GRIP: Combat Racing Reviews
Held back by baked-in design decisions, muddy graphical effects, and non-exciting sound design, it's doubtful that GRIP could make any significant comeback due to its flaws. With these elements in mind, GRIP: Combat Racer should take a pass from prospective purchasers.
GRIP: Combat Racing is a fantastic love letter to a game that has been long since forgotten by most players. Although it's not a true sequel, it would feel right at home as the third installment of the Rollcage franchise. Everything from the blazing speed to the level of concentration needed to process each turn will make you grip your controller tightly as you plunge into the outrageously fast vehicular combat. It's a non-stop thrill ride of tense turns, gravity-defying stunts, and ruthless rivalry; all while hurtling down tracks at breakneck speeds. It never lets up. Instead, the raw aggression of the game increases as you progress creating an incredible experience that's not for the faint of heart.
GRIP: Combat Racing is an impressive arcade racer, one that harkens back to the glory days of racers such as WipEout, while adding its own innovations. Jumping from floor to ceiling to wall and back sounds like it might be too hectic, but GRIP's excellent camera handling ensures that players won't lose track of what they are doing very easily. Four-player split screen, which is an absolute rarity these days, is a much-appreciated inclusion, and ensures that GRIP: Combat Racing will be played by groups for a while to come.
While its controls can often be a little too unforgiving - especially when travelling at such high speeds - once you've got the hang of each vehicle's unique yet temperamental handling, GRIP: Combat Racing really opens up. Serving as a faithful nod to the original Rollcage, the wide range of modes and unlockable parts could make it the next Rocket League - if it manages to gather a similar cult following. If you're in the market for a larger than life racer that isn't Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, this could well be your next racing obsession.
GRIP: Combat Racing is a contemporary adaptation of Rollcage and its sequel Rollcage Stage II. This is a tremendous achievement for fans of Rollcage and a charming but narrow curiosity for everyone else. By splitting the difference between monument and movement, GRIP remains confident in its limitations.
GRIP: Combat Racing is a blast from the past, with intense racing and thrilling arena-based competition. The developers set out to make a modern Rollcage and have thoroughly succeeded. The inclusion of split-screen multiplayer, a rarity these days, is much appreciated, especially with the highly customizable online experience.
GRIP Combat Racing was as much a battle between myself and the game as it was between my car and rival racers, which is a shame because when it works, it works splendidly. It's fortunate that at least the game's issues could all be resolved with further patches, potentially leaving us with an excellent racer on the Nintendo Switch, but as it stands now, the game is flawed and is hard to justify at full price.
Grip is a nerve-fraying distillation of speed, fury, and thumping techno beats. Created by Caged Element, Grip: Combat Racing takes the ideas that made Rollcage such an intense experience and drives them onto the Nintendo Switch, XBox One PlayStation 4, and PC. If you like speed but find Bugatti's a bit bland, this one might be for you.
GRIP: Combat Racing is a must-buy for anyone craving non-stop racing action, going far beyond just being a modern-day version of Rollcage while offering a wide variety of gameplay options.
Both the gameplay and performance can feel a little too inconsistent at times as the controls and frame rate can sometimes be equally bumpy. Regardless, at its core, GRIP: Combat Racing is still an impressively fast racer that almost anybody should be able to have at least some fun with.
Minor issues aside, Grip: Combat Racing is a great experience for both veterans of arcade combat racers as well as those who are willing to learn the genre. The initial learning pains and massive difficulty spikes toward the end of the game may turn away newcomers, and the catch-up mechanics and sometimes questionable physics may dissuade veteran players. For all others, though, Grip is a wild ride that offers fantastic tracks that are exhilarating to race on at lightning-fast speeds.
Fast, furious and explosive racing is very good choice. But it is sad, that there is not enough players in multiplayer.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
GRIP: Combat Racing on PlayStation 4 is certainly the full package with a ton of content to enjoy. I don't think the game does a good job onboarding new players, but the good thing is that you will pick things up after playing for a bit. It's a tight, fast and tense racer which is all you can ask for. Give GRIP: Combat Racing a chance to grip you!
Though GRIP offers up some exciting racing and vehicular combat on a really wild and creative set of tracks, a frustrating singleplayer campaign and serious technical issues with the online multiplayer make it difficult to recommend in its current state.
There's a huge amount of fun to be had here, but it's not a game that will appeal to those in the market for a realistic depiction of the joys of the internal combustion engine. Realism has been traded for pure insanity, so if you prefer something more like Forza or Gran Turismo then this won't be the game for you. If you were a fan of Rollcage, then you'll love this.
GRIP: Combat Racing is a really, really great gift for the fans of the Rollcage series. The game manages to capture an atmosphere of futuristic racing games of the past. But GRIP also inherited all the cons of its predecessor, like broken balance and lack of content.
Review in Russian | Read full review
GRIP has good gameplay mechanics, but the whole game doesn't allow them to truly shine. The issues, even if they are small, pile up and keep repeating often enough to the point that affects the entire experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
GRIP: Combat Racing promises to fall into the first category, bringing justice to an old series of games that have become cult classics themselves. The graphics and physics engine aren't just there just to give the series a facelift, they take what the game advertised as its strong point, speed and death-defying acrobatics and driving, and cranked it up to eleven!
Grip is a content-rich and entertaining arcade racer, but issues with handling and a weak aesthetic may leave players that are not diehard fans of the genre feeling lukewarm.
The combat races and Arena matches are fun, but the straight-on racing is subpar. The courses are detailed and varied, but they're hard to make sense of when going fast. While it's certainly nice to see a throwback to old racing games, especially one with local split-screen, I wish it could have been a game I'd want to break out with friends more often.