HIGH Ricocheting through the last 20% of “Weave” with sparks flying en route to a record time.

LOW The overly technical and slow “Palm” track.

WTF It is insanely goofy that the sharpest turns are the easiest.

The simplest kind of racing comes in the form of the slot car. There’s no drafting, no steering, no brakes — just a grooved track and a way to go faster. Little Laps leans into this simplicity. There’s no story, no characters, and little customization, just 18 tracks (all accessible immediately) and 15 cars (unlocked by getting achievements) run by two buttons, one to go faster and the other to restart.

Most of those tracks are attractive, if somewhat lacking in background detail. The colors occasionally grate on the eyes, however, especially in the track labeled “Night”. The various cars amount to being just skins, as there are no differences in handling — it’s a slot racer — or acceleration, which is universally sluggish.

The key quirk of Little Laps is that velocity entering the curve doesn’t matter. As my parents know well, a slot car will take off into the air if it hits a hairpin too fast, but in Little Laps any curve can be passed safely as long as the accelerator isn’t touched while the car is turning.

An amusing consequence of this feature is that it inverts expectations about handling. Gentler curves become dangerous places where it’s easy to keep the accelerator down a fraction of a second too long. Hairpins become prime opportunities to gain speed, since they can tolerate the pedal hitting the metal almost up to the last instant.

When this gets going it looks great. Cars throw off sparks as they drift through absurdly sharp corners and weave automatically through wild S-curves with their tires squealing. An available “best time” shadow provided a yardstick against my own performance and global leaderboards let me see my progress against other gamers.

I enjoyed playing Little Laps in small bites, and it’s well-suited to the rhythm of making a few quick attempts at a record time, possibly shaving a few tenths of a second off this lap. In case of a wipeout, I can just hit the reset button and get right back in it.

Or, that’s what one would hope.

The sluggish acceleration rate has another consequence, in that the key to a record lap is entering it with momentum. The first lap, starting from a dead stop, will never produce a record time after the first attempt. As I continued to optimize play, I sometimes found that I needed a second lap to get up enough entry speed to have a chance at a record.

This means that a player isn’t really right back in the action after a wreck. Each restart entails a sluggish first lap before there’s any chance at improving time. Sometimes that lap helped me calm down after a stupid mistake, but mostly it felt like a waste.

Worse, that slow initial run doesn’t offer the opportunity to learn anything about timing acceleration for record-lap tries. As I played, I often noticed myself being more conservative than was reasonable (even when I was trying for a record) simply because I wanted to avoid those wasted laps.

That dead start ends up being a real drag on the whole experience, which is a shame. Little Laps is a charming and zippy single-button racer, but in a stripped-down, minimalist experience everything has to be just right and here a major element isn’t.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Conradical Games. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on a home built Windows 11 PC with a single GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card, a Ryzen 7 processor, and 64 GB of RAM. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: As of press time this game has not been rated by the ESRB. It contains nothing worse than a car flying off a racetrack (with no visible wreck damage) and should logically be rated E.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game has no dialogue or story text. I found that the sound of tire squeals was helpful in judging when to let go of the accelerator, and accordingly found it somewhat more difficult to improve my times when I turned off sound.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. By default the space bar serves as the accelerator and R resets the race. Menus require the mouse. On an Xbox controller the A button is the accelerator and Y resets. Note: I found that when using a controller to move through the menus the cursor sometimes got “lost” and I had to back out with the B button.

The post Little Laps Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Excellent handling and a lot of customization. 

LOW Lack of modes and unbalanced items.

WTF Sega needs to renew an agreement with Ferrari so we can get a new OutRun game.

Despite running faster than any car, Sonic the Hedgehog has quite a background in racing games. From his humble origins in the Sonic Drift titles to the much-beloved Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sega’s Blue Blur knows his way around a set of wheels. Now, six years after his last racing experience (Team Sonic Racing) Sonic returns to the starting grid with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. 

As an arcade racing lover and Sonic superfan, the idea of playing a brand new Sonic racer had me excited. What also piqued my interest was the fact that it was being developed by the internal Team Sonic studio (English studio Sumo Digital developed past racers) and would that it would receive contributions from developers of Sega’s Initial D arcade cabinets. 

The presentation grabbed me right away. Par for the course for any great Sonic title, players are presented with an awesome opening cutscene set to some bombastic pop-rock. The bright aesthetic permeates throughout the menus and gameplay, with characters modeled exceptionally well, and even fully-voiced. I loved how talkative everyone is, with bits of dialogue in the character select screen and the beginning and end of each race. There’s also a jukebox full of great songs, including tracks from Sonic Riders and Sonic Frontiers. 

In motion, CrossWorlds is a visual marvel, and the main gimmick comes from its titular mechanic. Basically, on the second lap of a race, the character in first place sees two portals in front of them and they choose the path they want, transporting them to a new track for that lap, and returning to the main track in time for the third and final lap. This results in a random new world appearing in every race. 

No matter what’s chosen, each course has something awesome to look at, whether it’s a herd of dinosaurs running, a mysterious pirate ship shrouded in darkness, or wide-open fields of green grass in the distance. Sure, it’s almost expected that Sonic games feature a vibrant aesthetic and kickass music, but I’m happy to see Sonic Team didn’t slack off with this racing spinoff. 

However, aesthetics aside, the driving is what’s key in in racing titles.  

Played from a third-person perspective, Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is a kart-style racer that sees players control one of 18 characters taken from across the larger Sonic series before competing in a variety of events and courses. Right off the bat the driving is exceptional, with a great sense of speed and weight in all the vehicles. 

Cars and drivers are separated by different types: Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Power, and Boost. Each offers various strengths and weaknesses and the variety in both default and unlockable of cars is solid. There are also plenty of options to customize vehicles with different parts.  

