GRID Autosport

I am a big fan of the original GRID as well as Colin McRae DiRT, so when a driving game comes out that tries to implement style, I am sure going to give it everything I got and enjoy the ride. Codemasters is one of the few who carries that style, but surely they have had their ups and downs. So far I have put around 8 hours into the game and from what I have played, I would say that GRID Autosport is a ride worth taking. GRID Autosport is an attempt to right some of those wrongs with the simulator fan-base, without pushing away the casual drivers.
The single player career has five disciplines, with the introduction of touring cars, open wheel racing, tuner events, endurance and street racing, there is almost something for everyone. They all require a very particular way of racing, so each time you switch from one group to another you'll need to readjust the way you play and the A.I seems to do the same. The AI seems very good and exhibits different racing personalities and the game features a wide range of tracks, boasting of around 100. The game demands that you level up in all disciplines if you wish to take part in the special GRID Masters/Legends events that take place at every so many levels. Career progress is measured in seasons. Each season, you pick a discipline and sign up with a sponsored team and that team gives you specific objectives to fulfill, like no collision damage and so on.
The cockpit view has returned as well as car tuning, something that GRID 2 was sadly lacking. Each option is accompanied by a helpful summary of what each tweak will do, so there is no need to have a in-depth technical car knowledge in order to understand the tuning. GRID Autosport or simply the GRID series in general is not a simulation or arcade, it is both, it mixes simulation and the arcade experience both in one. At times it can seem really hard because an induced over-steer is easy to achieve, but practice makes perfect and that's what true racing is about. The game also has an online mode but I'm not much of an online player so I can't comment about those features, but I do know someone who is playing it and they say it does have lots to do in it.
In all it is a really fun game, even if some of the major gaming sites are giving it some borderline low scores. GRID Autosport is a quality product, as one would expect from Codemasters when developing a racing game. It's just difficult these days for many people to pick up and play when there are next gen racing games on the way. Many of the problems I hear people saying about this game is that it suffers with an extremely linear career mode by having limited progression choices.
Ultimately the objective is to play in each of the five racing categories to reach a certain level to unlock the GRID event and repeat, and this tells the player that it is progression for the sake of progression. GRID Autosport does have a lack of choices, and simply asks the player if they want to choose whether they play a Street event or an Endurance one. The cars are picked for you, their upgrades are limited and even your ability to tweak or alter a vehicle's setup is decided by the event you participate in.
You can still customize the difficulty of the game, tailoring every aspect of the underlying systems, such as realistic damage to assisted braking and you earn cumulative extra XP based on your settings. However, even with the said, GRID Autosport is much more of a racer than GRID 2 and racing is what this game is really about. As it stands, there are plenty of RPG games available for players that are looking to make choices, so the true essence of GRID Autosport is held within the walls of racing, so it is racing you will be doing. The graphics seem well done as well as the frame rates, menus, AI, handling, sound, collisions and many other things. It is a game about quality over quantity, and in the end, that is what truly matters.

An oldie but a goodie!

great ai drivers, good car handling

Love this game, best simcade I know of.

this game is still amazing in 2023! Steam should put it back on sale on store!

TLDR: GRID Autosport is one the best track-based simcade. Too bad that it's currently delisted...
After a GRID2 that leaned fully towards arcade racing, Codemasters gave us this here GRID: Autosport as an apology of sorts. G:A goes back to the first GRID "Sim-Cade" aspect, that is to say, a sweetspot between Arcade and Simulation racing.
GRID Autosport features a wide range of racing disciplines, a vast selection of cars and tracks, a great singleplayer campaign - a rare sight in any modern racing game - as well as a fully fleshed-out online progression system. It looks great, sounds great and is very well optimized.
You can tweak difficulty settings and driving assists to your liking to get an experience leaning more towards arcade or simulation. This game hits a perfect balance in that regard.
There's only one problem: although it was re-released on Switch and Android in 2019, it is currently not available for purchase on PC. Probably for licensing reasons or just because Codies want you to buy GRID 2019 & Legends instead. If you're reading this, then you most likely already own it. Give it a shot, it's a really good game. Online features are still active, although it may be a bit hard to find the right time to get a game going.
Oh and if you want to fix known issues with this game such as "blurry distant textures", I made a small mod/patch that does just that. It's a drag'n'drop affair, and is online friendly.
You can find it here on NexusMods .

Great racing game with a nice balance between arcade and sim. Fun to play and nice to look at. It's easy to race with the assists on, and challenging enough with everything off. Can be played with a keyboard or controller. Only downside would be the menu's. I loved the original GRID and this is the first newer version of the game that really matches up.