GRIP: Combat Racing changes the game with AirBlades Update

REVIEW by Jon Donnis
I have been playing GRIP for a while now, and the one thing I like most about this game is the fact the creators keep churning out free updates. Whether it is new tracks, weapons, or new vehicles, they have shown a great dedication to keeping the game fresh and interesting.

Well the latest update for GRIP is a whole new vehicle class of anti-gravity racers. Clearly here they are looking at the classic WIPEOUT game on Playstation and wanting to emulate the success of that with similar vehicles.

So you have the classic Rollcage inspired "Rollers" which are the standard vehicles you use, that can drive upside down, and now the new WipeOut inspired"Airblade" vehicles, which are pretty much hovercraft racers. Much like the Rollers, the Airblades can also flip upside down and ride on any surface. But the AirBlade does have one big advantage, when you come to wet surfaces, instead of being slowed down like the Rollers, the Airblades just keep on going, gliding majestically.

Also with this update are brand new levels set in a space backdrop.

The AirBlades are a welcome addition to the game, they do look amazing, but my main gripe here is that they pretty much handle exactly the same as the Rollers, and unfortunately some of the bugs of the game have still not been ironed out, these tend to be the way the camera moves and flips around too much when you flip to a different surface, as well as it not always being very clear which way you are supposed to be going.

If there was one thing that would improve this game massively, it would be more fixed camera angles, as well as it being much clearer the direction of the track. Although the open areas look nice, as soon as you go off track, you are regenerated back onto the track, so it is not like you can go and explore. There is also the issues of collision detection. You can be leading the race, and just as you are about the pass the finish line, you hit one of the posts, and suddenly you are at an instant stop, as the rest of the competitors pass you, and you end up in last, and because it is an instant stop, you have to slowly reverse, turn the vehicle, and then slowly crawl across the finish line. It is incredibly frustrating, and since it doesn't at all feel like you made a mistake, there is little feeling of wanting to try again.

So although the addition of new vehicles, tracks and so on is great. I wish the game creators would fix some of the camera view bugs, and collision detection, which does spoil the racing levels.

I will say however that the arenas are still awesome and one on one death matches are what you will end up playing the most.

Review by Jon Donnis

The Airblades free update is live right now on Steam, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with Nintendo Switch to follow later in May.

GRIP: Combat Racing can be purchased now for console platforms (MSRP $39.99) and PC (MSRP $29.99) – digitally on Steam, the PlayStation™ Store, Xbox Games Store, Nintendo Switch or physically, upright and upside-down at global retail. All players who already own GRIP will receive Airblades as a free update.

In addition to its digital release on Xbox One, GRIP: Combat Racing is available through the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, bringing the title to Xbox players around the world.

Massive post-launch content drop releasing for award-winning supersonic driving game GRIP: Combat Racing

Watford, England – April 4th, 2019 – Wired Productions Ltd., an award-winning independent video games publisher, and developer Caged Element Inc., today reinforced their post-launch commitment to providing continuous support for GRIP: Combat Racing by releasing a stack of new content, including four free new tracks and the introduction of Team Racing and Deathmatch.


Landing Friday April 5th on STEAM, with console to follow over the next two weeks, this new content takes GRIP’s track count to 27, with players now able to choose how they play, with options such as Team Deathmatch, local split-screen racing, 10-player online tournaments, a single-player campaign and the nine point-to-point challenging Carkour mode!

NEW CONTENT KEY FEATURES:

Team Modes (Available on Steam April 5th and later this month on console)

Team racing now takes centre stage with the inclusion of two new modes: Team Racing and Team Deathmatch.

Team Racing - Players can now join either Red or Blue teams to battle it out in any racing mode.  These include: Classic Race, Ultimate, Elimination and Speed Demon. The team with the highest points wins!

Team Deathmatch - The way deathmatch is meant to be played.  Jump on Red or Blue and blast each other away. The team with the highest points wins

*Team modes are supported in multiplayer and in tournament format. Each side (Red and Blue) have a team emblem/sigil to set them apart more and create a better rivalry

Four New Tracks (Available on Steam April 5th and later this month on console)

Mindbender (Haze reverse) (Orbital Prime) (City)

A highly-modified version of Haze reverse. Key sections include a massive jump, tricky S-turn and twisting sewer section

Naptha Valley (Jahtra) (Desert)

Quite possibly the most rollercoaster-y track of all. Set in a resource mining centre, key sections include a mineral deposit cave, large stepped curves of terrain and an indoor facility

Hive Horizon (Orbital Prime) (City)

A beautiful, sunset soaked, gravity-defying city district. Key sections include an affluent block of corporate structures, a big ceiling ride to floor jump and an ascending spiral road

Spin Cycle (Liddo5) (Forest)

Key sections include an open area with nice autumn visuals, tunnel turns perfect for barrel rolls, glass tunnels and an obstacle ridden turn to the finish!

