Currently Playing: Race Driver: GRID

There's a vodaphone advert on the TV at the moment that features Lewis Hamilton.. At the crucial moment the voice over woman says that "One second changes everything". Codemasters understand this is especially true when it comes to racing.. In fact a split second can change everything...

Race Driver: GRID is possibly the most exciting racing game yet. It may not be as technically accurate a driving game as something like Gran Turismo 5: Prologue or Forza 2 but where they can feel dry and processional despite this accuracy GRID gives you the feeling, I imagine, of a little of what it's like to be a racing driver.

As the lights count down to the start there's no annoying camera angle changes showing what a great job the developer has done of making the cars look beautiful (although they certainly do) there's just you.. the beeps as the countdown to the green light carries on and the pack ahead of you..

When the lights go green and your off into the first corner you understand how a split second can change everything.. it's the difference between sliding through the apex and coming out a few places ahead, messing it up and ending up in the gravel or worse still breaking that split second to late and ending up in the car in front..

Due to the excellent AI and pack dynamic your nearly always under pressure and these split seconds of action and decision continue throughout the whole race making for a very exciting race. Fortunately the handling model, whilst not the most realistic, is fun to drive and more importantly reliable.. You learn you breaking points and you can trust the car to respond.. each laps lets you feel that maybe you can push a little harder.. until you enter another one of those split seconds where it turns out you've pushed to hard and your in the wall..

Then you can admire the excellent damage and deformation as, if your lucky you scrape through with some damage to the car and your pride intact. If your unlucky it's race over and the your car is buried in the wall...

Of course in such tight races this could soon become frustrating.. But this is where Codemasters have saved their biggest stroke of genuis.. Like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time when the split second doesn't go your way you can rewind time and have another go at it... You've then got complete control of the replay to rewind until you can see where you made your mistake and have another pop at it.. It's a brilliant invention.

There's plenty of depth to.. As the game progresses you can start your own team, hire a team mate and take on sponsorship as well as designing your own team colours (which, again brilliantly, you use for online races too adding a touch of personality to the online world).

One last comment (before this becomes an essay) and it's about the replays.. They've been a standard feature since the original Gran Turismo but by utilising a 'shakey cam' and some inspired direction there once again fun to watch and really capture the speed and dynamics of the race.

Overall it's the most 'This Gen' racing game yet.