Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: GRIP
Developer: Caged Element
Publisher: Wired Productions
Genre: Combat Racing
Number of Players: up to 10 players
Release Date: 06 November 2018
Price: $39.99
Also Available On: PS4, Steam, XB1
Grip is a very fast-paced combat racing game set in a futuristic world where race cars can go very fast and can drive right side up and also upside down on looping surfaces peppered with speed-boost pads and items to battle your opponents with. It’s a bit like Mario Kart if the shells are replaced by missiles and everything looks gloomy. The game, although clearly borrowing some game elements from Nintendo’s awesome racing game, it still manages to stand on its own by providing players with different game modes, a good number of cars to unlock, and then customize them further with unlockable paint jobs, wheels, and other stuff to make them stand out.
If combat racing games are not your forte, you can ease your way into Grip via the single player campaign mode, where you can compete in races against AI opponents. The campaign is divided into 15 tiers, divided into 3-4 tournaments, and each of those has 2-3 races each. The races get more and more difficult as you progress, and you gain XP depending on how you finish. Acquiring certain number of XP makes you level up, and the more you level up, the more of the game’s contents get unlocked, and these include the cars, paint jobs, and tires.
Now the cars: there are 15 cars to be unlocked in the game, and of course, the ones unlocked at higher levels have better stats, like top acceleration and top speed, but it’s up to you which one you would like to use. The cars vary in design. Some look sleek and aerodynamic, while others look like tanks. Since there are different race modes, you have to use the car type that would give you the most advantage.
Speaking of design, all cars look the same right side up and upside down. This is because these cars are built to drive fast on the ground, on the walls, and on the ceiling. You as the player as lots of options on where to go and go there fast. Since you race against up to 9 other racers in a given stage, it can become very, very chaotic at times, and if you want to stay ahead, you have to be able to switch lanes on the fly.
Aside from just going very fast, or if you can’t drive fast enough, you also have the option to blast and shoot down your opponents using the power-ups that you can collect on the race track. At the beginning, you can only acquire speed boosts, and as you progress, you get to use missiles, darts, clustered missiles, gatling guns, etc. The game aids you in aiming, but if there are multiple cars in front of you, you can also switch targets. Shooting at other racers make them incapacitated for a short time and thus allows you to take over their spot. But of course, that is only for the regular race mode.
There are other race modes available in the game. One is the Ultimate Race, where the goal is to score as much points as possible, mostly by shooting your opponents, so you better drive fast and aim well to do so.
Other race modes are Elimination (where the last in place gets eliminated every lap), Speed Demon (pure racing, with no other power-ups appearing on the race track aside from the speed boost), and Time Trial.
Aside from the usual racing modes, there is also the Arena Mode, where you get to battle against your AI opponents in closed off areas and try to score the highest after a certain time limit by blasting them with all the weapon power-ups available in the game. It’s like the Twisted Metal games of old, and I think this is my favorite mode because blasting enemies is fun. If you don’t like too much violence and you like to do stunts and whatnot, there is also the Carkour Mode, which is a portmanteau of car and parkour (it’s a bit lazy, but it’s good) and here you get to test your jumping, aerial maneuvering, and other skills that you use in the game. This mode is pretty hard, and I think this is for those who are really good in the game.
So that’s for the single player mode. You can also play online with other people, whether you want to race against them or blast them to smithereens. Connecting online is pretty easy, and of course, playing with actual people beats AI every time. Too bad, there is no voice chat available.
Overall, Grip is one very surprisingly good game. It took some time to grow on me, because I got so overwhelmed by how fast the racing aspect of the game can get, but eventually, the more I played it, the more I got the hang of it. The different modes made the gameplay less repetitive, because you can switch between modes anytime you want. Add to that the unlocking and customizing of cars that made me really play hard to win those sweet XPs so that I could level up. I highly recommend this game and it is well worth its asking price. So buckle up, and feel the fast speeds and exhilarating combat against other racers and aim to be the first to reach the finish line. Let the races… BEGIN!
