Scream if you wanna go faster?
Screamer from Milestone S.r.l (formerly Graffiti) drifts back into the gaming fast lane after many years away. While the studio’s name has changed the franchise bares it’s original title, though it may have been a lap or two since you last heard it. Screamer left the show room floor back in 1995 and it’s three soon to follow sequels were arcade racers in a similar vain to Ridge Racer.
Screamer is back and and it’s as wonderfully arcade as a racer could be and this time it’s paired with a vibrant cyber punk anime setting and narrative. A driving game with a narrative, we really are going retro. Screamer sees a cast of eccentric, charming and vibrant racers (known as Screamers) partake in a mysterious tournament hosted by the curiously masked Mister A. You’ll initially meet The Green Reapers, and if Roísín doesn’t immediately charm you while she’s screaming Feck like she’s a descendant of Father Jack, well, then you lack the whimsey to make it on these streets.
Depending on which lane you prefer the Tournament is Screamers main game mode, it’s where you’ll unlock characters and cosmetics to use in the other games modes and experience the story. Now, let’s be honest, most people (not me) pick up a racing game for it’s multiplayer and frankly Milestone could have easily phoned the story mode and most race fans wouldn’t have complained. Milestone didn’t, in fact Screamer has such an elaborate, engaging and lengthy narrative that if we don’t get an animated series I will actually be a sin. Last time I checked I’d spent around 15hrs in Mister A’s tourney. Now, sure, part of that is that in general I’m not great at driving games, but Millstone have delivered an epic in a genre that’s not known for it’s depth. I don’t just mean within gaming either, Dom Toretto needs to give Milestone a call, the relationships and drama of Screamer is so engaging that by the end, I couldn’t pick a favourite team of racers let alone an individual racer but they all felt like…family.
While progressing though Mister A’s tournament you’ll have some stunning visuals to enjoy, most of the narrative is delivered via visual novel style animation and dialogue boxes but now and then and unfortunately not often enough you’ll be treated to anime cutscenes, these are wonderful and given that Screamer is a full price release, it would have been preferred had all the story been animated. Having said that the multilingual voice cast do a wonderful job of making those dialogue boxes come to life.
As well as the story and characters being a visual delight, Screamer is a sensationally stylish game, the game is beautiful. The environments are stunning, it’s actually a shame that you’ll be screaming through them as fast as possible. From Neon club districts, lush forests and dust covered race tracks, if you can spare a moment, from time to time, enable photo mode and take a peek around, the environment team deserve a second.
It’s also not lost on me that games are meant to be played, not watched and Screamer has you covered here to, Screamer is fast, I’m talking neon light-speed. From your first moment behind the wheel the four beneath you won’t stop screeching and breaking lines are for wimps (for now at least, eventually you’ll discover there’s more to the racing than just go fast). The Tournaments early sections act as the games tutorial, and here is where we crash into my first issue with Screamer, 20 plus episodes into the story and you’re still accessing new game mechanics and while some pacing is needed so that you’re not overwhelmed by just how much is going on in each race it didn’t start to become a little frustrating that mechanics I’ve already used in other game modes are still inaccessible this deep into the narrative. Once it opens up at little more things become much more engaging though and you’ll need to be engaged because some of the missions are at all easy.
Each character and by extension car handles and feels unique, as if each car were a personification of their driver. Someone are meant for straights, others for drifting around chicanes as if inertia were merely a suggestion, and believe me depending on the track and the mission objectives this will matter. Given the extensive cast of characters and the frequency you’ll switch between them it can mean you begin to struggle your first few attempts upon unlocking a new character. Having said that, a little repetition is a price I’ll gladly pay for the games compelling rashomon narrative. For the most part Tournament missions are made up of two of the games Arcade modes. Race (doesn’t really need explanation), Team Race, which would be fantastic fun and the perfect multiplier mode, when the AI are controlling your team mates there’s not a whole like you can do to influence the race other than making sure you’re in pole position. Take those to modes and add some bonus objectives, such as perform three perfect boosts or activate Overdrive.
Score Challenge, Overdrive Challenge, Time Attack and Checkpoints complete the offerings in Arcade mode. Score Challenge has you take part in races, challenges and boss battles to accumulate the most points. Overdrive Challenge pushes you to spend as long as possible in Overdrive mode but be careful, one slip and all will end in a fireball. Time attack and checkpoints don’t leave much to the imagination and are essentially staples of the genre. Arcade mode is solid but the Tournament is where Screamer excels.
Naturally there’s the other lane I alluded to earlier, if you’re not here for the story, perhaps it’s the multiplayer that tickles your exhaust. Frankly my ever degrading reaction times make me thankful for the ‘restart race’ option in the pause menu. However, not all of use fear the lobbies and Screamer is waiting for you to take on the faster screamers the online world has to offer, you can enjoy ‘Screamer Mixtape’, rotation playlists of frantic action, also available in private lobbies. Coming soon after launch Screamer will also have a ranked mode so you can put you motor where your mouth is and take on the best to ever burn rubber.
