Star Wars returns to the world of video games: this time in the form of Galactic Racer. Can this high speed racing game give the franchise some much needed positivity? Or is this another misstep in the galaxy far, far away?
Bring On The Galactic League
Star Wars as a franchise has been a real rollercoaster for the past decade. The sequel trilogy didn’t exactly please fans and some of the television series proved vastly disappointing. Thankfully, the franchise in the form of video games has faired far better, especially with the recent success of Star Wars Zero Company. Now, up steps Galactic Racer, a new racing adventure game developed by new team, Fuse Games. This team, made up of many former Burnout developers, set out to create a fast paced chaotic racer in the world of Star Wars. My god, have they succeeded Galactic Racer is not only a brilliant Star Wars adventure; it is one of the best racing games I have ever played.
In racing games, you often don’t expect much of a narrative to progress the game further, but Galactic Racer is a different beast. The game takes place in the aftermath of the collapse of the Galactic Empire. Shortly after the collapse, the New Republic has attempted to broker peace across the galaxy. Meanwhile, former podracer and mechanic, Darius Pax, has founded the Galactic League in the Outer Rim, a notoriously lawless area of the galaxy. Unfortunately for Pax, a racer called Kestar Bool has dominated the league since its inception and now seeks to overthrow Pax and control the league for his own nefarious plans. Up steps you, the player created character known as Shade, a former racer who returns to the world of racing to help Pax stop Bool from causing the league’s demise. Strap in, it’s quite a ride!
It’s Not The Destination; It’s The Journey
The journey of Shade and their quest for racing stardom takes place over three acts. These acts cover Shade as they begin as a lowly qualifier, all the way up to title challenger. Whilst this is a compelling narrative in general, it’s not what made me fall in love with the campaign. My adoration for the campaign comes from the wonderful cast of characters and the superb writing. During each visit to one of the seven planets, Shade can roam around from a third person perspective. These calm, quieter moments are where the game really shows off its lovable charm.
The cast of characters is phenomenal and oozes classic Star Wars. There’s a plethora of different alien races amongst humans and androids. Whether it’s Shade’s Mechanic Hibi, Owner Pax, villain Kestar or one of the eleven fellow racers you compete against, each character is as memorable as the other. They are superbly written and voiced and add so much context and depth to an already stellar story. I would spend ages talking to different characters, or simply listening to them converse with one another. This is a story full of laughter, heart and classic Star Wars moments. A real treat for fans of the franchise and newcomers alike. Add in a time trial mode, a challenge scenario mode and online multiplayer, and you have the full package. I would never have imagined this for a racing game.
NOW THIS IS PODRACING!!
Now, it’s well and good having a great story but not great gameplay. Thankfully, this is not Galactic Racer. The gameplay and design of this game are nothing short of furiously addictive and brilliantly chaotic. The developers at Fuse Games have created a gameplay loop which is easy to pick up, but hard to master. The sense of speed on display is breath-taking; every turn and drift feels like a life or death decision. This is high speed, Burnout style takedown racing. You have two types of boosting: afterburner acts as the normal boost alongside the more risky ramjet boost. Ramjet is a volatile boost that sends you into extremely high speeds which puts your heart right in your mouth. Like Burnout games of old, there is a crash cam which rewards your brutality towards other races, with delightful slow motion destructions. The gameplay is hyper speed, hyper fun and damn near perfect.
It’s not just the gameplay that makes this game so special. At launch, there are four different types of vehicles to pilot: the Landspeeder, Speeder Bikes, Podracers and a vehicle brand new to the universe – the Skimspeeder. These vehicles are different from one other in their handling, boost amounts and size. It makes building and testing each speeder a gameplay loop in itself. The replay ability with these different types of vehicles is fantastic; during the campaign you can conduct field tests which further help you get to grips with each beast. I’d be remiss to mention the pre race checks you can also complete for abilities and parts. These are really small but brilliant moments in which I couldn’t stop smiling. It transported me back to my childhood watching The Phantom Menace!
Racing Roguelite??
When Galactic Racer was announced at The Game Awards, I nodded in excitement, knowing I would be playing this game on day one, and I patiently waited for its release. When I loaded up the campaign for the first time, I suddenly realised what the developers had in store for me – a roguelite racing game. Immediately, I had doubts. Fortunately, these doubts have been expunged from existence. This is one of the best roguelikes I have ever played. Each act is essentially a different run for Shade. The abilities and parts do not stay equipped bar permanent upgrades, and the parts installed on the specific vehicles are also one time uses. This makes each run so unique as you can test out one of the nine abilities in the game and mix and match with over 300 parts which have different status effects. Be warned though, parts can degrade and cause negative effects if you damage your speeder too much! The amount of accessibility options to help players is a delight and can alleviate some pressures on struggling racers.
