Ok the only thing I can seem to think of after playing this for about 10 minutes is that this game seems to be suffering from a serious case of identity crisis!
I don't know what Codemasters were thinking when they went on the record to say they'd be aiming this game more for American audiences than previous Race Driver games, but I'm left with a very questionable impression on just how good the final game will be.
I remember when Codemasters were still using the TOCA brand, and my first experience came from playing TOCA 2 Touring Cars on the PS1. I was amazed with how heavy and yet at the same time how delicate the racing on the game felt. You had to be agressive and yet so careful not to smash your car up, and the car damage on TOCA 2 was pretty hefty as well! Very impressive game that still stands well today.
Now we have Race Driver GRID, a game that from what I can tell is trying to create an equality between realism and sheer arcadeyness. The problem is though that neither can sit side by side. I don't want these huge heavy touring cars hitting 60mph in less than 2 seconds, I might as well be playing Wipeout again! The cars seemed pretty destructible but when the game insists on throwing you into such speed so quickly you've got to wonder if the game wants you to go fast or wants you to race carefully. The whole flashback feature definitely puts the game more into the arcade side, giving you some opportunity to be reckless rather than careful. Thumbs down from me! I want to be rewarded for good racing, being an on-track arsehole should be punished.
I don't really know how to put my feelings into words exactly but I know I'm not impressed one bit with the GRID demo, another classic racing series has gone to shit, mind you I thought it'd done that with the first Race Driver game. Perhaps I was expecting too much. 
Anyone else tried the demo out yet?
