestically.
Also with this update are brand new levels set in a space backdrop.
The AirBlades are a welcome addition to the game, they do look amazing, but my main gripe here is that they pretty much handle exactly the same as the Rollers, and unfortunately some of the bugs of the game have still not been ironed out, these tend to be the way the camera moves and flips around too much when you flip to a different surface, as well as it not always being very clear which way you are supposed to be going.
If there was one thing that would improve this game massively, it would be more fixed camera angles, as well as it being much clearer the direction of the track. Although the open areas look nice, as soon as you go off track, you are regenerated back onto the track, so it is not like you can go and explore. There is also the issues of collision detection. You can be leading the race, and just as you are about the pass the finish line, you hit one of the posts, and suddenly you are at an instant stop, as the rest of the competitors pass you, and you end up in last, and because it is an instant stop, you have to slowly reverse, turn the vehicle, and then slowly crawl across the finish line. It is incredibly frustrating, and since it doesn't at all feel like you made a mistake, there is little feeling of wanting to try again.
So although the addition of new vehicles, tracks and so on is great. I wish the game creators would fix some of the camera view bugs, and collision detection, which does spoil the racing levels.
I will say however that the arenas are still awesome and one on one death matches are what you will end up playing the most.
Review by Jon Donnis
The Airblades free update is live right now on Steam, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with Nintendo Switch to follow later in May.
GRIP: Combat Racing can be purchased now for console platforms (MSRP $39.99) and PC (MSRP $29.99) – digitally on Steam, the PlayStation™ Store, Xbox Games Store, Nintendo Switch or physically, upright and upside-down at global retail. All players who already own GRIP will receive Airblades as a free update.
In addition to its digital release on Xbox One, GRIP: Combat Racing is available through the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, bringing the title to Xbox players around the world.
