As the birthplace of the industrial revolution, Derby is no stranger to acrid fumes and the grinding progress of metal on metal. Perhaps that’s why it’s the place that cars choose to wage war against one another in designated arenas? Grid 2 has now added just such an arena, along with a suitably violent car to smash around in it. Oddly, Codemasters reckon the car-crashing facility is in Detroit but that seems unlikely. If this isn’t taking place in the East Midlands, I’ll eat a carburettor. If you’re still playing Grid 2, it should now contain more destruction. The Masters of Code have also added light modding support but I’ve yet to return to the game to check what that involves. Below you will find culture.

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UPDATE: Oh dear, turns out to be some mobile thing. BETRAYAL.>

The DIRT and GRID games have all been jolly good, accessible fun, but I know a certain contingent of Metal Box Moving At High Speed fans have long rued Codemasters’ retreat from traditional rally games – specifically the once-ubiquitous Colin McRae Rally series. Looks as though mud’n'hatchback fans might be due to have all their Christmases come at once, as the CEO of Codemasters has announced plans to visit all their houses, tie them to a kitchen chair and force-feed them 85 whole turkeys, 340 roast potatoes and 21 pints of gravy each. After that, he might even confirm that there will indeed be a new McRae Rally game, as today’s viral teasing has heavily implied. (more…)

PC people really are clever and dedicated folks. If they’re not inventing new and grotesque ways to contort the G-Man’s face and limbs, they’re making mods for games that have only been out for a few hours. Codemasters didn’t include cockpit views in their enjoyably silly racing-game-with-a-plot, GRID 2. The reason given was that only 5% of people who played the original ever used the in-car cams and “they are expensive to run due to the requirement for high-resolution interior textures which are seen close-up and require a considerable amount of in-game memory (to store) and processing (to render).” Intelligent sorts have already modded the game, adding cockpit views, and, lo, the interiors are indeed low resolution, but there are already folks working to sharpen the whole thing up. Video under the hood.

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I’ve had my suspicions about GRID 2’s narrative since I first played the game, believing the multi-disciplinary racing organisation around which the story is constructed may be a front, concealing something more sinister. Now that I’ve conquered most of the world’s continents by driving around them really fast, I’ve discovered the truth. You can read all about it below.>

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