GRIP Combat Racing
PROS
- Great Graphics & Audio
- Action Packed Gameplay
- High Speed Intensity Racing
CONS
- Flow Breaking Track Design
- Poor Campaign Mode
Release Date: 6 November 2018 | Developer: Caged Element Inc
GRIP is the successor to the early 2000’s classic racing game, Rollcage, which I played for hours on end back in college. If you have ever watched the movie called ‘Death Race” starring Jason Statham, then you know exactly what GRIP and Rollcage are all about, as this movie was basically conceptualized from the original Rollcage game.
GRIP Combat Racing Gameplay
What sets the games apart from the movie, is that they offer futuristic themed gameplay that focuses on extremely fast paced racing, where you drive flippable vehicles that don’t really have a bottom or a roof, allowing them to flip and attach themselves to tracks in all directions, defying gravity in many cases.
On many of the tracks, this is a necessity in order to transition from one section to the next.
GRIP and Rollcage also set themselves apart from other generic arcade racing games, in that they also offer the players “Pickup’s” on the track, which are randomized to equip the player with up to a maximum of two Booster upgrades at any given time.
These boosters come in three forms, being either utility, defense or offense. The utility is basically a nitrous speed boost, capable of sending your vehicle in the range of 700KM/h, while Defense puts a rear shield onto the back of your vehicle to protect you from the third category, the offensive guns and rockets.
Naturally players trailing you are going to be blasting you with any and all offensive guns that they can get their wheels onto, so if you are leading the pack, make sure to save that shield booster pickup.
There are also additional non-pickup speed booster areas on the tracks that when driven over, give you an extra speed boost as well, just not as much as the nitrous pickup.
GRIP didn’t really do anything revolutionary though, as all the above mechanics were part of the 1999 Rollcage game. It did however bring back this classic with new graphics and a ton of new maps and game modes, which is really everything a fan of Rollcage could have asked for.
Speaking of tracks and game modes, there are in total 7 game modes to choose from, including Classic Racing, Ultimate Racing, Elimination, Deathmatch, Speed Demon, Carkour and a Campaign mode.
Classic is all about who finishes first, doing whatever you need to get there, while Ultimate is about earning points based on your position, as well as how much damage you caused in the race.
In Elimination, you must just not be last when the timer ticks down, while Speed Demon is similar to Classic, except there are no weapons and all pickups are Nitrous speed boosters.
Carkour is a play on word from Parkour, so whoever does the best tricks and collects the item wins, based on points. Deathmatch isn’t based on a race, but rather a demolition derby arena to be the last man standing.
Campaign is the one mode I think lacks most, as it offers zero in terms of a progressive storyline. The campaign mode of Forza comes to mind when I think of how well a racing game can implement a story and player progression.
Besides for Deathrace and Campaign, most of these modes allow you to choose from a wide array of different planetary environments and tracks of varying technical difficulty.
My only negative with the game is that some of the tracks don’t flow very well due to unnecessarily placed road blocks placed in the centre of a track, which can become frustrating to deal with when you are going over 700KM/h and breaks from the immersion and flow of the game.
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GRIP Combat Racing Graphics
GRIP offers some great graphics with tons of well made motion blur, really giving you that feeling of insane speeds.
Texture Resolution and Model Details are however a bit low in my opinion, when compared to other racing games currently available, that offer the same performance but with much high quality visuals and reflections.
I have a beefy system that can really push these two graphical areas much higher, as I don’t really enjoy seeing pixelated textures in 2020.
The environments are fantastic, as each planet has its own climate and feeling, reminding me of Star Wars in a way. From sandy deserts, lush tropics to icy sub-zero snow planets, the game has them all.
The only thing I feel is missing is weather effects such as rain, sandstorms and snowfall to add more realism to the environments and gameplay. These could not only influence your visibility but also the friction of the terrain as in many other racing games.
Together with effects like water and rain, I would be great to see some Raytracing in the future to really bring the environment to life.
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GRIP Combat Racing Audio
Background audio fits the theme very well, but at the same time, it isn’t overbearing and blends well into the background ambiance. I honestly only sat down to really listen to them when I watched my replays, as during the game, you have far more important things to concentrate on.
Sound effects of explosions and guns are accurate, helping you time your shield when an enclosing missile is about to hit you. Speed driven sound effects are also on point as you hear the environment wiz past you the faster you go.
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GRIP Combat Racing Storyline
As mentioned above, I think the campaign could really be enhanced far above what it currently is. In its current state, its just a string of tracks against the AI, offering no memorable characters or any sense of progressions other than when “you finished this race, do the next one and so forth”.
This isn’t really a campaign, it’s more of a pre-made package of selected tracks that can all be selected via the other modes anyway.
The devs should really use it to create a character and storyline, similar to something like STAR WARS Episode I Pod Racer, seeing as they already have similar hovering vehicles in game. I loved how you started that game with a hunk of junk and was able to progress using your skills and each item you received from the rewards offered in the story line.
There is also a garage in the game, but offers very little in terms of gameplay value other than pre-made cars and stats which have no detailed customization and upgrade capabilities, other than some spray paint colors and stickers.
This could also be used to sustain the storyline as you race to unlock and customize your vehicle with part or cash won through races.
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GRIP Combat Racing Bugs & Annoyances
GRIP Combat Racing didn’t have any noticeable bugs or issues that i could find. The game runs very well and online matchmaking is fluid as well.
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GRIP Combat Racing Review Conclusion
Despite the occasional flow breaking track designs and lack of a potentially great campaign mode, GRIP delivers the intense high speed adrenaline rush that all race racing games should aspire to. It has done a fantastic job at staying true to the original Rollcage game, while bringing a ton of extra features and tracks to the table as well.
Well guys, that’s it from me.
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Happy Gaming
Ozarc (¬‿¬)
The Review
GRIP Combat Racing
A quick Review of GRIP Combat Racing - High intensity arcade racing game that sends you of speeds over 700KM/s while firing rockets at your opponents in flippable vehicles. Any anything goes deathrace in an array of sci-fi environments and tracks, to see who is king of the hill
PROS
- Great Graphics & Audio
- Action Packed Gameplay
- High Speed Intensity Racing
CONS
- Flow Breaking Track Design
- Poor Campaign Mode