GRIP: Combat Racing Combat racing at full throttle

The cars in GRIP do not care which way is down. Hit a curve at speed and you can ride straight up a wall, flip onto the ceiling of a tunnel and keep the pedal down while the world spins around you. The tracks are built for it: catch-nets and curved surfaces let you carry speed where a normal racer would force you to brake, and flat sections are the places that actually demand a slowdown. Wheeled and airborne vehicles both handle the upside-down driving, so you can pick the feel you like. One moment you are upside down at full throttle, the next a bump sends you tumbling and the reset button is your friend. It takes a few races to get the hang of, and then it clicks.

Nine power-ups sit on the track, from shields and turbos to rail-guns, missiles and explosive darts, each with an alternate fire mode. The pickups are not random: fall behind and the game hands you heavier firepower, lead the pack and you get more shields to keep it. Some weapons reward timing rather than a quick trigger. One missile curves loosely and works best for spinning a rival off an edge; another fires in a line and shines on narrow loops, if you shoot it while still moving fast. You can even outrun most missiles if your speed is high enough. Racing and shooting at 500mph takes some practice, but landing a hit that sends a car cartwheeling off the track never stops being satisfying.

Thirty armored vehicles fill the roster, from swift and agile to brutish and heavily armed, so your car choice shapes how you race. You level up as you play and unlock paint jobs, decals, tires and rims to make your ride your own. The racing itself spans 29 tracks across four exotic planets: hostile icy worlds, alien cities and the outer reaches of space. Beyond the races there are 19 point-to-point Carkour runs, where you beat the clock, dodge obstacles and hunt for new pathways. And all of it runs to a 24-track licensed electronic soundtrack, techno, trance and a lot of drum n bass, which suits a game about driving on ceilings exactly as well as you would hope.

GRIP is at its best with people in the room. Split-screen seats up to four players on one screen, and the race settings are yours to bend: toggle the catch-up assist, change engine output, set bot difficulty, or turn rubber-banding off entirely if you want a pure contest. Online, you can build your own tournament and fill the grid with up to ten players, or battle it out in team racing and deathmatch modes across five arena maps. Rounds are short and loud, so a losing streak never lasts long and a grudge match is always one restart away. Expect shouting, stolen wins and at least one race where someone rides the ceiling past the finish line.