Rather than feeling bouncy or floaty like most kart racers, I’d say this falls in line with something like a pure arcade experience, like Cruis’n Blast (owing to the devs’ arcade roots) thanks to the cars feeling heavier than I would have expected. Drifting is responsive, with a meter building up if players can hold their drifts as long as possible. Tricks can also be done while jumping in the air, resulting in a boost when landing. 

While I enjoyed the driving overall and trying to outmaneuver my opponents on the track, one thing I couldn’t enjoy was its use of items. Like Mario Kart or other mascot kart racers, different items can be collected and used offensively or defensively. They’re mostly standard stuff like speed boots or items that can be thrown at players. 

Sadly, most of these feel horribly balanced and seem to break the flow of most races. I get that rubberbanding is the name of arcade titles like this, but I played through some ridiculous instances of the AI catching up at the very last second thanks to a poorly-timed item hitting me. 

A major surprise of CrossWorlds has been the overwhelming amount of options players have, even before setting foot on a track. Things like the customizable car parts and various combinations of items for use in a race (like offensive weapons or speed boosting gadgets) strategy to what could have been a standard kart racer. For example, my main racer was Tails, who falls under the “acceleration” subclass. I centered my build around improved speed, boosting, and drifting.

Another cool thing is the inclusion of rivals. Throughout each of the grand prix modes, a random character will be made the players’ rival. At the start of the cup, there’s a cool bit of dialogue between the two, which makes for some humorous interactions for fans of the series. Things like hearing Dr. Eggman complain about being forced to settle for battling Tails instead of Sonic is a nice treat. 

Speaking of fans, I think absolute best part of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has to be the sheer amount of love for Sonic and Sega as a whole. Courses like Radical Highway are ripped straight from Sonic Adventure 2, complete with the music from the original, and I could have sworn one track is one ginat reference to After Burner. The ‘stage complete’ music from the mainline Sonic series plays after every race, and the guest characters from other related franchises are cool, with faces appearing from Yakuza, Persona, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Pac-Man coming soon via DLC.

With all of that said, at this point in the review I have to say that I do wish there were more to CrossWorlds than just racing. The main grand prix is enjoyable and the Race Park adds a lot of variety by offering things like events that reward bumping into others for a speed boost or trying to collect the most rings. However, a few more events or some supporting content like minigames or perhaps things taken from Sonic’s long history would go a good way towards making the experience feel richer.

Don’t get me wrong, though — while Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds might not dethrone Mario’s racing adventures, it’s a solid racing title in its own right thanks to great handling and an overwhelming amount of options. I would have liked to see a little more supporting the package as a whole, but what’s here must surely rank among the finest arcade-style racers from the last few years. 

For those who absolutely gotta go fast, this one is an easy recommendation.  

Rating: 8.5  out of 10

Buy Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – PC – PS – XB – SW

Disclosures: This game is published by Sega and developed by Sonic Team. It is available on PC, XBO, XBX/S, Switch/2, PS4/5. This copy was obtained via the publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 10 hours were spent in single-player, and the game was not completed. No time was spent in multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E for Mild Fantasy Violence. According to the site: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB with Mild Fantasy Violence. Also includes In-Game Purchases. This is a kart-racing game in which players compete in whimsical racing events with characters from the Sonic universe. As players race against other drivers, they can use cartoony power-ups (e.g., spike balls, boxing-glove missiles, saw blades) to slow opponents’ progress and knock them off balance. Being hit by a power-up causes characters’ karts to blink red and slow down. Characters emit small cries when hitting or being hit by an obstacle (e.g., t-rexes, trucks).

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Gamers: There are plenty of visual cues during races. All of these can be adjusted in the menu. Subtitles are present and can be resized. As no audio cues are needed for gameplay, I’d say this is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls cannot be remapped and there is no diagram. On PS5, X is used to accelerate, R2 is used to drift, L1 is used to activate items, and Square is used to look behind.

The post Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Solid racing and a gorgeous retro aesthetic. 

LOW Slight rubber-banding.

WTF Sega needs to get back into the racing market. 

Back in 2018, Brazilian developers Aquiris Game Studio released Horizon Chase Turbo — a solid arcade racer with a retro style. Taking inspiration from classics like Sega’s OutRun or the original Top Gear on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, this title tasked players with competing in different races around the world, from the sunny vistas of Los Angeles to vibrant Dubai. Now, after a little over five years and some exciting DLC releases (including one based around the late Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna), Aquiris returns with Horizon Chase 2. 

Initially released on iOS in 2022 and the Switch in ’23, this retro-themed arcade racer finally makes its way to Xbox and Playstation consoles. Following the first entry’s well-polished formula closely, players race through several events spanning the world. the races are either standard runs, or a few laps against eleven computer-controlled racers. 

The cars handle like a dream, with snappy braking allowing for some over-the-top drifts around corners and a solid boost mechanic that’s limited to three uses. Every race sees the player competing to place in the top three, but other challenges are present, such as collecting tokens scattered across the course, beating certain times or attempting to complete races without using boosts. 

Vehicles range from supercars, pick-up trucks, SUVs and even coupes, modeled after real-life brands and models. Players might also recognize cars that look eerily similar to a brand new Ferrari or a pick-up that parallels Toyota’s Tacoma line.

Every car has its own set of stats that can be upgraded by earning XP from completing races. Other rewards include coins that let players change cosmetics, like car liveries or new rims. The varied garage and mix of car attributes meant that I didn’t stick to just one car during my playthrough, but instead I experimented with different ones. For example, the size of a pickup passing through other racers much easier, while the small form factor of a coupe made it easier to drift in tight corners. 

