Shedding the TOCA name, GRID (known as Race Driver: GRID in Europe) looks to redefine a genre already somewhat redefined by Codemasters’ excellent Colin McRae: DiRT. “The first big change is that this isn’t a TOCA game. We don’t feel the TOCA prefix is relevant any more to the content we’re including and the racing experience we’re aiming to deliver,” explains Ralph Fulton, Codemasters’ chief games designer - alluding to how Supertruck racing and the like have trouble fitting under the ‘touring car’ moniker.
“GRID is about a broader, more global view of motorsport: it’s as much about drifting on Yokohama docks and racing the streets of Detroit as it is about touring cars at Donington Park.” Using the Neon engine seen in DiRT, Codemasters are looking to put the essential ethos of racing back into the game. They’re taking the focus back to the contest itself (rather than the culture), the tuning and the customisation that previous TOCAs have moved towards. This time around it’s all about damage, rivalries, crashes and the race itself, rather than any off-track shenanigans.
