In
GRID, as in many other driving games, progression is driven by a story or career. So, you play the part of a racing driver - initially you race for other teams, taking drive offers as you can get them, and winning cash for your achievements. This early section of the game essentially forms the training portion of the game, and gives you an opportunity to try a few of the different racing styles that
GRID has to offer.
There is touring car racing, American muscle car racing and demolition derby-style stock car racing. There are also various "testing" events during which you have a number of laps to hit a certain lap time or to achieve a certain maximum speed. By hitting certain objectives during these races you'll pick up cash rewards that will give you the funds necessary to start your own team. Then the game begins in earnest.
Once you are racing for your own team, you can enter championship events, but only if you have the right car. Given that you start without a car, and have to purchase one when you set up your team, the chances are, at first at least, that you won't have the car you require.
You can only get the right car by buying it (either from the in game shop, or from a virtual marketplace shamelessly carrying the eBay motors brand in a move that benefits gamers in no way whatsoever, but makes Codemasters' shareholders a few more bucks). To buy the car, you need to enter some events and rack up some successes.
GRID steers away from car tuning. When you get your car, it is what it is - there's no need to waste money or precious minutes you'll never get back adding turbos, suspension kits and anti-roll bars. If you need better performance, buy a better car. It's the skills not the tools that make a champion. For me, this is the right choice.
I want to spend my time driving (virtually) not changing the suspension settings, entering a race, and being unable to tell whether my performance was worse because of the suspension settings, or me running off the track at the first corner - or even if I ran off the track because of the newly updated suspension settings, then painstakingly returning everything to their previous settings to find that I can't tell if that made any difference either.
Although you can't put a K&N induction kit and Sparco reverse thrust injectors on your car, you can paint it up in a bewildering array of different paint jobs. There is a huge selection of basic patterns, and you then get control of the base, primary and secondary colours. I spent a considerable amount of time on this section, and still ended up with something the Duke brothers (or cousins) would have turned their noses up at. A sort of lilac/lime Fireturd.
As you get a few wins under your belt, sponsors start to make offers to get their names on your car. Accept their offers and, not only do you get tacky decals spoiling your already tasteless hunk, but you also get the chance to make more money by meeting your sponsors objectives on each race. Some want a podium finish, some just want a finish, some want a win. Achieve their goal and you get a bonus on top of your standard race purse.
