Smashing: Demolition Derby returning to GRID 2 as free update

I’m hopeful that “more liveries” means I can update my Clown Car to something even jazzier.

We had Ubisoft Video Day earlier this week, and it’s now apparently Codemasters News Day because – other than the F1 2013 release date – we’ve just heard about a series of updates coming to GRID 2.

The biggest news is perhaps that Demolition Derby mode – absent since GRID 1 – will be returning to GRID 2 in a free update. This was reportedly never in the original plan and so there’s no real release date available, but the team are currently working on it. This will be available completely free, whenever it turns up.

Secondly, Codemasters alerted us to a Community Patch, focused on addressing the complaints of the community, that they’re planning on releasing in August. This patch has… rather a lot of changes, so forgive me if I try to speed through them.

• Custom Playlists will give more experience and money so that players don’t feel penalised for not wanting to do Online Playlists.
• A Hardcore Playlist will be added which turns off flashbacks, turns on full mechanical damage, and prioritises race events on circuits.
• The level cap will be raised from 30 to 99.
• Fastest lap times will display on the race results screen when playing online.
• New designs will be made available for use in the livery editor, including some that the AI used in single-player.
• The maximum lap cap will be raised from 5 to 10 so that players can enjoy longer races.
• Only 51% of the lobby have to veto an event type or location to skip it.
• A player’s country flag will be displayed next to their name plate while racing, and on the event results screen.
• The amount of money for a clean race will be increased.
• The “level up box” at the end of each race can be skipped.
• The anti-cheat system has been updated, hopefully preventing impossible times and scores on the leaderboards.

And, most importantly (if you watched our IncGamers Plays videos and heard about our tribulations with the in-game voice system):

• YOU CAN MUTE YOUR OWN MICROPHONE.

Whew. Codies expect the Community Patch to hit sometime in August, but that’s subject to change.

Personally, I’ve been looking for an excuse to get back into GRID 2 – I rather enjoyed it, after all – so I might have to give this a proper look if I get time in August. Fingers crossed!