There are a few gameplay quirks here, of course, like some inconsistent AI during the main World Tour mode. There were more than a few instances where I came close to taking first place, only for a nearby opponent to suddenly gain an almost impossible burst of speed. It feels… odd… but it wasn’t an issue that took too much away from my enjoyment.

Horizon Chase 2‘s presentation is as refined as the gameplay, and the colorful aesthetics of each track coming alive. Palms trees and sunshine dress the beaches of the Florida Keys with impeccable summer vibes, while Death Valley features shortcuts along its desert roads and barren vistas. This strong palette recalls some of the best racing from the 16-bit years, only now rendered in 3D. The music is just as good, and those who enjoy retro-style synth are in for a treat. 

As this version is a port of a Switch title, Xbox and PlayStation players can look forward to performance improvements. I played the original Switch version at launch and loved what I played, but framerate drops on the handheld were abhorrent, and soured the experience. Thankfully, those issues are remedied in this release, and a solid 60 FPS running speed finally delivers on this great game’s potential by making it as smooth as silk.

While it doesn’t revolutionize the groundwork set by its predecessor, Horizon Chase Turbo 2 remains a great racer that gets plenty right. With a solid career mode, a varied,, colorful garage and some of the best retro aesthetics ever, Horizon Chase Turbo 2 is an easy winner for arcade racing fans. 

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published by Epic Games and developed by Aquiris Game Studio. It is available on Switch, PC, XBO/X/S, PS4/5 and iOS. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 8 hours were spent in single-player and the game was not completed but the game was previously played and completed on Nintendo Switch. There are multiplayer options but no time was spent on them.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. No rating information is online but the game is quite harmless. Parents should note that there is nothing in this game other than racing. No car wrecks and no violence here. 

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are speech bubbles that randomly pop up throughout gameplay but they cannot be adjusted. No subtitles either (there is no dialogue) but pop-up boxes containing information are present. Other visual cues are on screen as well, making this game fully accessible. 

Remappable Controls: The controls cannot be remapped but there is a control diagram. 

The post Horizon Chase 2 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Jam-packed with content.

LOW Truly accessible only to rally-heads.

WTF Still figuring out what those numbers my navigator is yelling mean. 

Rally racing has to be one of the coolest sporting events ever, pitting drivers against terrain, testing their driving skills and resolve. It’s a form of motorsport that involves racing, navigation tests and other forms of driving across harsh landscapes. Now, after over 20 years without the official WRC (World Rally Championship) license, developer Codemasters gets back behind the wheel of this franchise with EA Sports WRC. 

This year’s WRC title draws a fine line between simulating what a normal season in the official competition is like, while also offering a chance to see it from every possible angle. The career mode has players choosing between different Junior WRC, Rally 2 or the main WRC modes. Each of these competition types bring in different classes of vehicles, as well as various difficulties. 

Gameplay in each mode consists of completing tasks during an in-game week. Before the start of the WRC season, players create their racing team (complete with name and logo) and meet their manager. Then, everything from a weekly budget and set goals are given, tasking the player to achieve these things while staying within a certain monetary threshold. It’s similar to the way progression works in something like EA Sports UFC 4, where an in-game calendar determines what players should try and tackle, and when. 

There’s a lot of variety in these tasks, ranging from buying cars, hiring members for a race crew and racing in events with the expectation of hitting a certain milestone. If I was able to stay under budget, management and sponsors were pleased and I would stay in their good graces, which gave me more incentives down the line as the season progressed. It’s deeper than I expected, playing out more like a full-blown management sim instead of just a simple racing game. 

The racing however, still is king.

Codemasters is known for delivering finely-tuned racing that feels closer to being simulation than arcade, while offering enough customization to make driving as accessible as possible to players of different skill levels.

Early in the career mode, players run a trial race that gauges what settings would be best for them — things like how long each race should be, overall difficulty, and even how serious the damage on a car can be. Options like this are appreciated, and even moreso since they can be changed at any time, allowing players to find playstyle that suits them throughout the career mode. 

Driving feels great, with each terrains offering different challenges and requiring different strategies — barreling through narrow dirt paths offers resistance in contrast to the smoothness of a normal road, for example. This variance is supported by the PS5’s Dualsense controller, as the haptics and adaptive triggers do a great job of making the driving feel immersive. While it’ll be a long time before I buy an expensive racing wheel, the care that went into making sure the controller feels this good means I can delay the purchase even longer. 

With all that praise given I should note that although a lot of work has been put in to be as accessible to as wide a range of players as possible, WRC is ultimately an experience for rally fans, as opposed to general racing fans. Most of the play and designs reflects real-life rally aspects that might seem a bit foreign to newcomers, like a navigator in the passenger seat reading directions, or being penalized for going even slightly off-road. Those looking at jumping in should be aware that this isn’t just like every other racing game out there.

With this return to the world of rally racing, Codemasters has delivered something special with EA Sports WRC. It’s rock-solid and jam-packed, and I’d expect any gearhead to get lost in it for hours. Rally fans rejoice!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published by Electronic Arts and developed by Codemasters. It is available on PS4/5, XBO/X/S and PC. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 10 hours were spent in single-player and the game was not completed (still playing). No time was spent in multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E, with no descriptors. There is absolutely nothing objectionable here. 

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are subtitles and visual cues throughout the game. These can all be adjusted. There are no relevant audio cues that do not have visual cues as well. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped and there are diagrams and various presets.

The post EA Sports WRC Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH It’s a super serious Forza Motorsport game with an emphasis on realism!

LOW It’s a super serious Forza Motorsport game with an emphasis on realism!

WTF Excitement from the narrator about shaving a tenth of a second off a lap. Calm down, buddy!

