A bit of a theme this week, as all the games on offer are racing games. Yet as we’ll find out, there is more than one way to skin a car! Or something. So let’s Start Your Engines!
#DRIVE Rally
Let’s start with the most normal of the racing indies shall we. #DRIVE Rally is a simple rally game, where it is you against the clock in a bunch of various modes. Championships, time trials, etc. Each with online leaderboards.
It becomes a throwback to the arcade rally experiences of SEGA Rally, Colin McRae and the likes, but still travels its own path, rather than just trying to be those games again.
The arcade feel comes from the fact the handling is very much in the arcade camp, with you flying through many stages at breakneck speed, with slightly wider tracks and a forgiving handling model, which really allows you to feel the speed.
Now that’s not to say it is just a case of accelerating and going at full tilt constantly. Because there is still a lot of nuance in how you need to drive. Straights are very high speed, but some of the turns will need you using the brake pedal and handbrake. But it is all about finding the best line through and just getting better.
Unlike a Dirt Rally type game, where you feel scared to even get on the accelerator pedal through fear of losing control. No, #DRIVE Rally ecourages you to push, push, push at all times. I welcome that.
The co-drivers are interesting, as each has a personality of their own and accents from the country in which you are driving. It adds a bit of flavour to the experience, but unfortunately does become a bit tired after a few hours, as the amusing one liners start to wear thin.
Visually #DRIVE Rally is gorgeous and I love the art-style. It gives retro vibes, but with a modern feel overall. More of that ‘how you remember, not how it actually was’ kind of thing.
Overall #DRIVE Rally is a fun package, but not essential. How you get on with it will entirely depend on how you feel about the handling model.
Golden Lap
I do like me some sports management games, with Football Manager (Champ Man for those old enough) and Eastside Hockey Manager being particular favourites. I’ve tried dabbling in the motorsport versions in the past with varying degrees of success.
Whilst I really enjoyed Motorsport Manager and spent hours with it, I feel somewhat left in the cold with the recent F1 Manager games. (Not the same series) I think that game has too much going on and there doesn’t seem to be a decent way to tailor it to your own needs.
As a game it punishes you for not being 100% involved with everything. Which is a shame. So when I came cross the minimalistic Golden Lap, my interest was very much peaked. As this boils the whole idea of managing a racing team down to the bits you really want to focus on.
Weekends can be finished in less than 30 minutes and you get a great sense of progression the more you play. The visual style which is closer to the older Football Manager games with dots representing players, or cars in this case really allows you to focus on what to do.
In actual fact, Golden Lap is a beautiful looking game, because of said minimalism. With emus, data, tracks, information, etc all clearly presented and easy to follow. It mans instead of battling a clunky UI, you instead get to feel the part.
Whilst Golden Lap may be cut down compared to other management games, it doesn’t mean it is simple. You still need to research, to improve your performance from race to race and season to season. You also need to manage strategies, watch tire wear, engines and more. Y0u can decide how much you want drivers to push, or consolidate a position.
There are so many factors that go into things. As an example, in a race the track started getting damp, but I found both my drivers were really gaining ground on the leaders. So I asked them to push until I pitted them. This caused one of my drivers to get stressed and he ended up spinning out.
Later in the same race, I had engine issues with my other driver and finished with two DNFs. Which whilst frustrating was all down to my own decision making. It was clear from the race data and something I had to improve on for the next race.
R&D is interesting here too. Again not as in depth as a F1 Manager, but again you need to consider what races you have coming up and where you may being able to get some gains based on the R&D for the coming period.
Golden Lap just has a similar pull to the greatest management games out there, such as Football Manager and OOTP Baseball. You will lose hours and days of your life to this wonderful game.
Parking Garage Rally Circuit
We’ve had arcade racing and we’ve had simulation management. Now it is time to get silly with Parking Garage Rally Circuit. Which honestly when I first saw it would be a fun for five minutes and then lose its appeal type of thing.
Instead what you have a a one trick pony that plays fully to its strength and gives you the most joyous experience you can think of. Imagine if you will the opening level of Driver. Some people had a tough time with that. So instead take the concept of driving around a parking garage and do away with any sense of realism.
It’s you, your car, some ghosts and a track laid out in one the the many parking garages on offer. You’ve seen those gymkhana videos with the late Ken Block? Throwing his car around Battersea and just defying logic? Well that’s sort of what you do here.
Hit the gas and throw your car around the course as quickly as you can. Barely letting off and using drifting to make the turns. With each track getting more and more challenging, you start to pick up little techniques that will help you beat times and jump further on the leaderboard.
Don’t think though because of the silly concept and simple controls that the challenge is not there. It took me multiple tries to even get close to some of the medal times, even early on and that challenge only increases the further in you get.
From a gameplay view, Parking Garage Rally Circuit is just a joy to play from the second you turn it on. Visually is where some may have some issues. The faux CRT style is a cool, but for me actually hinders how you play.
This would be a deal breaker for me and from what I’ve seen, others too. Thankfully the devs saw fit to give you almost complete control over the visuals to the point you can go from a 4:3 CRT style, with massive scan-lines. To a 16:9 (or 10) clean look with no scan lines or effects. It is great to have options so kudos to the devs.
Overall this is a great package and even once you get past the silliness of the everything, there is a very very solid game under the hood that will keep you coming back time and time and time again.
DeathSprint 66
Do you remember Micro Machines? Of course you do. But can you remember the spin-off Micro Maniacs? I hope so, because I will die on a hill saying how that game is seriously under-appreciated.
So what if… and hear me out. Micro Maniacs, made in the style of Ghost Runner by the studio behind OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and many other classics? That’d have you interested right?
Well let me introduce you to DeathSprint 66 an on foot PvP racing game with a ton of bells and whistles.
The idea is that in the future entertainment comes from brutality and one of the most popular shows is DeathSprint. Which is where you come in. You get to take control of a clone and race upto seven others to run through a challenging course to become the victor.
Instead of just winning though, you also need to entertain, by taking risks, avoiding obstacle and destroying your opponents. A sort of WipeOut, meets Running Man type thing.
I wasn’t actually that bothered by this on first reveal until I saw Sumo were behind it and all of a sudden I knew it would have some fundamentals absolutely nailed. The first being the sense of inertia is spot on. You feel like you are running at spectacular speeds, but still grounded by being in a body. Which in turn makes you feel vulnerable, but not in a way you don’t feel like taking risks.
It is something Sumo have nigh on perfected over the years and this is no different. Mixed with some stunning cyberpunkesque style visuals, the team are able to take some creative steps into how tracks are laid out and presented to the player.
Everything as a neon flourishm which means you really do get a sense of speed as those lighting effects start to blur the more momentum you get. But it’s more than just to look nice. The colours play a huge part of letting you knopw what is coming up and what you will need to do to avoid or take certain actions.
I am still having a blast with this and have even played a fair bit online, which is where the bulk of the game is meant to be played. But, thankfully there is also enough single players bits to keep you going should you not fancy venturing online. Not a campaign as such, but at least some targets to meet and improve on.
I’ve not cleared the single player stuff yet, which is a good sign as there is a reason to keep coming back, but I think this will live or die based on its online presence. It plays well online that’s for sure and I didn’t find myself waiting too long to get into races. Once in it felt like it performed well most of time, with the odd race ruined by lag or being completely booted out. Those times were few and far between though, so again positive things.
I hope this finds an audience, because once again Sumo have created something very very fun!
