Incoming 2013: GRID 2

What we know: GRID 2 is a new racing game from developer and publisher Codemasters, designed to explore the concepts that were introduced in the 2008 original, with more of an emphasis on classic racing cars.

The game will use an entire new game engine, which will include major changes to the way the various cars handle.

The developers name the new system TrueFeel and it is supposed to walk the fine line between realism and accessibility, with extra options allowing hardcore racing game fans to make the entire experience more difficult and newcomers to move it towards an arcade feeling.

Codemasters wants to select cars for GRID 2 from 40 years of automotive industry and the team says that it will emphasize the quality of the cars and their level of detail over quantity.

The racing game will take players from Abu Dhabi to Paris and then to numerous United States locations, showing off the new capabilities of the graphics engine.

Codemasters has a long legacy of racing car development and they plan to use the experience in putting together an involving Career mode, while also offering players the option to connect with friends and race against them.

GRID 2 will be launched during the summer of this year on the PC, the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft.

Why it matters: GRID 2 is the only big racing game set to launch during 2013, after the frenzy that saw a new Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Forza Horizon delivered last year.

GRID 2 was the game that introduced the rewind idea to the genre and if Codemasters hits upon another rich vein of innovation, we might have a classic racing title on our hands.

The full Incoming 2013 series of articles can be read on Softpedia right here.