by Forza Horizon 5, a giant ACC update, F1 2021 and many more. The year of 2021 definitely delivered in terms of great racing games across the board, but today we’ll pull out our Crystal ball and have a deep look into the future. Let’s see what awaits us in 2022 and beyond.
Grid Legends
First up, we have a game from one of the best known developers for SimCAT games out there. Obviously, we are talking about Codemasters, and no, we are not talking about F1, at least not yet. Instead, we are talking about Grid Legends, the newest entry in the long running Grid series. With Grid Legends, the series is attempting to develop its racing catalog, further adding fun events like drift challenges into the mix alongside the normal races. Not all of them will be done with your run of the mill Castle, as even trucks, electric cars with a boost feature and concept cars are in the game.
Be mindful, though, that Grid is a game developed for the gamepad, so don’t expect too much of a simulation here, but in the end we’re still talking about Cody, so most of you probably already knew that the main selling point for the new title will be its story mode, which is reminiscent of the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive. This mode will take you on your driver’s journey, mixing live actors with in-game sequences, and it already looks promising, but if the story holds up will be a completely different discussion once the game launches.
But as the Grid series is the successor of the Toka touring car games, we can expect greatness as those were known for their good stories. You can give Codemasters News Title a shot on February 25 on what’s on basically everything you would normally play a racing game on.
Gran Turismo 7
Next up on the list is a title many are hyped for since the announcement of the PlayStation 5, GT 7. Five whole years, that’s how long we’ve waited for the new iteration of the Gran Turismo franchise, but the wait is finally over, coming to an end in March of 2022. The latest game in the 25 year long history of the PlayStation exclusive franchise is called Gran Turismo 7, and will have one of the largest selections of cars ever seen in a game. Its predecessor, GT Sport, had 170 different vehicles available to the player already, but GT 7 dwarfs that number. Over 420 will be available to the player at launch, but a big selection of star cards wouldn’t be that exciting, would it?
What would a Gran Turismo game be without tuning? Well, it would be Sport, but as a title with a number behind the Gran Turismo, tuning will be back on the menu, and tuning isn’t the only thing you can do to your favorites. Cleaning them up and performing oil changes are also mechanics that are making their return. What more can you hope for? Used cars?
Maybe those are also back, so why not buy a secondhand car with all its charm, benefits and detriments? After all the positivity, there’s a small issue you ought to be aware of. The game won’t really be playable without the player being online. Even things like the campaign or the livery editor will only be available while you’re plugged into the World Wide Web. If this isn’t a problem for you, though, the release is just around the corner, with March the fourth being the date for the PlayStation 5.
No worries though. It is also available for everyone who wasn’t lucky in the lottery that is buying a new console thanks to a simultaneous release on the PS Four as well.
F1 2022
While staying on the topic of Codemasters, we also can be excited for the yearly release of the new F1 game. While we don’t have any info regarding the release or new features, we can be sure that they won’t miss out on publishing a new game this year. This will be the second time that the game will be published by EA. We can expect more influence from EA site this year round, as they only took over Code Masters towards the latter stages of the F1 2021 development, in which regard this will impact the game won’t be known until we have got more info. Maybe they will even switch the whole engine to EA’s in-house Frostbite engine to make the game look even more realistic. An engine switch would come at an opportune time, as a lot is changing in the real world of Formula One, with different looking cars and more importantly, different feeling cars.
There never was a better time for such a switch, but at most we can look forward to an updated roster, some graphical improvements, and the by now well known F One feeling. The release will probably be around the summertime for all current Gen consoles and the PC.
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown
You’ve likely heard already about this one, as the announcement caused quite an uproar. The dearly beloved Test Drive franchise finally gets a continuation in form of Test Drive unlimited Solar Crown. With its last title having been released way back in 2012, we are more than excited to finally dive back into the series. This time we’ll be driving through and around Hong Kong Island in a beautiful open world, the map being a one to one recreation of the real world location. Not much is known so far about the gameplay itself, but developer Kylaton describes the game as an MMO where you will be able to drive around with other players and have races against them basically anywhere.
Also, it is supposed to build on the fundamentals of the WRC series and use a very similar handling model, so we at least have a direction for the handling of the cards, even though in this game you will spend a lot more time on tarmac than on dirt. Features like the casino will be back in full swing, so if driving isn’t enough for you, there’s also the possibility of spending hours and hours on gambling. You need the money to afford all those luxury homes and cars somehow, I guess, but you will have to wait a little bit longer until you can finally cruise through Hong Kong. With the release being later in the year on September 22 for basically everything, even the Nintendo Switch.
Dakar Desert Rally
What kind of year would it be without a rally title? Probably not a complete one, and that’s why we are getting Dakar Desert Rally later this year. Out of all the titles on this list, the chances are high that this is the one you’ve never heard before, so let’s change that. On paper, the game already looks quite promising. It is based on the relic car and offers the possibility of driving not only relic cars, but also trucks and ATVs.
A cool feature to look out for is the possibility of towing other drivers that have crashed and bringing them with you to the next checkpoint. Hopefully this will be you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours kind of situation. The biggest question Mark is probably the developer Saber Interactive isn’t widely known for rally games with Mud Runner and Snow Runner. They have some experience with drugs in difficult situations, but nothing that shines in the racing Department. If they keep up the high quality of their previous titles, though, we will no doubt get a great game. With the release only giving us 2022 so far, they still have some time left to finish up the game and hopefully vowels later on down the line.
Forza Motorsport 8
The last big one we are all looking forward to is the new Forza Motorsport, this time without a number, but for everyone who is still keeping count, it would be number 8. Information is really sparked around Microsoft’s biggest racing game series, but we already had the release of Forza Horizon Five last year, so we can’t be too disappointed. The chances that we get a release sometime in the near future are good though, as Microsoft shows up with a new teaser at basically every big event and no news of big delays have surfaced.
As of right now, the game itself will build once again on the tried and tested Forza Motorsport groundwork. This time, however, the game can be developed for more powerful hardware. It will be released for the Xbox, PC and if Microsoft continues to trend, it will likely be on game pass from day one.
Need For Speed 2023
One title that was in theory supposed to be released during 2021 was need for Speed. A new release for the long running franchise was due to come out every two years, with Speed being the latest entry in 2019; it can’t be much longer till the new one arrives. Yes, we know that NFS Hot Pursuit Remastered launched in 2020, but that one barely counts. Publisher EA have already clarified that the next entry into the series will release 2023, as the developer Criterion Games had to help out with the development of their shooter Battlefield 2042. What’s one more year of waiting when 2022 is already dispacked with other exciting titles, am I right? Raytracing has always been a dream of any gamer worth their salt. Now, that dream is possible with the help of the MVP. When you assemble PC from them, not only do you get the best deals, but amazing professional support that ensures you’re able to get the best performance possible.