Licensed games have a problem. If Rockstar isn’t sliding its oily fingers into GTA IV to remove music tracks from a product players already paid for, fantastic games like Outrun 2 and Driver: San Francisco are being delisted from sale permanently after their licensing agreements expire. It’s absolute bullshit, quite frankly, and the same fate suffered by Forza Motorsport 7 two years ago when it was unceremoniously yanked from storefronts.

Well, fret no more Forza fans — the most recent release is here, and players who want to get their hands on one of the most detailed and beautiful racing franchises for the current generation of consoles can finally do so. Hooray!

Serving as a soft reboot for the series, much of the superfluous baggage from Forza Motorsport 7 is thankfully absent. All of those universally-reviled limited use skill card modifiers are thankfully absent, and the developers make strides to ensure that while there’s still a sense of progression, the good stuff is no longer locked away behind laborious grind.

The new campaign is known as the Builder’s Cup, inviting players to work through a series of four tours, each based around a different type of platform — Sport, Sedans, Muscle, the usual. Players buy a car based on the theme, choose to tinker with the terrifyingly-detailed car customization options including everything from tire pressure to engine and frame conversions… or, they can slap on optimal simulated upgrades (like I did) and then hit the tarmac across twenty real-world racetracks and around five hundred licensed cars at launch.

There’s an experience system here allowing players to unlock new parts for their vehicle as they rise through the ranks of an experience system tied to each car, and they can also choose to make things harder for themselves during each race for a credits boost. The more realistic the driving, the harder the AI and the further back they start on the grid, the higher the potential payout when they place on the podium.

Aside from that, the singleplayer content may be a little bit slim at present. The free play mode is pretty great, allowing for the usual changes to rival density, difficulty, time of day and weather effects, as well as a whole lot more if players choose to engage with the nitty gritty. Want to speed up the passage of time? Go for it! Want variable weather on the track? Awesome, no problem.

The other main draw is the Rivals mode where players race against ghost cars sourced from real players online in a bid to beat their lap times. Succeed and another, faster driver will replace them and then another and ano… honestly, this didn’t do much for me. It soon becomes repetitive, and having an inbox stuffed full of people who’ve beaten my times doesn’t appeal.

Playing online with others is a smooth and painless experience, and it’s also one that encourages safe and respectful driving. Recklessly piling into a group of cars slowing down for a turn is frowned upon, as is cutting the track to shave precious seconds. Gaining too many infractions means dangerous drivers get grouped together during matchmaking while everyone trying to simulate a real race get left in peace. It’s a good setup, although it should be noted that races are scheduled to begin at real world times rather than triggering on demand — if an event is half an hour away, that could lead to a lot of practice laps before it begins.

As should probably be expected, Forza Motorsport is a fine looking game on the Series X. More importantly, it’s a game that understands that the 60fps experience is paramount and laudably recommends this over a slightly sharper image. Even on Series S it maintains this framerate, though the image is admittedly noticeably softer on the less powerful console.

On top of extremely detailed car models, there’s an impressive amount of weather effects including day and night variations to spice up each race. I found it hypnotic jto set the options to simulate sunset on a clear day before taking the track and doing laps from sundown until sunup. It looks stunning, and that holds true whether players are hurtling along in the midst of a vision-obscuring thunderstorm or simply dealing with light drizzle.

There’s a ton of customization options regarding the user experience, from automatically braking to a safe speed when approaching a corner to ensuring the brakes don’t lock up from slamming them too hard. The optimal racing line can be visible at all times, only appear when it’s time to brake or absent entirely — which in my particular case is a bad idea, as without it I’d spend half my time spinning off track. Add to this a generous helping of accessibility and it’s clear that Microsoft and Turn 10 want to ensure as many people as possible are able to enjoy a race.

The only real qualm I have with Forza Motorsport is its overall rigidity. This is a serious racer for serious fans of the sport, and that doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for innovations not aimed at existing car fanatics. For example, during the campaign players are required to perform multiple practice laps before a race. This mandatory timesuck can’t be skipped, and pointlessly drags each race out to an extent I’m not keen on.

That rigidity doesn’t just affect aspects of the design, it also affects the gameplay. This makes sense in context as there’s only one optimal racing line after all, so it makes sense to stick to it like glue. That said, any time I tried anything that the racing line didn’t like, it ended in disaster.

On the surface this sounds pretty par for the course in the driving genre. Going too fast or approaching a corner at weird angles results in crashing like an idiot, so it’s no surprise there. However, the margin for error is razor-thin, leading to an experience where I was either slavishly following the line at all times or going headfirst into the nearest barrier. Don’t expect Ridge Racer-style drifting to save a bad approach here. Only braking, and braking hard will do it most of the time

Forza Motorspot may not blow most players away with this latest, and indeed greatest installment, but at the same time it’s also hard not to be impressed by what’s on show here. It’s a little risk-averse, but also polished to a high sheen and laser focused on providing a realistic and detailed racing simulation to its core audience, and I think most players will be more than happy with what’s included in this package.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It is currently available on XBX/S and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX and XBS. Approximately 25 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the first tour of the Builder’s Cup was completed. 4 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. This is a racing game in which players can drive a variety of realistic cars around international tracks. Players can progress through various game modes that include Career, Free Play, and Test Drive.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles can be altered and/ or resized. There are no audio cues needed for successful play, so I’d say it’s fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Forza Motorsport (2023) Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH An actual story mode and some solid arcade racing.

LOW Why can’t I just buy a specific car whenever I want?

WTF Checking Amazon for a Hot Wheels model of a Toyota Supra. 

Back in 2021, I reviewed Hot Wheels Unleashed and enjoyed it. I was a bit cold on some minor things — namely the way it dished out car unlocks and a lackluster “story” mode — but even with those flaws, the act of racing as the titular die-cast cars across different toy-inspired courses showed promise. Unleashed set a solid foundation, and as an arcade racing fan, I couldn’t wait to see what its successor would do to iron out the rough spots. 

