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If Toca Race Driver and Colin McRae: Dirt had a clandestine liaison, resulting in a child, they’d be left with Race Driver: Grid. Grid is the latest racing game from Codemasters and judging by their most recent titles, like Turning Point, it’s about time something good came along. We’ve spent the day playing the Xbox 360 demo (as it was released on Live today) and are pleasantly surprised. Merging the all-encompassing racing styles seen in Toca and the arcade heavy smash-fest that is Dirt, Grid is hoping to appeal to both racing experts and part time racers. In the full game, there’s a multi-event, multi-vehicle single player career, online multiplayer, time trials and gorgeous replays. Until June 3^rd (when the game sees release), you’ll have to make do with the demo which samples two races, a drift event and the Xbox Live multiplayer.

For those that didn’t get a chance to experience Dirt (which we revisited in January), Grid will be a completely new experience. For those that did play Colin’s final game before he tragically passed away, it’ll be akin to returning to a well worn sofa; comfortable and familiar. The game’s interface, which was a high-point of Dirt returns, with loading screen statistics, slick menus, easy to use options and an all round sleek presentation. Navigation is quick and effortless. Codemasters have extended the production value to the events, with screen overlays showing your name, position and in the case of Drift events, your points. It looks like you’re watching coverage of a racing event on TV. It’s professional and well constructed and we’re hoping it continues throughout the finished product.

The game’s graphics engine is an updated version of the one seen in Dirt. Car damage is improved with twisting panels, scrapes, mirror breaks, destructible windscreens and breakable wheels. The cars look gorgeous and rival any existing racing game. It’s difficult to keep your car in pristine condition as the improved, more aggressive AI loves nothing more than to sideswipe you into a barrier. It won’t come as a surprise when you find yourself limping across the finish line. Tracks are well modelled (especially the ones taking place in cities), with scenery and foliage replicated to an agreeable standard. Again, Codemasters haven’t skimped in the looks department and have added variation which was crying out to be seen in Dirt. Sadly we did see some noticeable drops in framerate, and on one severe occasion when we didn’t have the patience to wait, we had to restart the demo. Hopefully that’ll be cleared up by the time the game is released.

Those expecting Gran Turismo realism will be disappointed. Grid is proud of its arcade approach and flaunts it as much as possible. You’ll be whizzing around corners, smashing into opponents and generally driving like a lunatic. On default, the game enables all the driving aids like Automatic transmission, breaking support, anti-lock brakes, steering assistance and traction control. You can turn these off, and tweak your cars to provide a more ‘genuine’ experience, but the average gamer will enjoy the pick-up-and-play effect. The biggest feature to help new players is the option to flashback. When you crash, causing terminal damage you can either retire, restart or flashback. The game enters replay mode and you can rewind to when you weren’t crumpled against a wall and continue from there. You have a limited amount which removes the ‘game-breaking’ possibility. We’ve already used it twice, once where we careered into the final corner to be overtaken and once where we flipped the car at the beginning of a race.

Finally, the online. You join a lobby, vote on what the next event should be and race. It’s simple, lacks any indication of being confusing and is deficient in lag. It’s efficient and how online gaming should be. That’s it. We’re chomping at the bit for the full game and hopefully come release, any framerate issues will be sorted and we’ll spend our summer throwing cars around the track.

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