Level Cap

As of April 5th, the level cap has also been increased to 40, with unlocks of paint jobs and new tires for cars. In addition to this Pariah now have coloured paint that can be customized!

Garage Packs 2

($1.99 / £1.69 / €1.99 individual packs. Also available as a money saving bundle) Available on Steam April 5th and later this month on console)

Glow hot with new skins, decals and rims for each manufacture!

The game can be purchased now for console and PC – digitally on Steam, the PlayStation™ Store, Xbox Games Store or physically, upright and upside-down at global retail.

In addition to its digital release on Xbox One, GRIP: Combat Racing is available through the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, bringing the title to Xbox players around the world.

For more information visit http://www.wiredproductions.com

GRIP: Combat Racing’s Big Ass Update Unleashed

Watford, England - January 31, 2019 – Wired Productions Ltd., a leading independent video games publisher, and developer Caged Element Inc., are today pleased to announce that the ‘Big Ass Update’ has arrived on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with the Nintendo Switch release coming close behind.

Hot-on-the-wheels of securing the runner-up spot in the IndieDB www.indiedb.com ‘Players Choice Indie of the Year’, Grip: Combat Racing shows no sign of slow-down thanks to an exciting roadmap of game-transforming content scheduled to roll out over the coming months, including team modes, new vehicles, race courses and as yet unannounced content - sure to wipe out the opposition!

The affectionately titled “Big Ass Update” offers a significant overhaul of the game’s online lobby and matchmaking systems, allowing players to blow each other up and pass the finish line quicker than ever before! Alongside this the game’s AI and catch-up system has been rebalanced, offering a more competitive experience, not only in the game’s single-player campaign but in each and every race.

A breakdown of the Big Ass Update highlights can be found, below:

*Lobby overhauled with new simplified voting mechanics and count down timer
*Catch-up assistance has been rebalanced and can be toggled during the game’s campaign
*AI bots now drive more competitively even when catch-up assistance is turned off
*AI bot vehicles are now selected to be comparable to the player’s vehicle
*Bug fix for AI bot catch-up in MP games
*Resolved issue when displaying split-screen results
*"View to a kill" battle arena is now rebalanced and redesigned
*"Magmatic Core" battle arena now has speed-pads and has been redesigned to prevent insta-death
*Improvements to various tracks’ collisions and performance
*Fixed issues around vehicle customisation
*Improved stability for split-screen tournaments
*Fixed bug preventing players 3 and 4 selecting vehicles in split-screen
*Resolved issue where achievements were incorrectly unlocked when spectating a MP game
*Improved calculations for leaderboard statistics
*Improved how the player’s overall average speed and position are calculated
*Electrical sounds volume is now set correctly
*Improved missile targeting when the target is manoeuvring hard
*Improved missile guidance – missiles now avoid the floor much more often when launching
*Vehicles are now allocated correctly to human players in split-screen events or tournaments

For full notes of the over 100 fixes, please visit https://wiredproductions.com/blogs/news

The game can be purchased now for console and PC – digitally on Steam, the PlayStation™ Store, Xbox Games Store or physically, upright and upside-down at global retail.

In addition to its digital release on Xbox One, GRIP: Combat Racing is available through the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, bringing the title to Xbox players around the world.

REVIEW: GRIP - Xbox One

REVIEW: By Jon Donnis
I like GRIP, this is a fun game, and it is fast, and by fast I mean insanely fast.
This is a classic arcade type racer, that defies the laws of physics at every turn. You start off with your basic vehicle and then as you progress you can upgrade and get better vehicles. As you race you can race on almost any surface, which gives any race a whole new dimension literally.

As I said the game is fast but you never feel like you are not in control. And despite going at hundreds and hundreds of miles per hour, you can always pick up a power up that will give you a further speed boast. And talking of power ups, you can collect various weapons too, homing missiles, shields and so on.

