Once you've unlocked something, you can buy it with in-game money. As you gain XP and level up, you unlock cars and car customizations in the form of vehicle upgrades and liveries (decals and designs on the car). Rewards for the Global Challenge consist of experience points for leveling up and cash. The events will change every week, switching up the types of races (drift, checkpoint and more), the tracks and the cars.

RaceNet's integration with Grid 2 is designed to foster a sense of community and friendly competition, and to bring the game's user base together online - Roberts referred to it as 'the beating heart of many of the modes in Grid 2's multiplayer.' First on the list is Global Challenge, an asynchronous multiplayer mode in which you'll partake in weekly sets of competitions to set the fastest times and the highest scores. The website allows players of Codemasters racing titles to track their progress in the game through desktop and mobile browsers, and the studio is also planning to release a mobile app for it. 'We're looking to extend the Grid 2 experience beyond the console into desktop and mobile,' began Lee Roberts, senior designer on RaceNet. At a recent press event, members of the Grid 2 team described the objectives they wanted to achieve in multiplayer before we tried rounds of a few different types of races. Grid 2's developers at Codemasters are attempting to address both AI and human racers, and are hoping that their work - along with deeper integration with RaceNet, the studio's online hub - will make the game's multiplayer mode appealing and engrossing for as wide a variety of players as possible. Of course, there are drawbacks to racing other people, too, like racers who actively try to annoy other players or don't play fair.

It's rare that a racing title's AI is designed so that a computer-controlled car can keep up with your skill and provide a suitable challenge, without feeling like it's cheating, which is why many die-hard racing fans will tell you they prefer driving against other humans. Racing is a genre in which a game's multiplayer component is often as important as, or even more important than, its single-player campaign.

Grid 2 first person