Recent reviews by SawbladeSnake

early access review. So far the game is pretty enjoyable, its a total vibe, its a obvious throwback to a simplier time in gaming. its got decent customization as well. and i think if youre a fan of the series you should be pleased.

well with that being said... I do have some gripes. the main one being... this game is highly repetitive. It is like one mode the entire game. i know some may say "well what were you expecting?". well some more variety? I know this isnt need for speed, nor was i expecting it to be. I played the original on dreamcast back when it was new, but im feeling like the gameplay loop has not aged well, Not enough for a 10 hour+ game. the game boils down mostly to if you have a fast enough car. the rivals are predictable, they will usually boost off the start, and if you can catch them in the first few seconds you win, if you lose, you just need to upgrade your car and try again. the only counter play is really just making them crash and like i said if you cant catch them its only a matter of time before your car is fast enough to brute force your way to the lead. the story.... really doesnt matter, you have some faceless rivals who will chat you up, they will either be friendly or talk down to you, but its a pretty generic story with some nonsensical filler in between. your goal is to beat all the gangs,bosses, and wanderers. the wanderers being the most convoluted as they have arbitrary goals for you to meet, only for the race themselves to be no different than the other 99% you did prior. the only time i surprised was when one race had me race this gold evo guy, then half way through a red one joined the race in a 2v1. i hope the game has more moments like that.
after all i played so far, this tells me that this is not the kind of game you wanna sit and play all day, this is something you play in short sessions, you come on, beat a few rivals, and then play something else.

honestly this might be a hot take but by now id expect a little more variety in modes and gameplay, maybe a drag racing mode, hell we're on a highway the entire game. maybe a point to point race with several rivals at once, maybe a drift event? hell maybe add some cops to make it interesting, i know its japan but they have police out there. anyways, i did enjoy the game for the most part and i will finish it, who knows what they will add in the near future but as is im giving this a 6/10.

right off the bat its pretty fun, the game feels like a blend between burnout and crusin' blast. its a pretty fun arcade like experience, but it overall tends to feel like a "racing gatcha" game. the game has some of the most aggressive push to get you to spend money like ive never seen before. while i personally dont need the best meta vehicles to enjoy a game, at least let me go for the ones i want and how this game is built feels like it can waste your time (no surprise there). even when i wanted to throw a few bucks at this game, the season pass wasnt even available to me only after i bought the wrong pass thinking thats was it, the the game itself redirected me to it. still waiting on support to help me with that but i doubt they'll do anything. ill still play more regardless but i feel like unless you're willing to spend a ton this game (which you shouldn't), you can easily get burnt out playing the same tracks and events over and over with your boring starter cars.

*update* originally i recommended this game, but mere hours later, as soon as i hit C class thats when the game fell apart for me. all the cars i built up werent allowed in these events which meant i was locked to two muscle cars that had incredibly long cooldown times when they ran out of gas. it started to become like the very thing people hate about live service games. long wait times, gate keeping content behind needing fast vehicles you dont have early on, and the constant push to buy pointless stuff. ive played hoyoverse games less obnoxious than this game. how people are willing to spent hundreds of dollars on this game is...the most mind boggling thing ive ever seen. i wont say not to play this game, but just be prepared for a hell of a grind.

You know... i gotta say. This game surprised me. i actually LIKE this game. i know... its crazy. ive played this at beta, and hated it. i played it on games pass a year later, and hated it. Now for some reason this year i gave it an honest chance and... i dig it. its the weirdest thing. Now. the key to enjoying this game is to not compare it to L4D2. ill just say this now, its not L4D and its not as good as it either. BUT, if you accept the game for what it is, that being a zombies rouge-like looter shooter. then its actually alright. things it does better than L4D would be the variety in guns. i play L4D2 a lot but even i grow tired of the same few weapons., this has nearly double to use. though the gun play does feel like a step down due to the zombies not reacting as much to being shot. the game tries to lure you in with its serious tone but during gameplay, between the visuals and the way the characters talk, it can feel a bit like fortnite at times. Theres a decent amount of content, but you really need to have the hive expansions or you will run out of stuff to do in a month. they add a bit more potential strategy in a run as well as 2 more campaigns because in the base game theres only 3 plus a final fight at the end. the main bulk of the game is trying to get skins for your guns and character, as well as booster cards for your runs. then you move on to harder difficulties and it can grow repetitive with so few campaigns. THIS is why L4D stayed alive so long and why these style games need a workshop going forward. i was kinda sad theres no more content coming now as the devs were just starting to find their groove. If you can pick this up on sale, and maybe grab some friends you can have some legit fun with this title, just dont expect L4D.

This isnt a full review, i was willing to give this game a try. i didnt get to play it for long. the game was pretty..... average compared to its competitors. Npcs talk to you like this is your first racing game. infact theres too much talking in the beginning for a game that has no story anyways. already a downgrade from the first game which actually had a good story by racing game standards. This games handling is extremely floaty, cars feel like they have no weight to them even by arcade standards. yet when you go off jumps your car feels like its got lead weights in it. Simple options are buried under menus upon menus. the main reason i bought this game was because it was so cheap... but even then ubisoft managed to kill my motivation to play anymore due to the servers kicking me offline and not letting me play... I just dont want to support this company anymore. ill be getting a refund and watching them continue to dig themselves into a deeper hole.

even though i recommend this game overall... im very divided on how i feel about it. on one had this game can feel great, progression is fairly linear and straight forward. most of the premium content can be bought with ingame currency which isnt hard to farm for. The game has a learning curve for each enemy faction, while hard at first, once you practice and experiment you should find a playstyle that works for you. the gameplay overall is unique, explosive, and unlike what you'll find in most games, its like Call of duty, but you using overpowered kill streaks to bring the hammer of god down on your foes and it gets your adrenaline going. for 40$ or less its a damn good time....