REPLAY VALUE: Very High
PROS
CONS
Publisher: Wired Productions
Genre: Combat Racing
Number of Players: up to 10 players
Release Date: 06 November 2018
Price: $39.99
Also Available On: PS4, Steam, XB1
Grip is a very fast-paced combat racing game set in a futuristic world where race cars can go very fast and can drive right side up and also upside down on looping surfaces peppered with speed-boost pads and items to battle your opponents with. It’s a bit like Mario Kart if the shells are replaced by missiles and everything looks gloomy. The game, although clearly borrowing some game elements from Nintendo’s awesome racing game, it still manages to stand on its own by providing players with different game modes, a good number of cars to unlock, and then customize them further with unlockable paint jobs, wheels, and other stuff to make them stand out.
If combat racing games are not your forte, you can ease your way into Grip via the single player campaign mode, where you can compete in races against AI opponents. The campaign is divided into 15 tiers, divided into 3-4 tournaments, and each of those has 2-3 races each. The races get more and more difficult as you progress, and you gain XP depending on how you finish. Acquiring certain number of XP makes you level up, and the more you level up, the more of the game’s contents get unlocked, and these include the cars, paint jobs, and tires.
Now the cars: there are 15 cars to be unlocked in the game, and of course, the ones unlocked at higher levels have better stats, like top acceleration and top speed, but it’s up to you which one you would like to use. The cars vary in design. Some look sleek and aerodynamic, while others look like tanks. Since there are different race modes, you have to use the car type that would give you the most advantage.
Speaking of design, all cars look the same right side up and upside down. This is because these cars are built to drive fast on the ground, on the walls, and on the ceiling. You as the player as lots of options on where to go and go there fast. Since you race against up to 9 other racers in a given stage, it can become very, very chaotic at times, and if you want to stay ahead, you have to be able to switch lanes on the fly.
Aside from just going very fast, or if you can’t drive fast enough, you also have the option to blast and shoot down your opponents using the power-ups that you can collect on the race track. At the beginning, you can only acquire speed boosts, and as you progress, you get to use missiles, darts, clustered missiles, gatling guns, etc. The game aids you in aiming, but if there are multiple cars in front of you, you can also switch targets. Shooting at other racers make them incapacitated for a short time and thus allows you to take over their spot. But of course, that is only for the regular race mode.
There are other race modes available in the game. One is the Ultimate Race, where the goal is to score as much points as possible, mostly by shooting your opponents, so you better drive fast and aim well to do so.
Other race modes are Elimination (where the last in place gets eliminated every lap), Speed Demon (pure racing, with no other power-ups appearing on the race track aside from the speed boost), and Time Trial.
Aside from the usual racing modes, there is also the Arena Mode, where you get to battle against your AI opponents in closed off areas and try to score the highest after a certain time limit by blasting them with all the weapon power-ups available in the game. It’s like the Twisted Metal games of old, and I think this is my favorite mode because blasting enemies is fun. If you don’t like too much violence and you like to do stunts and whatnot, there is also the Carkour Mode, which is a portmanteau of car and parkour (it’s a bit lazy, but it’s good) and here you get to test your jumping, aerial maneuvering, and other skills that you use in the game. This mode is pretty hard, and I think this is for those who are really good in the game.
So that’s for the single player mode. You can also play online with other people, whether you want to race against them or blast them to smithereens. Connecting online is pretty easy, and of course, playing with actual people beats AI every time. Too bad, there is no voice chat available.
Overall, Grip is one very surprisingly good game. It took some time to grow on me, because I got so overwhelmed by how fast the racing aspect of the game can get, but eventually, the more I played it, the more I got the hang of it. The different modes made the gameplay less repetitive, because you can switch between modes anytime you want. Add to that the unlocking and customizing of cars that made me really play hard to win those sweet XPs so that I could level up. I highly recommend this game and it is well worth its asking price. So buckle up, and feel the fast speeds and exhilarating combat against other racers and aim to be the first to reach the finish line. Let the races… BEGIN!
REPLAY VALUE: Very High
PROS
- Excellent visuals, level design, and gameplay
- Amazing soundtrack
- Steady frame rate
- Wide array of game modes to suit anyone, even those who are not too good with racing games
- A good number of unlockable and customizable cars to race with
- Online mode connects fast with very little to no lags
- Plays really well on hand held
- Offers split-screen local multiplayer mode
- Very good value for money
CONS
- There is no option to lower down the speed limit. Yes, you will get to start with a car that has a lower speed limit, but it and the other AI racers can still go very, very fast, which could dissuade players who are not too goo with racing games from playing the game
RATING: 4.5/5 speed demons on wheels
loved it. Please check Connect Nintendo Switch to the laptop
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