Screamer Review

Screamer tells the story of five racing teams entering the Screamer tournament led by a mysterious master in a dystopian world. As the story uncovers and you win events, each participant’s personal goals will be exposed. Race through towering cityscapes, scorched deserts, and lush woodlands.

Screamer is a racing simulation mixed with a few arcade mechanics. It’s also not a typical racing game as it offers a unique, slightly more complex, control scheme. While in most normal racers, you use a combination of breaking and left joystick to drift, here you need to use the right joystick to drift. It adds a layer of complexity and challenge as it does take a few races to get the rhythm.

Along with new drifting mechanic, you’ll also have to pay attention to your speed as you’ll be required to manually shift gears with Active Shift. And your timing must be precise in order to get a short burst of speed and Sync. Sync allows you to perform boosts or shield from enemy attacks. Additionally, the faster you go, the quicker your Sync increases. It’s basically a reward for perfect driving. And boosting is not as simple a pressing a button.

You need to press and hold the LB button, the same button to shift, which will trigger a Quick Time Event (QTE) with a triangle in the middle of the screen. Releasing the button when the cursor reaches the yellow section will resulting longer lasting boosts. When using Sync, this will build up Enthropy which gives players a few offensive options. First up is Strike which is a short/lethal attack and second there’s Overdrive. This improves boosts, offers temporary shielding and you can even knock out opponents. The downside? If you hit a wall, you explode.

As with most racing games, this one is jam packed with content. Aside from the aforementioned Tournament, you can jump into Arcade mode where you can play a single, normal race, score challenge, team races, Overdrive challenge, Checkpoint and Time Attack. Otherwise, you can take your racing skills online against other players. You can also enjoy scrolling through the Gallery or give your car a personal touch by applying decals you’ve unlocked through the Tournament in Gage’s workshop.

One thing is for sure, Screamer looks great. While most racing games emphasizes realism, Milestone S.r.l.’s latest project features a highly colorful visual anime style. Each group of racers stand out due to their unique color palettes, cars are bright and flashly, and each race track offers a unique design, challenge and view. On the audio side of things, the soundtrack is a diversified banger that will get your blood pumping. The voiceover work is well done. The performances are solid. The minor addendum is that every character speak in their native language, so if you don’t understand French or Japanse, make sure to follow the subtitles to understand.

The game’s main nuisance is the learning curve. Playing a racing game with both joysticks, the left to guide your car and right one to drift, is incredibly counter intuitive. If you’ve played a lot of racing games, sims or arcades, you’ll have th reflex of trying to break/slow down while nudging the left joystick to drift. Using the right joystick to drift also feels like it offers less precision than the traditional way. The other problem is the difficulty balancing. While all difficulty modes are fairly balanced across Arcade modes, the Tournament can be brutal. Even on the lowest difficulty setting, you’ll need to drive with absolute perfection to progress.

As a casual racing fan, I wanted to like Screamer; it had been on my radar for a while. But your enjoyment of it will depend on your commitment to it. The game looks and sounds amazing, the controls overall feel tight, albeit a bit more complex than the typical racers. The twin stick mechanic feels counterintuitive and requires an adaptation period. If you’re conquered every Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsports, Forza Horizon, Assetto Corsa Competizione, or the Project CARS trilogy, Screamer is for you. Otherwise, if you’re looking to dab into the genre, this ain’t it. Only hardcore racing fans need apply.