Grip: Combat Racing is a fast-paced racing game with meaty vehicles racing on gravity-defying circuits. The game is like a heavy-metal Mario Kart with power-ups that include guns, rockets, shields and boosts. The developers have just released the Vomit Racing upgrade that allows the game to be played in VR.

Grip, when played flat (us groovy VR peeps term for non-VR gaming), is alright. It’s got shades of Wipeout, the circuits are good fun and the visuals nice to look at. But it’s a game that’s easily overlooked. It’s the sort of game that you pick up in a Steam sale because it sounds like a good idea, but you never play it.

I wonder if the developers, when they’d finished it, though the same way. It’s good, but it lacks that special source. It’s your Red Rooster, when you wanted KFC.

VR is Grip’s special sauce, and it’s bloody spicy.

People say that graphics aren’t everything in a game. Apart from Broforce, I don’t agree, I think graphics are pretty important. But I get the sentiment. Good graphics can make a so-so game palatable.

VR, however, can make a decent futuristic vehicular combat racing game absolutely fantastic. Grip is fast, and billion times faster and more mental in VR.

I started out with the third person view, which was alright, but it was only when I changed to the first-person/cockpit view that I thought “bloody hell”. See, the vehicles in Grip can flip right over and carry on going, which also flips the camera. They can drive along walls and up/down vertical inclines at breakneck speeds. With a Vive Cosmos VR headset on it’s a full-on sensory onslaught.

Having obtained my VR “legs” a while ago, I don’t get motion sickness. I can imagine a few VR softies going a bit green playing Grip. The developers have retained some instrumentation/visual cues to help the feeble hold down the contents of their stomachs. Which is good, cos otherwise they’d be missing out of a spectacular and outrageous VR racer.

All of the game’s modes are available in VR, the developers have just used it as a different display method rather than a botched together gimmick. This means you can play the all the single-player modes and online.

Grip has a variety of different event types. Classic race is a racing to the finish, but with all the power-ups, whereas ultimate race awards drivers points for combat as well. Elimination is a race were every 30 seconds the last vehicle gets eliminated. Speed daemon is a straight race with no power-ups. There’s also a time trial mode.

As well as racing, players can partake in a deathmatch arena, with the last man standing being the winner. The carfour mode is an interesting assault course to test drivers’ skill.

There is also a campaign mode. This consists of a series of tournaments featuring events from the different game modes.

As a 2D game, Grip is a lot of fun. There’s lots to do and the racing requires concentration right down to the wire. The circuits are absolutely bonkers, defying the laws of physics at every turn.

In virtual reality, Grip: Combat Racing is another beast entirely. The lighting fast racing, wall / ceiling running vehicles and vertical track design make for a nigh on perfect futuristic VR racing game.

The post Grip: Combat Racing – Vomit Racing Edition (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Award-winning independent video games publisher Wired Productions together with leading developer Caged Element Inc. are delighted to announce the surprise launch of GRIP: Combat Racing VR.

Available today via Steam for Windows PC and free for all GRIP: Combat Racing owners, GRIP VR will allow players to enjoy the complete GRIP experience via their compatible virtual reality headset complete with the game’s signature mind blowing speeds and more barrel roll manoeuvres than a professional air show.

Inspired by Rollcage, and in partnership with key development team members from the original Rollcage, GRIP: Combat Racing has continued to fuel the racing appetite of arcade gamers around the world.

A return to the hardcore combat scene of the 90s, bristling with heavy weapons and packing ferocious speed, the game is an intense, sensory feast. With a dedicated community and player numbers continually growing, GRIP: Combat Racing has seen a huge amount of content and updates since launch, with constant optimisation, new tracks and new playing modes having already been introduced.

GRIP: Combat Racing with VR is available on Steam right now.

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