GRID’s control scheme is remotely familiar if you’ve ever played a racing title on the 360 before, and it does feature 360 racing wheel support. Three different preset controller set-ups offer a little bit of change in how you accelerate, brake and shift gears, but otherwise, they remain mostly the same. Instant replay and flashbacks are only a button press or two away at any time, allowing you to quickly correct that mistake that flung you into the turn 3 wall and ruined your race.

The world of GRID is nothing short of fantastic. Environments look lush and realistic, revealing that Codemasters has gone to great depths to recreate real-world settings. Though I’m not totally qualified to speak on behalf of all the tracks, there is one in particular I can comment on. Having grown up in the Detroit area for the last 20 years, and having a photographic memory of how downtown Detroit looks, Codemasters has been able to successfully recreate not only downtown Detroit, but the original F1 street course from the 1980s to near perfection. The damage models on the cars look fantastic in their own right, as parts will hang loose and/or fall off and your paint job will take scrapes and tire marks as you bounce off walls and other competitors. Perhaps most impressively, when you compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you will actually see day turn to night and back to day again, with the world around you changing in response.

Even more impressive are the sound features, and we’re not talking about the cars here. At the game’s open, you can pick from a list of names and nicknames to be called by. Which ever one you pick (in my case, my first name) will be the one your manager and crew chief will call you by during the game. You’re also given routine updates by your crew chief and teammate on how the race is going. For example, your teammate will let you know if he’s behind you or your crew chief will let you know if there’s been a wreck you need to avoid. While it’s not always accurate, it does deliver that extra sense of realism. Depending on what country your teammate is from, their voice will also change to match that country’s accent, another nice little addition.

You can indeed go online with GRID over Xbox Live, with up to 12 players in a single race, participating in either ranked or player matches. You can search specifically for one type of race, or just jump into a quick match. There’s also an option for private races, if you so choose. Deciding what to race in on public servers, though, is done a bit uniquely: first, everyone votes for the region they want to race in, and them the type of event they want to race in. The wonderful TrueSkill system from other Xbox Live titles rears its head here via GRID’s ranking and experience points systems, which oddly makes it feel like Halo 3 in race cars. Minus Needlers and sniper rifles, of course.