The game play does however have a few flaws, some of the collision detection is annoying, you can go from 500 mph to 0 in an instant, and a couple of times from leading the race I hit the side of the finish line and ended up in last place. But this is nothing they wont be able to fix as various updates and bug fixes are released.

The soundtrack is awesome. As are the graphics.

This is a top game, a lot of fun, and I give it a strong 8/10
REVIEW: By Jon Donnis

Buy from Amazon by clicking here (Opens in a new window)

About the game.
GRIP is a high octane, hardcore combat racer, packing ferocious speed and armed to the teeth with heavy weapons.

Evolved from street racing, the world of GRIP is brutal and cut-throat. Winning the race is never enough, greatness comes from the journey and trail of merciless destruction you unleash upon your rivals.

Scale walls, ceilings and anything else you can get your tyres on to as you master tracks, tricks and perform mind-blowing stunts to race your way across the cosmos. Customise your vehicle, utilise devastating weapons and exploit a destructible environment to ensure not only victory, but the complete annihilation of your opponents.

Use gravity defying physics alongside a bristling arsenal of outlandish weapons, GRIP delivers the fastest, most competitive racing experience ever.

Featuring a killer soundtrack, furious speeds and intense action, GRIP is assured to generate unforgettable gaming moments online, offline or split screen racing and tournaments.

Trailer:

Wired Productions Announces Full Release Date for GRIP: Combat Racing

Watford, England - August 2, 2018 - Wired Productions Ltd., a leading independent video games publisher, and developer Caged Element Inc. today announce that GRIP: Combat Racing – a ferociously fast, futuristic arcade combat racer – will speed onto the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One, the all-in-one entertainment system from Microsoft, Xbox One X, Nintendo Switch™ and Windows PC via Steam® on November 6, 2018. Racers who pre-order through Game in the UK will receive the exclusive Nyvoss Hex Paint Kit, the Vortex Rim Pack, and five pre-order exclusive vehicle decals.

To watch the release date trailer for GRIP: Combat Racing via YouTube, check out the video, below.



“We're getting pretty excited as we near the finish line on GRIP,” said Chris Mallinson, Game Director. “It's been surreal to see this passion project evolve into the intense combat racing experience that players will soon be able to dive into."

GRIP: Combat Racing will see racers hurtling their way around 22 breath-taking tracks across a variety of hostile and foreign worlds, driving one of 15 armoured cars - some swift and agile, while others are brutish and heavily armoured. Players must be merciless; deploying a bristling arsenal of 9 outlandish weapons and power-ups to give them the advantage to take the lead against other fierce competitors. These weapons will allow players to not only target other cars, but also the destructible environments surrounding them.

Inspired by the Rollcage games of the late 90s and backed by a highly-skilled and accomplished team, which includes Rollcage programming veteran, Robert Baker, GRIP: Combat Racing celebrates the re-emergence of blindingly fast arcade combat racers, offering a true, wheel-gripping racing experience - where utter destruction serves one true purpose: be the first to cross the finish line.

Taking full advantage of the current generation of gaming hardware – and benefiting from the potential that comes with building on Unreal® Engine 4, the game accelerates ahead of the racing crowd by offering players gravity-defying physics reaching speeds of over 767 mph - making it the fastest racing game on four wheels. Along with the breakneck speeds and intense action, players will generate countless unforgettable gaming moments – online or offline – with split- screen races and tournaments. Born of the age of street racing, and losing none of its cut-throat nature, it’s not enough to just cross the line in GRIP: Combat Racing; more important is how you got there and how much destruction you have unleashed upon your rivals along the way.

For more information visit http://www.wiredproducions.com
Fans can get the latest news by joining the GRIP: Combat Racing communities on Twitter at @gripvideogame, Facebook at @gripvideogame, via #GRIPCombatRacing, and on Discord.

GRIP feature list and latest 'Cross The Line' trailer

Watford, England - June 7, 2018 - Wired Productions Ltd., a leading independent video games publisher, and up-and-coming developer Caged Element Inc. invite out-of-this-world speed demons to experience GRIP – a ferociously fast, futuristic arcade combat racer – arriving on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one entertainment system from Microsoft, Nintendo Switch™ and Windows PC via Steam® in Autumn 2018. Members of the original team behind the classic arcade combat racer, Rollcage have come together with fans to celebrate the re-emergence of blindingly-fast arcade racers;  offering a true, wheel-gripping racing experience - where utter destruction serves one true purpose: be the first to cross the finish line.

