GRIP: Combat Racing Reviews
GRIP: Combat Racing is a good action game and a better racing one. Though there are some technical issues in gameplay, the end result is quite enjoyable and satisfying.
Review in Persian | Read full review
It is, at times, sluggish and frustrating, but those moments pass by as quickly as your opponents after you take a missile to your backend. GRIP: Combat Racing fulfils its duty as being an engaging, fast, and unforgiving racer.
The gravity mechanics are certainly cool to see, but they aren't exactly innovative or game changing enough to overcome the shortcomings after the initial allure wears off.
Overall, GRIP Combat Racing is a fantastic spiritual successor to Rollcage racing that doesn't just pay tribute to the series, but also carves out its own nuances. It's a highly intense and visceral experience, which pulls no punches in terms of both its challenge and its depth. The visuals are amongst some of the best within the arcade racer genre, whilst the soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment for the action on track. Better still, the handling is surprisingly detailed and easy to appreciate in conjunction with the imaginative tracks, which are full of gravity-defying labyrinths and heart-stopping jumps. The lack of in-air weight-balance modification and performance enhancing upgrades is slightly disappointing but, overall, the fundamentals are so addictive that these minor drawbacks are neither here nor there. GRIP Combat Racing is a highly concentrated experience, with a wealth of single-player content that's only complemented by its multiplayer components. Brilliant.
Grip: Combat Racing not only brings back the exciting racing gameplay of the highly underrated Rollcage series, it manages to make it even more enjoyable.
Let us talk about the racing itself. It’s fast, hella fast! Your car can get up to high 700 mph fast!! Even Sonic can’t hold a candle to that. The beauty of Grip is that the race can go in many directions, as there is no one direct path to make it through a course. With the ability to your vehicle up virtually any walls and onto the ceiling, you can find yourself in the middle of a race and see someone above you, or on the wall beside you. This is a refreshing way to race in a time where most racing games are cut and dry.
GRIP: Combat Racing is a well-made futuristic racing game pumped full of adrenaline that doesn't really have much competition. If you want to race at 800 km/h, you're at the right place. Welcome back, Rollcage!
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Grip: Combat Racing is a game that should be a rousing success on paper given the capabilities of the race cars; sadly it’s doesn’t really feel like it’s captured the essence of what made Rollcage so great almost 20 years ago.
GRIP: Combat Racing is an entertaining racer for the Nintendo Switch. It isn’t the best racing title the system has to offer, but as a tribute and a throwback to arcade racers of the old days, it certainly succeeds in achieving its goal.
Full of good ideas, but less than stellar execution
While GRIP may not be everything you could hope for in a combat racer it also nails some crucial elements when you play the right modes that make it worthwhile. Perhaps it tried a little too hard to find a more broad appeal with modes that are more focused on racing, and though changing up your vehicles to match the mode can help quite a bit in general the straight racing simply isn’t anywhere near as fun as when you’re trying to wreck your opponents. I’d be fascinated to see what they’d do with a sequel if they focused on the elements that worked well and expanded them and perhaps expended a little less effort on trying to be a racing title.
There are still several issues that need to be ironed out but GRIP: Combat Racing isn’t a terrible game. In fact, with a few necessary fixes, it could definitely become something rather special
The actual gameplay of GRIP: Combat Racing is pretty entertaining. That it supports local multiplayer makes it an ideal game to play with some friends, and the easy-to-pick-up nature of the game is almost begging for some party play. That being said, the actual career mode is mostly cosmetic in progression and the number of tracks is a bit light, with even fewer really good tracks out of that collection. Some nice twists on race modes help to provide some variety to those same repeating tracks, but that sameness when mixed with somewhat shallow modes and options and an average presentation kept GRIP from being so compelling that I have to play it often or over very long stretches of time. It is a fun experience, if a somewhat shallow one.
"Needs more grip and multiple players."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Grip: Combat Racing is a content filled tribute to a fan favourite racer from the good ol’ days. If you liked Rollcage, you’ll likely love Grip. Slick combat, fast racing, splendid visuals and a pumping soundtrack from the likes of Hospital Records including Full Kontact and Mart-E that’s driving you ever forward, it’s a joy to play…eventually. The track design and it’s lack of obvious visual clues on where to go next, however, make the first few hours with Grip a litany of crashes against its unpolished edges.
Grip is a solid racing title providing many ways to compete with more traditional options or with some exciting competitive modes.
So final thoughts, this is a great racer for the Nintendo Switch or any system you choose to buy the game on, with plenty to dig into. I found the learning curve was just about right, and there was plenty to unlock and achieve. I am hoping that the developers keep pumping out more tracks and content over time, even allow community created tracks if the sales are there, which they should be. I can truly say this game is well worth picking up.
There aren’t a ton of futuristic racing games on the Switch, and Grip delivers the goods with high-speed frenetic action.
While Grip is a fun, unique and fresh racing game, audiovisual problems lowers the score by a good margin.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
GRIP is a great speed racer with a big nod to favourites of years past, breathing new life into the genre, and its well worth adding it to your game collection.