Fast forward two years and developer Milestone drops Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged. This sequel is an arcade racer played from a third-person perspective, in which players control a wide-range of vehicles from Mattel’s Hot Wheels toy line and compete in different races and events. Options range from standard cars based on real-world manufacturers like Dodge or Chevrolet, all the way to some truly bizarre designs that resemble toasters, dragons and rocket ships. New to the mix are motorcycles and off-road vehicles, like ATVs and rally cars. 

The variety in the garage at launch is impressive and distinct, as vehicles are now broken up into six different categories — Rocket, Balanced, Swift, Drifter, Off-Road, and Heavy Duty. Each has different strengths in various races, such as the “rocket” class being effective in straight lines while the “heavy duty” vehicles can overtake other cars easily and won’t be troubled by roadblocks. 

Like the previous Hot Wheels, the attention to detail in the cars is incredible. Committing to the idea that these are toy cars, every vehicle is modeled exactly like their die-cast counterparts. For example, there are no drivers in the cars, while stickers, smudges and different material types are all rendered with care. Going into the photo mode highlights these touches, and I appreciated how the undercarriage of every car kept the copyright text that’s etched into every one of the real-world toys.

Keeping with the toy theme, players will race in different environments that seem giant, thanks to the fact that these are supposed to be tiny cars. Locations range from an arcade that’s filled to the brim with games like air hockey and a nice bar, to a family’s backyard littered with children’s toys. While much of this is consistent with the last installment, one of the biggest changes is the way cars are acquired.

While the in-game story still offers a rotating selection of cars that can be bought with in-game currency (coins), the loot boxes of the first game are gone completely. This is a great change, as nothing bummed me out more than getting loot crates that awarded duplicates of cars I already had. Although I would’ve preferred a more static and stable store to pick out any car I wanted, I have to admit that there’s a special feeling in browsing the store and stumbling upon a beautifully-rendered 2023 Nissan Z. Also, I’m glad to say that the cars are also affordable and coins are generously dished out after completing races, so grind is nonexistent. 

There are also some great gameplay tweaks and additions that make this a much better package than the last. The main mode is a story called Creature Rampage, now with actual cutscenes and context for why players are racing. It’s a simple tale about young racers and a scientist trying to stop classic Hot Wheels playset monsters from taking over a city, but I appreciated how much it added to the experience. Sure, the cutscenes are just animated stills and some of the dialogue is corny, but I liked how it felt like a Saturday morning cartoon or toy commercial, and it fits the vibe here.  

New race and event types have also been added, like a drift challenge that sees players trying to achieve a set score while drifting around corners. Also new are the elimination races, which required me to move up in position during a race to avoid getting eliminated. The variety here is a nice touch, and it’s all complemented by excellent driving mechanics — every vehicle type feels distinct enough to have its strengths and weaknesses in every event and track. Also included is an upgrade system that allows players to add attributes such as improved handling, better boost and even resistance to track hazards. 

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is the right way to follow up on a good idea. Expanding on the great things the first one did, this sequel adds more vehicles, more events and a story to make it one of the most unique arcade racers on the market. For those who haven’t had enough of toy-based racing this year, they should look no further than this one. 

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published and developed by Milestone. It is available on PS4/5, XBO/S/X, Switch and PC. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 10 hours were spent in single-player and the game was not completed (still playing). No time was spent in the game’s multiplayer. 

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. The official description reads: This is a racing game in which players drive toy vehicles through classic Hot Wheels tracks. Players can drift and boost their way around opponents, looping various tracks and whimsical obstacles. 

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: Cutscene subtitle size cannot be adjusted. During my time with it, I did not find that any audio cues were necessary for successful play. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped and there is a diagram.

The post Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Drastically improved driving system. A ridiculous amount of new content.

LOW Driver customization is limited.

WTF My toxic trait is thinking I can be a good Formula 1 driver. 

The Crew is an odd player in the arcade racing genre. Ubisoft introduced the IP in 2014, with its main selling point being a continuous open world. Set in a scaled-down recreation of the continental United States, cars would be able to drive from coast to coast in about 45 minutes. 2018’s The Crew 2 introduced planes and boats, but in both iterations the series struggled with the massive map — the areas felt empty, and many events lacked variety.

Fast forward to five years later and a new console generation, The Crew 2 has received plenty of expected updates but the team at Ubisoft’s Ivory Tower clearly wants to shake things up. Thankfully, The Crew Motorfest is an excellent improvement in every regard. 

Taking place in a scaled-down version of the Hawaiian island of OÊ»ahu, Motorfest is an open-world racer centering around the titular festival. Players create a driver and are automatically introduced to the new Playlist feature. These playlists act as a main campaign of sorts, offering a series of events that fall into specific themes (such as off-road racing or drifting), using specific cars, and being hosted by experts in different disciplines. The goal is to complete each set of races in a playlist, with the reward at the end of them being an exclusive vehicle. 

The switch to a smaller open-world is a good one, resulting in environments that are more dense with content and more detailed, visually. The approximation of Hawaii is breathtaking, with plenty of variety in terrain ranging from sunny beaches to trails around volcanoes. All of this is wrapped in gorgeous vistas and top-tier presentation — everything from the way the interior camera mode looks, to the way each car sounds distinct is impressive.  

Early on, players have a choice between three playlists — Made in Japan, Hawaii Scenic Tour and American Muscle. I started with American Muscle, which took me on a series of races involving different types of Ford Mustangs. The events were hosted by a fictional musician who loved American muscle cars, and his voiceover throughout the races sold that passion. I drove different kinds of Mustangs, ranging from modern models equipped with off-road tires to a 1969 Mustang Boss that made me feel like Steve McQueen in Bullitt. My prize at the end of the playlist was a 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby, an absolute behemoth of a ride. 