Do Or Die
There is no race restart. You place in one of 12 positions during a race or in the top three during eliminators. Fail to place in the top three and you can be knocked out of the tour, thus ending your run. This creates a tense experience, especially during the higher difficulties, but one that I adored. Apart from these events, you can choose from field tests, to mystery encounters with fellow racers, to much more. Mystery encounters can unlock new racing styles or favours that can be equipped at the start of each run. Rivalries with fellow racers can also emerge through placing side bets on them and winning those bets. What I imagined to be a simple racing game actually turned out to be a brilliantly complex and addictive system. I simply cannot get enough; even now I just want to pick and up and go for another run.
So Much More
Along with the campaign, the game has a plethora of content available. Sebulba has side stories you can participate in, which allows you to control him in his heyday in classic podracing style. It’s a fun and frenetic mode for lovers of the films. Time trials and scenarios act as the modes for hardcore players; I cannot wait to gain all 50 gold medals on all of the tracks. Multiplayer launches with quick play and five stage event modes for up to 12 players. These are seamless and I had an absolute blast competing against fellow players. Ranked mode is coming in the future, which will only strengthen popularity.
The tracks and the planets are different gameplay modifiers within themselves. Each of the 7 planets and 46 tracks across the game are full of environmental hazards that inflict status effects. Whether it’s the burning effect on Jakku, the corroding effect on Sentinel 1 or freezing effect on Ando Prime, beware the environmental beast. The planets can also help the player with better cooldown on the icy planets for your ramjet and much more. My only real gripe with this game is the lack of planets and tracks, as many of these tracks are simply remixed versions of others. If and when the developers rightfully get another chance with this style of game, I can only dream of the amount of planets and tracks they could create in this universe.
A Galaxy Of Absolute Beauty
Let’s make this abundantly clear – the world of Star Wars Galactic Racer is simply astounding. Every planet looks gorgeous and vastly different from the others. Each planet has its own unique style, colour scheme and environments which I could look at for hours. A special mention needs to go to the planet of Crait; when racing on the surface, this results in red salt flying up underneath the speeder. So damn cool! During my time with the game I have had quite literally zero issues with performance and fidelity.
This is one of the best looking games of the year. Each character and speeder looks full of detail and style and the amount of customisation for speeders is also fantastic. The vast amount of colours and styles you can equip is beautiful. The UI and menus are dripping in classic Star Wars flair. I’ll never get tired of those pre race checks and watching that engine boot up! A near perfect looking game that you could easily mistake for being plucked straight from the films themselves.
Roar Of The Crowd
Similarly, the sounds of Galactic Racer match the sights immaculately. Every speeder sounds wonderful when the engine starts and roars. Every boost used sounds powerful and impactful; it’s wonderful hitting that button. Abilities sound unique, with the likes of an Ion bolt sounding particularly wicked. The voice cast do a wonderful job bringing these colourful characters to life. Each one could be put in a movie and instantly become a fan favourite. Special mention of course goes to the wonderful Richard Summers-Calvert who voices the hilarious Biddy Blas.
Finally, the soundtrack; it’s truly perfect. The 21 tracks composed by award winning composer Gordy Haab are classic Star Wars. Having scored many previous games in the franchise, Haab has mastered the craft. When the orchestral score booms during climatic moments or the final lap of the race, it’s simply mesmerizing. You just have to nail the style and themes of Star Wars in the soundtrack and Haab has nailed it. A flawless effort.
Verdict
Star Wars Galactic Racer is the perfect racing game. Fast, furious and frenetic gameplay makes every corner and turn feel such a matter of life or death. A superb unique campaign full of great characters and moments, addictive gameplay loops and a plethora of content make this a game for the ages. The first time you podrace will stay in my memory forever, like being transported into the films. It will take some doing for this game to be displaced as my game of the year. In a year of heavyweight developers flexing their muscles, it’s a brand new team from Guildford who have captured my attention. Fuse Games, congratulations on a superb effort. Besides the fact I dream of yet more planets and tracks, this is the ultimate Star Wars racer. I already long for a sequel!