“It’s a dream come true to once again find myself working on another great racing project,” said Robert Baker, principal programmer for GRIP and former lead programmer at Rollcage’s developer, Attention to Detail. “There are so many elements to GRIP that take me back, and I love the true racing experience that Rollcage, and now GRIP, both deliver. GRIP is truly poised to be the spiritual successor to the Rollcage games of the late 90s that so many people loved playing.”

Taking full advantage of the current generation of gaming hardware, GRIP accelerates ahead of the racing crowd by offering players speeds of over 767 mph - making it the fastest racing game on four wheels, across roads, ceilings and anything else players can land their tyres on to. The game will benefit from the enhanced power behind the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, delivering eye-pleasing visuals with spectacular in-game physics and harnessing the potential that comes from building with Unreal® Engine 4.

GRIP will see racers speeding their way around 19 breathtaking tracks across a variety of hostile and foreign worlds. Remaining focused on the task at hand, players must be merciless in their quest to cross the finish line; deploying an arsenal of 11 devastating weapons and power-ups to give them the advantage to take the lead against fierce competitors. From explosive darts, mines, and missiles to shields and turbos, these weapons will allow players to not only target other cars, but the environment surrounding them - blasting their way through structures or collapsing them unexpectedly onto unsuspecting opponents.

Racers can pick from a roster of 15 armoured cars - some swift and agile, while others are brutish and heavily armoured. Modifying further to suit their style, players can also customize each vehicle with an array of varied paint jobs, decals, wheels and other details. More information about the game’s cars, tracks, weapons and other modes - including Carkour and Arena - will be detailed by Wired Productions later this year.

GRIP is currently available in early access on Steam, with a full release planned for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One, Xbox One X, Nintendo Switch and PC later this year.

Combat Racing Turned Upside Down In GRIP

Watford, United Kingdom and Toronto, Canada, 20th March, 2018, Wired Productions Ltd., a leading independent video games publisher, and ground-breaking developer Caged Element Inc. are thrilled to announce that GRIP – the ferociously fast, futuristic combat racer – is set to arrive on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one entertainment system from Microsoft, Nintendo Switch™ and Windows PC via Steam in 2018.

Check out the breathtaking, high speed, adrenaline fuelled announcement trailer:


Fully enhanced for PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, GRIP was inspired by the Rollcage games of the late 90’s and backed by a highly-skilled and accomplished team. Harnessing the power of Unreal® Engine 4 to deliver gravity defying physics alongside a bristling arsenal of outlandish weapons. GRIP delivers the fastest, most competitive racing experience ever. Featuring a killer soundtrack, furious speeds and intense action, GRIP is guaranteed to generate unforgettable gaming moments - online or offline - with nail-biting split screen racing and tournaments.

Evolved from the age of street racing, the world of GRIP is brutal and cut-throat to the core. To win the race is never enough, greatness comes from the journey and the trail of merciless destruction you unleash upon your rivals along the way.

Scale walls, ceilings and anything else you can get your tyres on to... as you master tantalising tracks, tricks and perform mind-blowing stunts to race your way across the cosmos. Customise your vehicle, utilise devastating weapons and exploit a destructible environment to ensure not only victory, but the complete annihilation of your opponents.

“We’re very excited to finally announce our partnership with Wired Productions today,” said Chris Mallinson, Game Director at Caged Element. “GRIP began as a passion project paying tribute to the great Rollcage games and racers of a past era, but it’s now truly transformed into a fully-fledged, futuristic combat racer fit for this generation. We’re extremely proud of the game and can’t wait to unleash it later this year on all platforms.  Combat racing is back, baby.”

“As long-standing fans of Rollcage and the combat racing genre, we’re delighted to sign GRIP and to build our partnership with the incredible team at Caged Element,” said Leo Zullo, Managing Director at Wired Productions. “Born from passion and nostalgia, driven by great minds and taking full advantage of the latest capabilities in both engine and hardware, GRIP is a racer with limitless horsepower and the title to keep your eye on this year.”

GRIP will make its US debut this week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, in South Hall, Booth #1023 (in the UKIE area of the show) and will be available for consumers to get hands on for the first time at PAX East, Booth #20031 (Boston, USA) and EGX Rezzed (London, UK).

GRIP is currently available in early access on Steam, with a fully tuned release planned for PlayStation 4, Xbox One X, Nintendo Switch and PC later this year.

For more information visit http://www.wiredproductions.com