I love this playlist feature, thanks to the sheer variety introduced throughout my playtime. A little over thirty hours in, and I still have so many playlists to complete, but the ones I’ve already done have been exceptional, from the Off-Roading Addict (rally cars, ATVs and other off-road vehicles) to the Motorsports playlist offering closed-circuit races in a professional setting, such as a fictionalized version of Formula One. Here, players must contend with things like tire damage and rain affecting the way cars move on the track. 

Each playlist not only made me comfortable with driving different types of cars, but they also included interesting facts about specific manufacturers. There’s a real reverence to cars and car culture here, something I appreciate deeply as a fan of all kinds of cars, not just racing games. 

Aside from playlists, there’s also a variety of challenges to complete, like speed traps that challenge players to run through a gate as fast as possible or photo ops that encourage exploration. 

Completing any race or activity nets XP, money and upgrade parts. Reaching certain XP thresholds net rewards like customization upgrades for their drivers (which are fairly limited) and new cars. Returning Crew 2 players can also import their garage, a feature every racing sequel should include from here on out.

As if these options weren’t enough, there are plenty of online modes that I enjoyed. Every half hour in real time, a new online event with new conditions became available. These include things like a 28-player cross-country dash that has players switching between three different vehicle types and a demolition derby-type event that acts as a battle royale. Here, players control destructible cars and are thrown into a combat zone, trying to be the last team standing. 

I’m actually astounded at how feature-complete and jam-packed Motorfest is at launch, and I’m curious to see what it’ll look like a few months from now. Maybe we’ll see stock car racing a la Nascar in the future? Or perhaps more rally-dedicated modes to really take advantage of the wide-open terrain? Maybe an endurance race modeled after the 24 Hours of Le Mans? As it is now, however, I am not starved for anything to do, as I still have plenty to keep me busy.

This variety is complimented by pitch-perfect gameplay, especially in how cars handle. I played a bit of The Crew 2 a few months ago but dropped it quick after I was dissatisfied with the way cars felt. There was a serious lack of weight and impact, and the nitrous boost felt weak. Motorfest revamps all of this completely, with every car handling like a dream. 

Vehicles have notable weight to them, while each one feels distinct — the Ford Bronco feels like the massive SUV that it is, while the Honda Civic glides through the streets. That feeling also extends to how every car interacts with the open world, as different vehicle types obviously work better in different conditions. For example, the Bronco was in the rally raid classification and was useful for maneuvering across mountains while the Honda NSX would wildly spin out of control if I ended up off-road.

This is also reflected in the adaptive triggers of the PS5’s DualSense control scheme including haptic feedback. Each terrain type feels different, and the triggers lock up and add pressure to braking and accelerating. It’s still easy to drift on a dime like any arcade racer, but there’s a balance here thanks to the realistic feel of the cars. 

The Crew Motorfest is exceptional. To simply say that it improves upon its predecessor is a gross understatement, as it took a flawed foundation and turned it into the smoothest of rides. The presentation, the improved handling and the excellent playlist feature all come together to make it a top-tier racer. With this new entry, Ubisoft not only sets a new standard for their own open-worlders, but they’ve crafted an experience that can stand toe-to-toe with the finest racers on the market. Like a souped up 2021 Toyota GR Supra blasting through the finish line on a crowded street, this is truly a sight to behold. 

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published and developed by Ubisoft. It is available on PS4/5, XBO/X/S and PC. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 30 hours were spent in single-player and the game was not completed (still playing). 5 hours were spent playing multiplayer. 

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T for Lyrics and Mild Violence. A lot of the game is racing, with most of the objectionable content being relegated to song lyrics, though most of the worst words are censored already. Parents should know that most of the violence involves cars being crashed but nothing excessive. This game is perfectly fine for most children. 

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are subtitles and visual cues throughout the game, like icons on screen alerting players of different things around the area. These can all be adjusted. There are no audio cues that are needed for successful gameplay. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped and there are diagrams and different presets.

The post The Crew Motorfest Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Unique atmosphere and concept.

LOW Controls feel clunky and unresponsive.

WTF The level editor.

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi Everyone! Eugene Sax here with another review from Gamecritics.com.

In a futuristic galaxy conquered by humans, we have stripped uninhabitable worlds of their resources and left them barren and pockmarked with with tunnels, slopes, and valleys. What to do with these otherwise useless planets, one may ask? Create a dangerous, adrenaline filled, rocket-powered sport, of course!

Enter Speedonauts from World Away Games.

In this arcade racer, players will compete to be the fastest in the world while racing from point to point across the abandoned mining planets humans have created. Every speedonaut gets gravity boots to increase momentum down hills and from high jumps, and a jetpack to help climb up hills. Each world will demand perfection from its players, and each level will have players fail, fail, and fail again before making it to the end, and that’s even before competing for the fastest time. Outside of the base game, there’s also a level editor to let players create their own abandoned planets to share with the online community.

From the start Speedonauts showed a lot of promise, but there are a few things that keep it from reaching the heights it’s setting out to achieve.

While the controls are simple, it feels like they’re not quite sharp enough to get the job done. There were times when the game seemed to eat an input at a critical moment, causing an otherwise good run to fail. With the emphasis on speed, precision, and perfecting controls, the controls also felt floaty and loose, oftentimes making precision impossible.

