A new entry to the Grid series was revealed at the 2021 EA Play Live broadcast. Codemasters, now part of EA, has announced Grid Legends.
Grid Legends will see the racing game series going back with a story mode. The story will follow the adventures of an underdog making their way into the Grid World Series- a series of motorsport competitions across various disciplines from open-wheelers to drifting.
Along the way, you’ll see “fierce personalities, internal team politics and the infamous Ravenwest Motorsport, which hopes to take a sixth World Championship” presented like a “fly-on-the-wall documentary that captures every moment on and off the track”.
That’s right. Ravenwest and their black-and-grey colours are back, and their star driver Nathan McKane now has a face.
This may sound like Codemasters doubling down on story mode like the one seen in this year’s F1 game, F1 2021’s Braking Point mode. Or even the F1 Netflix documentary series Drive To Survive.
But if you look way back, this is more of a throwback to the TOCA Race Driver series from the PS2, which features a cutscenes-heavy story mode that also has a McKane in its cast of characters. That series evolved into the still-fantastic Race Driver Grid in 2008, before later only be referred to as Grid. Until the 2019 reboot, that is.
Gameplay-wise, Grid Legends will be introducing two new city locations for its street tracks, London, Moscow and Strada Alpina. Real-life tracks like Brands Hatch and Indianapolis, as well as other city locations that have been a Grid series staple like San Francisco, will also return.
There will also be more events, including “electric car events with boosts gates” which, depends on who you ask, may sound like Mario Kart or Formula E. Players can do multi-class races (not a Stadia-exclusive feature no more). Want to drive a big-hauling racing truck against light, tiny open-wheelers? It’s a death wish in real life but hey, you can do that safely in a video game.
Grid Legends will be out sometime in 2022 for the PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.