But... on the other hand the more you play the more the cracks start to show and its not always the games fault. the main problem is the future of the games direction is uncertain. im someone who at this point put in nearly 400 hours, got everything, all ship upgrades, warbonds, achievements even... and im quite bored. i guess i got my moneys worth but you can only play the same few mission types so much before it gets repetitive. There were a few unique missions but since those events are over, they're gone. Sometimes there might be events that unlock a new weapon or something...but its random? since the game as a whole is always progressing so long as the devs release new content which can take weeks or months. The games weapon balance changes all the time. popular fun weapons you might enjoy could be nerfed. The games performance is sporatic. each patch they put out can potentially break something or introduce new bugs. New premium content for the most part is the warbonds which may or may not have any decent content in them which can be a waste of time and money. as someone like myself whos waiting on a worth while update for new vehicles, biomes,and stratagems to keep me coming back, who knows when thats going to arrive considering they have to spend so much time trying to re-balance weapons and fix bugs. like i said the future and direction of this game is quite uncertain especially with no real road map and inconsistency with their decisions. development for these things are just too slow for my liking personally so for now im putting this game down until something gets me to return, hopefully a huge 2.0 level update or something.

Man.... i gotta say, this game took me completely by surprise. i think i discovered this game from some random youtube video and decided to give this a shot, especially since it was on sale. Let me just say this game wowed me! This genre of retro racers sadly has been cursed with developers not delivering on whats promised or being stuck in development hell or games getting cancelled out right. But this game, im glad saw the light of day. Its polished, its straight to the point, its got depth and inspiration from modern games, its surprisingly lengthy and cars have some levels of customization. This was totally worth every penny and if these devs take on another racing game ill absolutely keep and eye on it, Bravo!

This game feels like its for kids, extremely soft ball tone with annoying background characters. In the main game you're already a "superstar" legend in the racing scene due to the events of the previous games so the main campaign is just you going around completing a list of events in the order of your choosing till.... its over. then theres not much left to do if you dont feel like doing a bunch of mundane stunts around the map. Earning money from races? yes technically you do but you're really grinding for wheelspins that can net you hundreds of thousands of credits and cars. theres barely any point to racing outside of ...actually using the cars you get. customization the same as previous forza games, not much in the way of body kits outside of JDMs and muscle cars, same decent livery editor, if you played 3 and 4 its about the same here. playlists are back and are just as they've been in the previous game, so if you love them good, if not, then they havent gotten better. and they use a lot of recycled cars from 4 as well. theres also a car pass you can buy, i hope you like a bunch of Audis,Bmws and other uninteresting vehicles because that makes up most of it with the exception of a few super cars. id suggest looking up the list before purchase. the expansions are hotwheels 2.0 which is slightly better than the one from FH3 and a rally expansion that would make dirt rally fans laugh. To call it rally is an insult. Ever play the dirt and cross country events in the base game? well.. its that but as a full game, a co driver, wide roads, and a mini map that just tells you whats coming up hence the co driver and signs being useless. sure you can turn them off but the roads are so wide you can eyeball the race no problem.

The game isnt bad, it just feels like it throws things at you, most things just dont feel earned, and gameplay feels roughly the same as the last game making this feel overall like a forzaH 4.5.

The environments look incredible, easily one of the best looking racers out there. sadly i feel like despite this being their largest map yet....it still feels small... as you drive around you may notice the same locations time and time again.
despite my somewhat negitive tone with the game, its not bad, its a game you play when you just wanna chill and mess around. just dont go in expecting a old granturismo style progression. if you just wanna try every car you can, build crazy high HP cars, and experiment, then you'll have a good time. get it on sale though.

Oof..... I......REALLY hate this game.....
Thanks a lot friend who gave this to me, I had no idea you disliked me this much...
Shoulda taken that money you spent on this and lit it on fire. The most fun I had was pressing the uninstall button. Now thats a moment I'd like to relive.

Eh...its ok i guess....

There was no one more excited for this game than I was. I've been waiting for this game since 2016 back when it was Racing Apex during the drought of classic arcade racers. Years went by with little to no updates. Finally the game comes out with a fraction of the content and ideas originally pitched. While slightly disappointed at first i got over it and enjoyed the game for what it was. That was at the time... but the more i play it the more i started to feel let down and annoyed by certain mechanics. The levels are extremely flat and basic. Tracks start to feel samey. Ai is cheap and constantly rubber bands up to you and bumps you off course. The games content is a far cry from what we could've had. But i could've still been content with all that and just considered it an average game if it didn't screw me over... turns out this game has NO CLOUD SAVES... i lost everything when i made my new PC. But thats not even the worst part, oh no. THE GAME DOESN'T BOOT IF YOU'RE OFFLINE! In a game that has no reason to be online since the community is already long since dead.

Do NOT buy!