Review for The Grand Tour Game. Game for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 15/01/2019
The Grand Tour, the acclaimed show streamed on Amazon Prime Video it is born, if we want to say so, from the rib of the equally famous Top Gear of the BBC, from which it inherits a certain setting and also three historical presenters: Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson.
Such a format would lend itself perfectly to a racing game a little over the top, they must have thought in babies Amazon Game Studios, and so the idea for The Grand Tour Game.
The Grand Tour Game doesn't look like any other racing game. In its main intentions there would be (with the conditional, and then we will explain why) the intention to propose to users a sort of interactive TV show, where they can enjoy an episode of the series in the almost complete entirety, being then called to get behind the wheel in real driving sessions.
The idea itself is not bad at all, so much so that in the first test session we faced in order to review the game we were so excited by the intro and by the first, gigantic "cutscene" - practically the initial part of the first episode - so much so that we didn't realize that at a certain point, it was up to us to drive a custom-built car at breakneck speed in the Californian desert: almost a sort of hide-and-seek with our other two fellow presenters, to see who had arrived first under the gigantic stage set up for the presentation of the series.
The initial distraction cost us a meager third place, but we were given a chance to try again if we wanted to. Not that it was necessary given that, at least in the early stages of the game, the result only affects our “curriculum” as drivers, while the episode continues undaunted, giving us access to the subsequent driving sessions equally.
Each driving session, always rigorously taken directly from the episode in progress, often puts us in front of, in addition to the classic races, a certain type of challenge to overcome whether it is drifting in a tamarro way for as long as possible or finishing a clean turn, without touching tangs or pins of any kind. And then of course there are also the classic timed challenges. All seasoned with the shrewd comments of the presenters in charge, which often creates some really hilarious situations, as it seems that they really are there to see your proof, and your ineptitude, if that is the case.
The driven parts are very arcade setting: accelerator, brake, skid button and automatic gearbox. Our only concern is to drive at breakneck speed without worrying too much about the rest. A simple game, which doesn't even pretend to want to be more serious. A sort of kart game in an extra-luxury version, complete with a key for special effects (from the simple NOS to the release of a slimy puddle on the asphalt to make the opponents skid), absolutely more than enjoyable in its competitive mode with split included screen.
Unfortunately, however, all this is not enough to make The Grand Tour Game an attractive title. The game in fact has some critical issues, especially regarding the physics of collisions and damage to our car (non-existent or almost) that make the game experience very boring and inconclusive, as soon as the initial amazement has passed. Furthermore, net of all the sumptuous cutscenes that pepper each episode, the real playing time is really paltry. In practice we find ourselves in front of ten minutes of film to then face a test of three minutes at most; if we add that, at the moment only a few episodes are available (hopefully others will be added in the future), even on the longevity front we are not there at all.
Of course, the car models, the graphics in general and the sound are not bad at all, quite the opposite! Unfortunately, however, they are not enough to give enough vitality to the game. The purely arcade part is also a lot of fun, at least in a first period but, given that it is plagued by the same technical problems as the "story" mode, it fails to infuse life into the game as a whole.
A real shame given that the starting idea is really very good: the drama of The Grand Tour Game is that it seems to be done too quickly, without too much attention, as if to bet everything on the long wave of success of the show itself.
The Grand Tour Game is therefore a missed opportunity for the new Amazon gaming section. A bombastic game at first, but one that gets lost quickly, too quickly! A great idea, even as a basic game setup, but it needs more (and not a little) work to become really interesting.
► The Grand Tour Game is a racing type game for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 15/01/2019
