Star Wars: Galactic Racer Review

<a href="https://comicvibe.com/2027s-star-wars-rebels-sequel-will-abandon-1-jedi-mainstay-from-the-original-show/” title=”2027's Star Wars Rebels Sequel Will Abandon 1 Jedi Mainstay from the Original Show”>Star Wars: Galactic Racer Review – It’s not a WipEout for Star Wars

Star Wars: Galactic Racing

Platform

PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X

Publisher

Developer

To quote Tom Grennan: “There’s something in the water“. This must certainly be the case in Star Wars HQ, because while the films have most certainly fallen from grace, there seems to be a resurgence in the games. We had a genuinely good game in Star Wars Zero Company, and now we’re avoiding a total WipEout with Star Wars: Galactic Racer.

Before I go on, there needs to be a rule in the sex dungeons of Disney that’s passed out when Mickey gets out the whip – colon or no colon, and I don’t mean the body part. The writer in me does not like how they differ; it should be uniform. I have not removed any points for this transgression. Maybe. Where’s my Corellian whiskey?

As Wccftech’s resident racing person, and avid Star Wars
Trek fan – long live the Enterprise D – it only made sense that I’d jump into Star Wars: Galactic Racer. I’ve played all the racing things, from your Forza Haribo’s and the Gran Turbos, to the Christmas-ruining Nickelodeon Kart Racers(this does not get a fancy name), and I must say that this is a genuinely great racing game, but with a bit added to keep you coming back for more.

That bit is Roguelite. In the campaign, you are given a league token at the start, and if you lose it, through failing a specific objective, or by crashing too many times, then you’re out, and it’s back to the start. You can obtain more league tokens to carry on the campaign should you hit one of these failures, but they’re always limited. The eventual aim is to reach the end, win the championship, and help Darius Pax – the founder of the Galactic League – beat somebody called Kestar Bool, who wants to take the Galactic League from him.

For every race you complete, whether you win or not, you earn upgrade points, new equipment to add to your racer, and turning points, which are the overarching currency. This does depend on your position; you essentially need to finish in the top 4 for most races. From improving your durability, letting you take a bit more hammer, to your ramjet for increased speed, maybe even a bit more battery power to use the skills you can buy.

How you upgrade is up to you, with six areas to allocate ability points and various slots for equipment and skills, and as you use some of these skills more, you get to unlock different racer styles, the first being survivor – each style coming with different perks. It all makes for quite an interesting and engaging system, particularly since you have three different types of vehicles to unlock, upgrade and race: Landspeeders, Speeder Bikes and Skim Speeders.

You’ll notice the absence of a Podracer in the list above. Never fear, you will be able to race with them – it’s just that they aren’t the main focus in Star Wars: Galactic Racer. You’ll also find yourself outside of the campaign in multiplayer, some special scenarios with set win conditions – unlocking you even more tokens for upgrading – and arcade, which are essentially time-trials.

The campaign is the real meat, though, and in the campaign, there are also a variety of events as you progress, and you normally have a selection to choose from. Sometimes it’s a straight race; other times it’s elimination-style; and at other times you’re field-testing a vehicle and seeing how far you can go using the ramjet in a set time. You’ll also find this spiced up with some head-to-head races, additional contracts, challenges, and random elements thrown in.

All adding to the list of abilities and parts that you can buy from the in-game shop. These can also come with unexpected benefits and negatives, if something goes wrong. Also, the more you play and progress, the more you unlock. It all makes for a reason to keep coming back and playing. I also don’t think that it’s overwhelming, never really becoming too much.

There are some areas that I’m not as enamoured with. Much like my criticism of Star Wars: Zero Company having what I still think are pointless third-person areas, the small explorable hub areas here are utterly pointless. They look nice, but in the end, you’re just going to talk to one or two people, go to the shop, then head to your racer. It did nothing to bring me into the game and just felt like the time and effort could have gone into more of the racing.

I’m not going to complain about the lack of local multiplayer, because it’s multiplayer. The more I avoid multiplayer, the more I enjoy life. I will probably add a slight complaint that there could have just been a little more variety in the tracks and racers themselves. The game has invented an entire new racer, so that’s something, but the fact that the tracks, across the six available worlds, offer their own unique hazards means that I would have loved to see more of that.

Examples of hazards include freezing when racing on Ando Prime, which slows you down, and superheated vents that warm you back up and let you pick up speed. On other planets, it’s time to avoid some lava rivers, overheating your ramjet – best pick up the cooling skill – and other times you’ll be avoiding some acid that can cause a number of failures in your setup. A couple more worlds would have been ideal, but this is still a great starting point for Star Wars: Galactic Racer.

Most of all, the real question is the racing. Star Wars: Galactic Racer is, after all, a racing game. From your simple afterburner and the Ramjet offering you serious speed boosts, the abilities that can either shield or auto-pilot you, to the absolutely fantastic looking and feeling turns, this feels special. I’ve mentioned Wipeout, but I could also throw in Burnout (with Fuse staffed by Criterion alumni), which certainly shows the inspiration.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer feels fast, and it feels dangerous. The use of the crash cam, when you knock someone to their doom, is spectacular. The slowdown and cam for your own mishaps, often due to under- or over-turning and hitting a wall, are both comical and effective. If a game was going to capture the feel of the racing there, this does it, and it does it while being a great arcade racing game in itself. You come here for full-throttle action, and you get it.

Most of all, Star Wars: Galactic Racer is just a very accomplished game. It uses strong roguelike elements to keep you coming back for more, with each campaign feeling different. It looks absolutely fantastic, and the variety (albeit limited) offers something interesting in both the races on offer, the added elements to them, and the hazards you need to get around. All in all, this is a game I am enjoying and one I would recommend.

PC version reviewed. Copy provided by the publisher.

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WCCFTECH RATING

Star Wars: Galactic Racing

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a fast-paced arcade racing game that truly captures the feel of racing in the Star Wars universe. Supported by roguelike elements to keep you coming back for more, there is a lot to like here, with very few pitfalls.

Pros

• Excellent fast-paced action racing, that feels like it belongs in the Star Wars universe
• Strong roguelike elements that add a new feel to the campaign and keeps you coming back for more
• Variety in worlds and races, particularly hazards, stop the game from feeling monotonous…

Cons

• … However, only six worlds is limited and feels like it could have more.

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About the author: Chris Wray has been writing at Wccftech gaming section since 2015 and is an opinionated bloke from the north of the UK (think Ned Stark). He enjoys video games, films, books, beer, whisky and other alcohol. He also supports Manchester Utd and for some reason he writes profile pages in the third person.

His expertise is in gaming and the games industry, primarily on the PC. In addition to this, he works with and contributes to the finance and tech sections.

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