When comparing Hawken vs GRID Autosport, the Slant community recommends GRID Autosport for most people. In the question“What are the best Oculus Rift games?” GRID Autosport is ranked 8th while Hawken is ranked 17th. The most important reason people chose GRID Autosport is:
Handling a car in Autosport is both streamlined and forgiving enough to make it approachable, yet complicated enough to give players a bit of a challenge. The game also avoids the issue GRID 2 had of having the same one-size-fits-all steering.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Almost completely free
In Hawken, almost everything can be bought with in-game currency. Unlike most free to play games this even includes items such as cosmetic changes. While you may have to do a bit of grinding, this game can be fully played without spending a dime.
Pro No PS+ subscription required
Most PS4 games with multiplayer modes require an additional subscription called Playstation Plus. However, free games that have online multiplayer don't generally need PS+ to play online, which is a much welcomed feature for players who can't fork out money for this subscription.
Pro Fast-paced and fun action
Hawken breaks the idea that large heavy mechs equate to slow movement. You'll instead move at a brisk pace, constantly firing your machine guns and launching rockets at the enemy. The mechs are also equipped with jump-jets, allowing you to make very swift evasive maneuvers and hover above the battlefield, so it has a 3D tactics aspect unlike most FPS games. All of this makes the action really enjoyable.
Pro Encourages teamplay
In a genre saturated with lone wolf games like Call of Duty, it's nice to have a game like Hawken which makes teamwork a necessity. You'll immediately notice how disadvantageous 1v2 battles are, so you'll always look to cooperate with your teammates. From things like providing covering fire to defending each other when repairing mechs, it feels nice when you can rely on your teammates on a regular basis.
Pro Great sense of immersion
Hawken does an excellent job of making you feel like you really are in the mech. From the vibrations on the glass when you're firing off a salvo of missiles to the swaying of the cockpit when you're stomping your way through a destroyed city, there are many details that considerably add to the immersion.
Pro Well-balanced sim-cadey handling
Handling a car in Autosport is both streamlined and forgiving enough to make it approachable, yet complicated enough to give players a bit of a challenge. The game also avoids the issue GRID 2 had of having the same one-size-fits-all steering.
Pro Detailed damage model
In addition to traditional bumps, hits and crashes that will damage the car and make it more difficult to drive in way that depends on the damaged part, there's also wear and tear to worry about. For example, over-revving and shifting early will wear the gearbox quicker and late breaking will damage the brakes.
Pro Has a good variety of game types
Autosport has 5 game types - Touring, Endurance, Open Wheel, Tuner, and Street with additional game modes available through DLC. Each type has a different handling model and different cars.
Pro No VR sickness
Since the player and the character are stationary with the vehicle creating a frame of reference, much of the issues with motion sickness are avoided.
Cons
Con Lack of story is a missed opportunity
A current trend in online gaming is that many games do not offer a single player campaign or any means to tell a story. Sadly Hawken continues this trend as it does very little to expand on its interesting setting, which is very disappointing.
Con Uneven graphical fidelity
Some textures are considerably higher quality than others. For example, the cockpit is really low-res, so much so that the needles don't even move, giving a feeling of an unpolished product.
Con Menus are not in VR, so you have to take off the Rift after each race
Menus are not in VR, so you have to take off the Rift after each race
Con VR support is experimental
As the support is only experimental changing certain settings in-game may crash the game.