With Codemasters’ Grid Legends ready to drop on February 25, the developers were kind enough to allow me to look behind the curtain and test out the retooled career mode found in the game. I was hoping the Grid Legends career mode felt more like what the former TOCA series used to deliver, with the focus being placed on locations and cars.
I was a massive fan of the TOCA series — and still am. While the Grid franchise may just be a descendant of that series, I will always connect the two in some form, so my hopes for the new career mode in Grid Legends were as high as ever.
The goal of Codemasters with the new Grid Legends was to be story-focused, and so having the ability to sit down with the game on my own time and test it out in every way conceivable was the first big step in finding out if the Grid franchise is finally looking to step up to the podium with F1 as a dominant series in the racing genre.
The version I played was a work in progress, so the focus will be more on what’s there and the direction the developers have taken, and less about issues that popped up during my time with the game.
Grid Legends Career Mode Preview
Without giving away any of the story in “Driven to Glory,” I will simply say that the game sets the mood right away and delivers the pertinent information in a quick and timely matter to help get you into the mix and onto the track. For me, this is an important approach, and it’s very much similar to how F1 does things. Quick and important information, less fluff, and then you are on your way.
Even better, the developers have given you the option to sit through cutscenes or blast right through them. If blasting through them is your style, the mode gives you a succinct breakdown of each and every storyline in the form of text-like dialogue during the loading screen for the next race.
The story is, without ruining it, based on a driver and their team fighting for respect among the giants of the industry. This is not an uncommon approach in this type of career mode, but it feels well put together here in Grid Legends.
Even more impressive is the fact that career mode does an amazing job of keeping you informed as the story unfolds, and it makes sure you and the racing are the primary focus. Not once during my time with Grid Legends did I do the obligatory “eye roll” or “insert sarcastic remark” thing. The story played out, and I was happy to go along with it because of how well it was integrated and how quickly the information was relayed to me.
If I were to create a racing title career mode, this is generally what my approach would be. I think what Codemasters has done here is create a career mode that allows people to enjoy it the first time through, but then you can play it multiple times because there is enough variety here.
So, Is It Fun?
This is more of a career mode preview, but part of that career mode obviously involves racing. Happily, I can report that the changes on the track are positive in nature, and those who were disappointed by how arcade-like the last Grid title felt should be pleased with how much that feeling has been scaled back.
That said, Grid isn’t competing for racing simulation of the year, and if it were doing so, a podium finish would not be in its future. Either way, the developers know exactly what Grid is, but they also know that pure arcade isn’t and wasn’t what the majority of fans were looking for in this series.
Without breaking into a full review of the game, which would be unfair at this juncture, I will just say Grid Legends appears to be on the right track with nailing the trifecta of racing. That trifecta being fun racing, solid AI, and a damage model that is realistic and has a true impact on the mode itself.
When you add all three of these components together, along with what I have already covered, it feels like Codemasters is finally ready to take the Grid series back to its roots of TOCA and deliver a racing sim-cade experience that can be enjoyed by the masses.
At the time of this preview, we are about a month away from release. While the core of the game is finished, there is still some time for a minor tweak or two before release.
It’s Go Time (Almost)
With over 250 events in career mode, upgradeable vehicles, over 100 cars in nine categories, and 22 tracks (both circuit and street courses), Grid is set to deliver a new type of experience — one that feels like it will be well received this time around.
When you include the ability for friends to jump into career mode and play along with you, online multiplayer, leaderboards, and weekly and monthly challenges, Codemasters has really tried to put a package together that will deliver something for everyone.
The game also delivers multiple styles and disciplines of racing that I will get into deeper during the review here on Operation Sports, but some of those race styles include point-to-point, elimination, circuit, and drifting, which I despise but for some reason had a blast participating in during my time with Grid Legends.
It was obvious to me during this preview session that the prior community feedback from the last game was taken seriously, and the changes both in career mode and on the track are real.
As I just mentioned, I will also be doing the review of this game for Operation Sports, so look for that to drop a few days before the official release of Grid Legends (now a joint venture between EA and Codemasters).
Grid Legends is set to release on February 25 on PC, Xbox Series X/S/One, PS5 and 4, and it will be cross-platform enabled.
