The Grand Tour Game
The Grand Tour Game is an episodic racing video game developed and published by Heavy Iron Studios and Amazon Game Studios for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is based on the Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour. It covers the first episode of Series 1 and Series 2 and released a new episode of the game simultaneously with each episode of Series 3. This is Amazon's first video game for the two consoles.[2]
The Grand Tour Game | |
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Developer(s) |
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Publisher(s) | Amazon Game Studios |
Engine | Amazon Lumberyard |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
Release | 15 January 2019[1] |
Genre(s) | Racing game |
Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
The game was first announced on 21 August 2018 by Amazon and later on DriveTribe, and over the coming months, several trailers were released. The game was launched on 15 January 2019, three days before the third season was due to start on Amazon Prime.
Upon release, The Grand Tour Game received moderate reviews from critics, with praise for the vehicles featured, location present, being appealing to fans of the show, gadgets available to use and the transitions between episodes and gameplay, but criticism for the basic challenges and driving controls. Despite this, fans of the show have given more positive feedback towards the game.
In June 2020, the game was delisted from the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store and Amazon.
Gameplay
The game allows the player to experience an episode of The Grand Tour,[3] but some sections of the program are replaced with 'Scenes', challenges which the player completes. The aim of the game is to collect medals from the Scenes, awarded based on the performance of the player. These rewards, from best to worst, are the Gold Medal, Silver Medal, Bronze Medal[4] and The 'Toilet Flush', if the game deems the performance particularly poor.[5] Scenes usually involve driving the cars which appear in The Grand Tour's episodes, in doing various challenges (like racing or top speed targets). However, some challenges involve taking a photo, completing a puzzle, or in the episode ‘Pick Up Put Downs’ the player can control a certain gun.[6] Most episodes have between 14 and 15 Scenes,[7] although this varies dramatically for some episodes.
Most Scenes are similar to what happens in their respective episodes, although some Scenes have been altered or omitted due to licensing restrictions.[8] For example, the segments from Series 3, Episode 10, where James May drives the Toyota Yaris GRMN, or when Jeremy Clarkson drives the McLaren Senna are not available in the game. The game features voice-overs from the presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, as well as from professional driver Abbie Eaton. Alongside the single-player mode, the game also has a local multiplayer split-screen mode where 1-4 people can race with cars of their choice on the various tracks in the game.[5]
Episodes
Series 1
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Vehicles Featured | Scenes | Release Date |
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1 | 1 | "The Holy Trinity" | Galpin Rocket, Roush Stage 3, Shelby GT350R, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, LaFerrari, BMW M2, Ferrari 488 GTB | 15 | 15 January 2019 |
Series 2
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Vehicles Featured | Scenes | Release Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 1 | "Past, Present, or Future" | Honda NSX, Rimac Concept One, Lamborghini Aventador S | 11 | 15 January 2019 |
Series 3
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Vehicles Featured | Scenes | Release Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 1 | "Motown Funk" | Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, Hennessey Exorcist, RTR Spec 3, McLaren 720S Coupe[note 1] | 16 | 18 January 2019 |
4–5 | 2–3 | "Colombia Special Parts 1 & 2" | Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Fiat Panda, Jeep Wrangler Sahara | 26 | 26 January 2019 |
6 | 4 | "Pick Up Put Downs" | Mercedes X-Class, Ford Ranger, Volkswagen Amarok, 'Popmobile'[note 2] | 14 | 1 February 2019 |
7 | 5 | "An Itchy Urus" | Alpine A110[note 3]Lamborghini Urus, Porsche 911 Turbo S, Ford Cortina Lotus, Lotus Type 38, Lotus Type 25 | 12 | 8 February 2019 |
