GRIP: Combat Racing + Artifex Car Pack (DLC)

GRIP: Combat Racing is a high-speed armoured vehicle racer that leans hard into physics-defying track design. Cars stick to walls and ceilings thanks to their all-wheel grip system, which means a circuit can loop, invert, and barrel-roll in ways that would make a normal racing game fall apart. The result is something that feels genuinely unlike most modern racers - closer to the old Rollcage games than anything in the current market, which is exactly the spiritual successor Caged Element was going for. If you never played Rollcage, the short version is: fast cars, wild tracks, and weapons that punish anyone daring to lead the pack. The combat side is real, not decorative. Weapons get picked up from pads scattered around the circuit, and the roster covers the usual spread - missiles, guns, mines - used aggressively enough that a comfortable lead can evaporate in the final straight. Single-player covers a campaign mode with tiers of events, plus time trials and arcade modes if you want to chase leaderboard times without getting blown up. The 29 circuits range from clean open desert to narrow industrial tunnels, and the ceiling-riding mechanic means the same bend can approach you from an entirely different angle on the third lap once muscle memory kicks in. For a Saturday night group session, GRIP holds up well. Split-screen PvP is in, which is increasingly rare in racing games and worth calling out. Online supports up to 10 players, so you can run full lobby chaos if your friends list cooperates. The Artifex Car Pack that bundles here adds additional vehicles with their own handling profiles, giving you a bit more variety to sort out who drives what before a local session. The game supports full controller input and was designed with pad play in mind, so you are not penalised for not owning a wheel setup. That said, if you do have a wheel, it functions - though the arcade physics mean you are not going to get the same mileage out of force feedback as you would in a sim. The downsides are worth being honest about. The online playerbase has thinned out since launch, so finding populated lobbies outside peak hours can be a grind - Remote Play Together helps bridge that gap for couch-style sessions with friends who are not in the same room. The visual style is functional rather than spectacular, and some of the earlier circuits feel samey before the track design starts getting adventurous. The handling model rewards memorisation over instinct, which means the first couple of hours might feel punishing for casual players who just want to pick up and drive. Stick with it past that hump and it clicks. Bottom line: if your group has fond memories of mid-nineties combat racers and wants something that rewards repeat play without demanding a sim rig, GRIP delivers the chaos reliably. It is not trying to be Forza, and that restraint is exactly why it works.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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