GRIP: Combat Racing

Every gamer has, at some point, run into a game that's driven them up the wall, and while that's not usually an actual feature, this one isn't meant to be a normal sort of racing game. GRIP: Combat Racing literally turns the action racing genre on its head by putting players in control of vehicles that can drive just about anywhere. These flat, RC-looking cars can be flipped completely upside-down and never miss a beat. And then there's the speed. It's hard to overstate just how fast these cars can get on the track. Once you start hitting the top speed, the world races by in a blur like some sort of sci-fi hyperspace jump. It's an insane rush, but it's ironically also one of the game's heaviest speed bumps.

Your car's steering is a bit more sensitive, which is great for rounding corners and pulling off quick moves to pass the competition. But at high speeds, one slight bump or overcorrection can send you flying to your doom. You can quickly get back into the race by hitting a button and resetting your car to the track, but it costs precious time and can eat away at your chances to reach the finish in first place. Because of this razor-thin margin of error, the pacing often feels caught between two extremes: light speed and glacial. This can be both exciting and frustrating at the same time. While GRIP: Combat Racing does a fantastic job of creating a real sense of speed, the actual presentation is a bit on the dull side. The visuals are flat and uninspired, with each track colored in some muted shade of gray, brown, or blue, and lacking any sort of real detail. In fact, there's not much detail anywhere. Even the cosmetic customization of the cars rarely does much to make any one vehicle look all that different from the rest. Although there's fun to be had in GRIP’s high-octane destruction derby style of play, especially when playing with friends in split-screen local matches, it just doesn't feel like the game ever has much gas left in its tank.