Dirt 3 Complete Edition without GFWL and an endurance run in Grid Autosport

So there’s a new version of Dirt 3 roaming around on Steam and it’s completely devoid of the unnecessary and quite frankly, useless, Games for Windows Live (GFWL) service. For those of us on the Desktop, GFWL is just an annoyance and yet another hoop (service) you need to jump through just to play a game. Seems the folks at Codemasters agree and they’ve finally completed the work of ripping GFWL out of Dirt 3. I wish they would do the same for Dirt 2. And don’t tell me Dirt 2 is too old, it’s still a hell of a lot of fun and still looks good. I have the "other" version of Dirt 3 so imagine my surprise when I see the Complete Edition sitting in my Steam account. Not only do we get this new edition at no charge, it comes with all the DLC. Well color me impressed and hand over that game controller because we’re going […]

Back in the driver’s seat of Grid Autosport

I decided to put down the flaming arrows and death touch from Shroud of the Avatar and jump behind the wheel in Grid Autosport. I’ve been away from the racing games too long and the need to speed through a chicane at breakneck speeds has been missing from my life. I’m not sure if I’m ready to face the frustrations of Assetto Corsa just yet, so Autosport it is! I decided the series of the day would be Open Wheel. I’ve done a couple of the other series, but the thrill of being strapped to a large engine with nothing but a couple of pieces of carbon fiber separating us sounded great! But right off the bat something felt wrong. No, the graphics are quite excellent, the controller worked fine and the tracks were nicely rendered. No, it was something with me. I noticed it when I went out for a qualifying lap. I hadn’t been doing the qualifying laps […]

Behind the wheel of a fast automobile – Grid Autosport

Grid Autosport was on sale the other day and it was too tempting a deal to pass up. I’ve got Grid and Grid 2 from Steam as well as Dirt 2, 3 and Showdown and they’re all a hell of a lot of fun to play. Grid Autosport seemed to cause a divide though. Was it too arcade or was it too much simulation? I found it to be wildly entertaining! It is far less arcade style than the previous Grid games and is more closely aligned with the experience you get in F1 2013 or F1 2013. I spent almost all of my time in the Touring discipline and it’s quite challenging. It’s not easy to get and hold a high position in a race. Small mistakes will cost you a ton of time and wildly slinging the car with complete disregard for damage won’t get you anywhere. I saw my chance for an overtake in a tight turn […]