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
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)Amazon Game Studios
EngineAmazon Lumberyard
Platform(s)PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release15 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.

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		TitleVehicles FeaturedScenesRelease Date
11"The Holy Trinity"Galpin Rocket, Roush Stage 3, Shelby GT350R, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, LaFerrari, BMW M2, Ferrari 488 GTB1515 January 2019

Series 2
No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleVehicles FeaturedScenesRelease Date
21"Past, Present, or Future"Honda NSX, Rimac Concept One, Lamborghini Aventador S1115 January 2019

Series 3
No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleVehicles FeaturedScenesRelease Date
31"Motown Funk"Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, Hennessey Exorcist, RTR Spec 3, McLaren 720S Coupe[note 1]1618 January 2019
4–52–3"Colombia Special Parts 1 & 2"Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Fiat Panda, Jeep Wrangler Sahara2626 January 2019
64"Pick Up Put Downs"Mercedes X-Class, Ford Ranger, Volkswagen Amarok, 'Popmobile'[note 2]141 February 2019
75"An Itchy Urus"Alpine A110[note 3]Lamborghini Urus, Porsche 911 Turbo S, Ford Cortina Lotus, Lotus Type 38, Lotus Type 25128 February 2019
86"Chinese Food For Thought"NIO EP9, BMW 750iL, Cadillac Seville STS, Mercedes-Benz W140 600L, Fulu A71015 February 2019
97"Well Aged Scotch"Alfa Romeo GTV6, Fiat X1/9, Lancia Gamma Coupe, BMW M5, BMW Alpina B5 Birturbo1422 February 2019
108"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')131 March 2019
119"Aston, Astronauts and Angelina's Children"Aston Martin Vantage, Bentley Bentayga, 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, 1967 Chevrolet Corvette, Citroën C3 Aircross, De Tomaso Pantera GTS158 March 2019
1210"The Youth Vote"Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborghini Countach, Ford Fiesta ST, Volkswagen Polo GTI[note 4]1415 March 2019
1311"Sea to Unsalty Sea"Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, Bentley Continental GT, BMW M850i, Renault 91522 March 2019
1412"Legends and Luggage"Lancia Delta Futurista, Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Porsche 917K-Chassis 015, electric suitcase1229 March 2019
1513"Survival of the Fattest"Flat Pack car/John[note 5]175 April 2019
1614"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 Rally1412 April 2019
  1. The McLaren Senna was replaced with the McLaren 720S Coupe from Series 2, Episode 4
  2. The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 was replaced with a car covered in bubble wrap and packing tape, titled the 'Popmobile'
  3. The Alpine A110, reviewed by James May, was not present upon release of the episode, but was released on 8 March 2019
  4. The Toyota Yaris GRMN, driven by James May, is not available in the game.
  5. 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".[10][11]

The game received praise for the vehicles featured, the locations present, being appealing to fans of the show, gadgets available to use and the transitions between the episodes and gameplay, but the controls and basic designs of challenges were criticised. However, fans of the show have given the game mostly positive reviews.[12]

Martyn Stanley of DriveTribe gave the game four stars out of five, commenting that "merged media is a really interesting idea."

References
  1. "The Grand Tour Game release date and how it links to season 3". metro.co.uk. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  2. Lumb, David (21 August 2018). "Amazon turned its 'The Grand Tour' TV series into a racing game". Engadget. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. Nick Summers (23 August 2018). "'The Grand Tour Game' is a near-perfect mirror of the show". Engadget. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  4. Alex Simmons (23 August 2018). "THE GRAND TOUR GAME'S AMBITION IS GREATER THAN ITS EXECUTION - GAMESCOM 2018". IGN. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  5. 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.
  6. Rob Gordon (21 January 2019). "The Grand Tour Game Review: Not Quite Worth The Visit". Screen Rant. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  7. Vincent, Brittany (8 January 2019). "'The Grand Tour Game' Puts Emphasis On Fun, 'Playing the Show'". variety.com. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  8. Price, Ronan. "The Grand Tour Game review: Hybrid lacks horsepower". Independent.ie. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  9. McKellar, Sean. "'Survival of the fattest' – The Grand Tour Series 3 Episode 13 Preview". MotoringBox. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  10. "The Grand Tour Game for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  11. "The Grand Tour Game for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  12. "The Grand Tour Game review (updates)". driving.co.uk. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
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