GRID Autosport (iOS) - not your average mobile game
GRID Autosport (iOS) – not your average mobile game

A reader takes a look at what aims to be the most advanced driving sim on mobile phones, and all without any loot boxes.

GRID Autosport on iOS is a port of the Codemasters 2014 PC racing game of the same name. It will come to Android too, at some point this year.

GRID Autosport is priced at £9.99, and appears a bit expensive when compared with most iOS games. However, this is a full last generation PC/console game and it contains no paid-for DLC, in-app purchases, or loot boxes.

Unsurprisingly it’s not from EA, but is from Feral Interactive. It includes all the DLC that was released on the PC in the price, making it an incredible bargain for the amount of content.

GRID Autosport includes touring cars, open wheel racers, and street cars; with a lot of car classes, e.g. hyper cars, drift cars, prototype cars. It has a LOT of tracks, and claims 100 different ‘routes’ in many varied locations, as not all are tracks as such.

The game uses touch or tilt controls, both of which worked perfectly. I tested my MFi controller with the game too, and it was my preferred control method. Although I did feel the steering was overly sensitive and really should have a sensitivity slider in options, as there is for tilt controls. I use a Steelseries Numbus wireless controller, which I consider to be the best for iOS.

The gameplay is more simulator than arcade, and is by far the best available on iOS. Any racing fan simply has to get this game. However, gamers wanting a more arcade experience can turn down the difficulty settings for a pretty easy race that is still a lot of fun.

I tested my real-world track performance on Brands Hatch (custom S1 Lotus Exige R with supercharged Honda and very many other race modifications) against broadly similar cars on the same track, and the game was reasonably accurate in lap times, with only a couple of seconds difference at most (real world being quicker) on realistic difficulty settings. The track geometry was virtually perfect. I did notice real-life track texture and level imperfections are not mapped, as in all other simulation games.

The game handling model is by far the best available on mobile. The game is also a lot of fun and exciting to play. But like the real thing, it will bite you if you drive carelessly on realistic difficulty settings.

GRID Autosport is playable on any recent model of iPhone or iPad, and is very demanding of the hardware. But it is also graphically one of the most impressive games available on iOS.

It will heat up your device though, and eat through your battery. I preferred playing it on a 12.9″ iPad Pro using my wireless controller, and it was little different to playing on console or PC with a gamepad. I did try it on my iPhone X too, and it played just as well, but I preferred the larger screen.

The (included) DLC also has an optional high-resolution textures pack, which I had installed. With all the DLC installed, it takes up a sizeable 5.7GB of storage. This is one to install when you are on Wi-Fi!

GC’s review on Xbox 360 is here. It also looks amazing on the smaller screen of an iPad, or especially an iPhone X. This iOS version also includes all the DLC and updates subsequent to GC’s review, including the high-resolution texture pack.

GRID Autosport

In Short: This is the premium mobile racing simulator that real petrolheads have been waiting for.

Pros: Full console/PC game with all DLC content, at a bargain price. Great graphics. Almost perfect port.

Cons: Requires a powerful recent device. MFi controls lack sensitivity setting.

Score: 9/10

By reader KhalsaBlade (gamertag)/Akali (PSN ID)/SW-3292-4519-9214

The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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