I used to be oddly intrigued after I first heard about developer Timbo Jimbo’s Static Shift Racing final week. The premise was that it’s an open-world avenue racing recreation with a heavy ’90s vibe by way of automobiles and magnificence, and there’s an enormous emphasis on customization with hundreds of elements and upgrades so each racer can trick out their very own trip simply to their liking. It sounded massively bold for what appeared like a fairly tiny studio, so I form of figured it could both be an enormous success or a significant flop when it lastly launched.
Properly, Static Shift Racing did launch globally this week and I’m completely happy to say it falls far more on the facet of successful. Don’t get me unsuitable, there’s a lengthy methods to go in lots of respects, however what’s right here at launch is majorly spectacular, and extra importantly majorly enjoyable. As talked about you’ll roam round an open world getting into into varied sorts of races, and that is one space the place the sport feels prefer it might use some increasing. The surroundings isn’t as massive as your typical open world recreation, however it’s extremely detailed with a number of well-designed roadways that can act as totally different circuits within the varied occasions.
Then there’s the car choice, which is simply 5 to start out, however these 5 are fairly totally different from each other and have various customization choices to discover. Once more, the extent of high quality and polish right here places a lot bigger studios to disgrace. Every little thing is tied to an total development system in your driver in addition to your varied automobiles. That is the a part of the sport that has actually sucked me in. Incomes XP, unlocking new elements, tricking out your trip with the brand new gear, after which heading again out to race some extra is a really satisfying recreation loop. It’s like taking part in a loot-based dungeon crawler besides it’s a avenue racing recreation, and it’s superior.
Additionally price mentioning is that the racing itself is tremendous enjoyable. Very arcadey and really drift-focused. It may really feel a little bit wonky at first however when you get the hold of issues it’s extraordinarily satisfying to carve round curves fully sideways whereas coloured smoke billows out of your tires and tunes blast out from the audio system. I feel the builders had been going for a really particular vibe with Static Shift Racing and I feel they positively nailed it.
With all these optimistic factors does come some detrimental. At first is that there simply must be extra recreation right here. Extra open world areas, extra automobiles, and extra occasion varieties. To be honest that is all stuff that’s supposedly already within the works and will likely be coming quickly, however I’ve seen far too many video games make guarantees they by no means adopted by means of with so the proof will certainly be within the pudding ought to mentioned pudding actually materialize. The second factor is that this can be a very free to play recreation, with a ticket system for getting into races the place the tickets are on cool-down timers in addition to two sorts of in-game forex. Up to now none of this has been a problem, however that’s at all times how they begin, proper? Long run stays to be seen.
All that mentioned the nice positively outweighs the unhealthy right here, and as jaded as I’ve turn out to be over time I’d wish to suppose that this can be a developer that’s simply passionate a couple of very particular sort of racing recreation and needed to make one in every of their very own, and is simply attempting to barter the troubled waters of cellular gaming as finest they will. What’s right here at present is a really, very stable base to one thing that might turn out to be actually particular, and the truth that it’s free does a minimum of imply that anyone might attempt it out for themselves to see if Static Shift Racing revs their very own engines as a lot because it has for me thus far.