8 | 6 | "Chinese Food For Thought" | NIO EP9, BMW 750iL, Cadillac Seville STS, Mercedes-Benz W140 600L, Fulu A7 | 10 | 15 February 2019 |
9 | 7 | "Well Aged Scotch" | Alfa Romeo GTV6, Fiat X1/9, Lancia Gamma Coupe, BMW M5, BMW Alpina B5 Birturbo | 14 | 22 February 2019 |
10 | 8 | "International Buffoons Vacation" | Alumi Craft Class 10 ('Spaniel Jumper'), Jake's Fabworks JF5U ('Jeremy's Jumper'), 'Plastic Pickup', Winnebago Chieftain, National RV Tropical ('May's RV'), Fleetwood Pace Arrow ('Clarkson's RV'), International Harvester S-Series ('International Trucks') | 13 | 1 March 2019 |
11 | 9 | "Aston, Astronauts and Angelina's Children" | Aston Martin Vantage, Bentley Bentayga, 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, 1967 Chevrolet Corvette, Citroën C3 Aircross, De Tomaso Pantera GTS | 15 | 8 March 2019 |
12 | 10 | "The Youth Vote" | Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborghini Countach, Ford Fiesta ST, Volkswagen Polo GTI[note 4] | 14 | 15 March 2019 |
13 | 11 | "Sea to Unsalty Sea" | Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, Bentley Continental GT, BMW M850i, Renault 9 | 15 | 22 March 2019 |
14 | 12 | "Legends and Luggage" | Lancia Delta Futurista, Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Porsche 917K-Chassis 015, electric suitcase | 12 | 29 March 2019 |
15 | 13 | "Survival of the Fattest" | Flat Pack car/John[note 5] | 17 | 5 April 2019 |
16 | 14 | "Funeral for a Ford" | Ford Cortina Mk I, Ford Cortina Mk II, Ford Cortina Mk III, Ford Mondeo ST Estate, Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500, Ford Lotus Cortina Rally | 14 | 12 April 2019 |
- The McLaren Senna was replaced with the McLaren 720S Coupe from Series 2, Episode 4
- The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 was replaced with a car covered in bubble wrap and packing tape, titled the 'Popmobile'
- The Alpine A110, reviewed by James May, was not present upon release of the episode, but was released on 8 March 2019
- The Toyota Yaris GRMN, driven by James May, is not available in the game.
- In this episode, Clarkson, Hammond and May assemble a car from flat packed parts parachuted from a helicopter,[9] hence the name Flat Pack car.
Reception
On the review website Metacritic, the game was awarded a score of 52/100 for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, indicating “mixed or average reviews”. Metacritic user reviews for the PS4 were labelled as “mixed or average reviews” with a rating of 5.8/10, based on 13 reviews, but user reviews on the same website for the Xbox One were labelled as “generally favourable reviews” with a rating of 8.0/10, based on 7 reviews.
Martyn Stanley of DriveTribe gave the game four stars out of five, commenting that “merged media is a really interesting idea.” [10][11]
References
- "The Grand Tour Game release date and how it links to season 3". metro.co.uk. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- Lumb, David (21 August 2018). "Amazon turned its 'The Grand Tour' TV series into a racing game". Engadget. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- Nick Summers (23 August 2018). "'The Grand Tour Game' is a near-perfect mirror of the show". Engadget. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- Alex Simmons (23 August 2018). "THE GRAND TOUR GAME'S AMBITION IS GREATER THAN ITS EXECUTION - GAMESCOM 2018". IGN. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- Oli Welsh (17 January 2019). "The Grand Tour Game is a bad game, but an interesting vision for interactive TV". Eurogamer. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- Rob Gordon (21 January 2019). "The Grand Tour Game Review: Not Quite Worth The Visit". Screen Rant. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- Vincent, Brittany; Vincent, Brittany (8 January 2019). "'The Grand Tour Game' Puts Emphasis On Fun, 'Playing the Show'". variety.com. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- Price, Ronan. "The Grand Tour Game review: Hybrid lacks horsepower". Independent.ie. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- McKellar, Sean. "'Survival of the fattest' – The Grand Tour Series 3 Episode 13 Preview". MotoringBox. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
- "Game Review: The Grand Tour Game brings interactive TV to Amazon". metro.co.uk. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- "The Grand Tour Game review (updates)". driving.co.uk. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.