The other thing that gets to me are the levels themselves. If you think of skiing as a comparison, there aren’t a lot of verbs for the player to use unless the developers want to get into something that feels a little more intricate. For example, something combo- or trick-based like a Tony Hawk. The developers don’t want to go that route, but in sticking to a simpler formula, it feels like the level variety loses steam in Speedonauts fairly quickly. Everything is about big jumps, jumping them at just the right time, and trying to land perfectly to get the most speed. As such, many of the levels felt similar to each other, and it doesn’t help that every area has blue-grey earth, white snow and neon green mining lights — there’s nothing distinct in the visuals.

The level editor is a nice addition to the content and using it gave me an appreciation for level design. Interestingly, part of working with the level editor is controlling the camera and how it moves to follow the player manually. While it took a bit of time to get used to how it all worked, it was satisfying to dig into these systems and make my own levels. However, I wish there was some way to ensure that levels are able to be completed before allowing them to be uploaded. While most of the community levels I tried were fine, I did find some that were impossible to complete.

Speedonauts is an entertaining romp though used-up and abandoned planets, but repetitive level design and imprecise controls quickly got me wanting to settle for any medal, just so I could move on and see what the next level had to offer — but ultimately, there wasn’t enough here to keep me in and going for gold.

Speedonauts gets 6.5 desolate planets out of 10.

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by World Away Games.  It is currently available on Steam. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 3 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer options.

Parents: This game is not rated by the ESRB. There is no gore, no language, no violence: just racing and fast times. Approved for all ages.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Text is sparse in the game, and text is not resizable. Music is for atmosphere only and not necessary for the game. This game is fully accessible. 

Remappable controls: Controls are not remappable.

The post Speedonauts Video Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The innovative non-racing simulation elements.

LOW The eternal DRS train in all races.

WTF Ferrari winning the 2022 World Championship.

In a year of real-life Formula 1’s actual reboot, which introduced a new F1 car prototype and regulations, my main interest was what this year’s F1 game would do with this opportunity to change things up. As we’ve already seen in my F1 2022 Review, this chance was left underexplored, as the game felt like the first stale reissue of the known formula. Most of my hopes therefore rested with F1 Manager 2022, a second official F1 franchise that would enter the game industry this year — could this game provide the novelty that F1 2022 lacked?

In F1 Manager 2022, there is no player-controlled driving. Instead, we’re only controlling options outside of racing, mostly browsing menus and manually selecting management options such as which staff to hire, which car parts to design, manufacture or maintain, and also how our choice of team’s headquarters may be refurbished or upgraded. Herein, we see the influence of developer Frontier Developments, known for the beloved Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo series, which featured similar managerial elements.

However, a clear distinction between Manager and Planet games is that this time around, the simulation of action is separated from the managerial elements. In those theme park tycoons, we would see the immediate impacts of placing new props, shops and hiring new staff as our park’s visitors would immediately be able to visit them. In Manager, we have to wait to see the results of our managing kick in when the official F1 race weekends arrive, and this is always something more unpredictable as we compete with opaque AI-controlled competitors.

Generally, the game features a dual dynamic of managing the team structure outside of race weekends, and trying to impact the performance of the team’s AI-controlled drivers during competition. Often, this means that we’re stuck with the established level of our team within the pack, which in F1 is very much known — a lower-ranked team in the actual F1 season simply cannot be guided to victory in the first season of managing.

Still, the player’s impact is easily felt, as I was able to complete my first season by bringing the 8^th-ranked team of AlphaTauri to 4^th byand making the race podium several times, and we even managed to pick up one victory. This felt quite unrealistic, and even though Manager encouraged me to delve into the managerial aspects to try to develop the most advanced car and help my drivers prepare for their races, these results came too easily and too quickly to consider my achievements genuine.

Why? The dynamics of racing simulation. As players, we can only control whether our drivers should push to the limit or reserve tires, fuel and battery life, and when they should come in for a pit stop. Yet while this limits player input on the race, the fact that every race somehow results in unbreakable DRS trains makes it all the more impactful (and the races less realistic). I merely had to situate my drivers in the correct DRS train and charge past at the end of the race to outperform targets.

To explain, DRS means drag reduction system and allows F1 cars to gain immense speed boosts on straight parts of the track (there are usually two or three per circuit). In races, DRS is disabled unless cars are within one second behind the car in front, i.e. an overtaking position. This can also lead to DRS trains, however, as slower cars may follow faster cars due to straight line speed difference. However, in actual Formula 1, simply following cars within one second is much more difficult. Therefore, DRS trains hardly dominate races.

Here, however, DRS trains do dominate. They form at the very start of races, and can be as long as eight cars (out of 20 in total) which allows worse cars to stay in touch with the frontrunners. The fact that the AI also makes some questionably inorganic strategic decisions helps the player to make that final push to end up much more achievable than a realistic simulation would be. In other words, while Manager’s managerial side is engaging and feels realistic, the racing simply does not do it justice.

Therefore, Manager suffers similar issues to F1 2022, as races fail to feel convincing, and any immersion in realistic simulations is canceled out. These issues are somewhat exacerbated by lackluster presentation — the ‘commentary’ variation ahead of races and in-between weekend sections is embarrassingly nonexistent, and the visuals are also a step down from F1 2022. Also, the intrigue of managerial simulation as the strongest feature could just as well have been added to the latter title, which already (underwhelmingly) experimented with manager modes.

F1 Manager 2022 is a refreshing new take on F1 games, underscoring the intense out-of-racing dimensions to the sport, and the managerial modes are expansive and engaging. Still, the premise feels undercut by an unimpressive racing simulation. Therefore, the title’s path up the grid requires improvements in its immersive qualities — as much as playing manager is about putting in work behind the scenes, nothing is more satisfying than witnessing the results of all that effort on the track. 

