GripShift: Is It Worth the Tenner?

First off, I own and played GripShift for the PSP.  I love it.  I really like the level editor to build race or challenge tracks.  The original game is very good.  The only thing is that it won't satisfy racing fans.  It's more of a puzzle game, in-fact.

GripShift for the PS3 at the Playstation Shop is nearly identical to the original in gameplay.  I noticed the cars are just slightly easier to handle.  The challenges are ranked correctly, from Beginner to Insane difficulty.  All of the modes are there, almost.

The most missed aspect is the track editor.  Is this how they'll bleed another $10 out of me?  It's hard to say.  The game, like the PSP version, has a credit system that unlocks features at preset levels.  So far, I have only unlocked cars, driver characters, hood decals, and music from the playlist.  In the PSP, it unlocked track parts in the editor.  I have no idea if it will unlock a track editor.

The game is very much worth it, though.  Once again, you have something like 150 combined between races and challenge tracks.  The songlist is huge, once unlocked.  The cars and graphics look much nicer and detailed in the PS3 version.  There are a lot of hours of gameplay here, more than ten bucks worth, in my opinion.

There are extras to the PS3 version.  There are some shared tracks, like the one called "Any Door Will Do" which is a particularly nasty "Easy" level.  The other tracks are, from my memory, mostly new.  Sidhe/SOE did a good job of keeping it fresh for the repeat buyer.  There are extra level elements, like rocks in the road and the Amazon Rainforest setting.

So who will like GripShift PS3?  The same ones who liked GripShift PSP.  As a racer, it's not good.  It tries the "Mario Kart" style racing, but it really is not as fun as a game dedicated to "kart" racing.  As stunt racing and puzzle solving, its great.  It even is a platformer like it advertizes, because of the gameplay.

To those who never heard of GripShift before, download the demo.  The demo is great!  It doesn't sacrifice gameplay at all.  If you like the demo, you'll love the game.  The interesting thing is the huge size difference between the full game (about 270Mb) versus the demo (half that).  I blame the music tracks, since there aren't many in the download.  It's a good thing they did cut back on the media for the demo.

The two types of track in Challenge Mode are the Challenge and the Race vs. CPU driver.  Challenge Mode asks you to finish the track w/in the alloted time (1 credit), finish quickly (3 credits), get all the stars on the level (3 credits, and not all stars are out in the open), and find the GS token (3 points).  The minimum requirement is to finish each level, and you will progress.  More credits are for the unlock bonuses.

So the game is worth it, but the status of the track editor is unknown.  I think it would have been part of the sales-pitch if it were in there.  The sad truth is that there is no reason why it wouldn't be there unless they were going to charge for it later.  Surprise me, please?