Disclosures: This game is developed by Frontier Developments and published by Frontier Developments. It is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, and XBO/X/S. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS4. Approximately 45 hours were devoted to the single-player mode, and over a career season of the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E, and contains Mild Language. The Rating Summary reads: “This is a racing simulation game in which players assume the role of a Team Principal for a real-world Formula 1 team. Players can manage the team’s facilities, set racing strategies, and race various cars on tracks. Some language in the game is partially censored by audible bleeps (e.g., “For [bleep] sake, man”; “Ah man, that was such [bleep]”; “I am a [bleep] idiot!”).”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. This game is menu-driven, so the vital information is readable. No audio cues are of relevance to the gameplay. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post F1 Manager 2022 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The supercar challenges ahead of race weekends.

LOW The lack of engaging innovation.

WTF Ferrari dominating the 2022 World Championship.

After the exciting chaos of last year’s Formula One World Championship, this season has seen a reboot of the real-world sport with technological regulations overturning most consistencies of the competition and every racing weekend providing new surprises. I was quite eager to see how the annual videogame series would negotiate this new era — does a reboot of the real sport also mean a reboot of the game?

I’m afraid the answer to that question is an unequivocal ‘no.’

The F1 franchise is a sophisticated racing simulator, featuring driver and management career modes as well as individual and multiplayer racing, with huge emphasis on a variety of options so that simulation settings, racing camera angles, and rules can easily be changed on a whim. Players can get immersed in their own F1 championship stories or just race for its own sake while tweaking many options that accommodate their preferences.

However, this foundation is an old and stable one that we’ve already encountered and covered in previous editions. The question most pertinent to annual franchises is always “What’s new?” Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like much. What’s worse, some of my issues with previous installments have been cemented or even exacerbated, and some highlights removed with no replacement.

Let’s start with the biggest change. 22’s starting menu page is replaced with F1 Life, a hub from which to enter various modes, meant to be highly immersive to players via collectable non-F1 ‘supercars’ and driver accessories.

While this is a genuinely fresh layer, lingering in the hub did not appeal as I mainly play for the actual F1 competition while not being a more holistic car racing fanatic. Despite that, this would still be an inoffensive and even positive addition if not for the constant request to connect to EA’s servers. I never intended to do so in the first place, and reminders kept popping up every time I left a mode and returned to F1 Life. This ‘major’ addition turned into live service torment.

Other changes lie within the racing itself. Pit stops may now involve a QTE that impact the swiftness of the stop, AI drivers more often make race-ending errors and are more adaptive to the player’s driving, and a bunch of tracks have been re-added. Furthermore, due to F1 Life, collected supercars can be used in challenges ahead of race weekends in career modes, and these challenges are both welcome invitations to the tracks and more frivolous changes of pace from the intense racing.

These positives are far too little, however, when considering the lingering issues that have not been solved — or even worsened.

First, the AI is slightly more adaptive, but remains dreadful when compared to real drivers. I also noticed that the AI difficulty had to be reduced significantly compared to previous games, and not because my driving got worse — they’re very consistent with their lap times, hardly making any of the slips that human players make, and can only be matched on optimal one-lap runs.

I was able to eventually establish a challenging difficulty, but it remained frustrating to race AI opponents. Races are therefore less enjoyable, as the AI keeps a steady line and pace, but reducing the AI difficulty further would not remove the issue, as I would then easily beat the AI on good laps. The issue is not difficulty, but instead it’s the overly consistent, error-free driving. The only area where the AI deviates from this is in overtakes or duels. Ironically, the AI is reckless in these instances and will crash into the player or into the wall, taking themselves out. It’s not remotely realistic.

This recklessness is made worse by the lack of an adequate penalty system, which in actual F1 keeps drivers in check. Here, most bumps are resolved with warnings which do little to punish dangerous driving, and there is no setting to increase stringency in this regard.

I also find that other issues have to do with a lack of ‘fluff’ that could make the experience more immersive and realistic — things like more sophisticated press simulations (which have been mostly removed, and were never very convincing), more detailed driver animations, and more realistic office management simulation. The constant emails communicating that the driver MUST beat their teammate become very redundant, and they sound silly in the first place.

In F1 2021, most of these issues were omitted in an experimental — though not fully-realized — new driver career mode that came complete with cinematic cutscenes, scripted storyline, and even a hilariously accurate simulation of post-race Twitter discourse. I had desperately hoped for something similar with improvements, but there’s nothing of the kind here. In fact, there’s hardly anything story-wise to immerse the player into the culture of F1 — a shame, since narratives are what I like most about it.

F1 culture is highly peculiar, the drivers and cars are spectacular in the heat of racing, and there’s always a story going on, usually characterized by volatility — the cars can break down, drivers can make race-ending mistakes, teams can destroy their chances at victory with nonsensical tactical decisions (Ferrari’s underwhelming performances in the actual 2022 season provide an example) and world events can play spoiler, such as when Russia was removed from the calendar, or when drivers miss races due to COVID infections. This unpredictability makes everything about the sport perpetually fascinating and none of these peripheral elements are translated here.

This is the first installment of F1 since the reboot of the real-life competition, but it is also the first installment I’ve played that does not feel like a worthwhile reboot in the slightest.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Codemasters and published by EA Sports. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5 and XBO/X/S. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS4. Approximately 35 hours of play were devoted to single-player modes, and over a season of the driver career mode was completed. 0 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E and contains no descriptors. The rating summary reads as follows: This is a racing game in which players can drive Formula One cars on real-world tracks. Players compete in a variety of game modes that include Career, Time Trial, Championship, and Grand Prix.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present, but only for the dynamic racing line (the ‘ideal circuit line’), not for the overall display.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. While this game’s races are playable without sound as the distance to other cars has a clear visual indicator, I find navigating menus and contextual info onscreen, especially in the story mode, to be difficult because the text is very small.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post F1 22 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.