7 people found this review helpful
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 44.2 hrs on record (6.1 hrs at review time)
Posted: 23 Sep, 2014 @ 5:27pm

Early Access Review
Get out your old grunge mixtapes, plug in your controller, and get ready for a return to the insanity of the 90s. I got in on this at version 0.001, and it was clear they knew what they were doing and how much Road Rash they played before the series took a dump and died (they even pointed out what few realized about the originals not actually involving turning in a dev diary). The amount of progress up to this version is really impressive, especially in such a short span. The core game is fantastic, now it's all bells and whistles.

While the game is still in beta and you can tell it's unfinished (car animations are minimal, the camera doesn't keep up so well, there's only one attack animation, motorcycles don't have any real braking animation/sound), the actual game is tremndously fun. It's a smooth update of the Road Rash style that works well in the age of analog control (much easier to hit that other rider now!) and provides more than just straight races, although going fast and bashing heads is the essence of any track. There's some roguelike elements to the game, too. You get up front purchases of helpful items between rounds that last until you die, and permanent, XP based upgrades like bike quality, total HP, etc., and I hope to get to choose a bike later on instead of just upgrading the same one.

My only complaints at the moment are that the guns would benefit from a bit of aim assist (if it was EASY to aim a gun from a motorcycle, it would be boring, but it's a little too unweildy right now) and that the tracks lack features. If they're being procedurally generated, the array is a bit thin. Judging by the desert, there's only two turns, sometimes you see a ramp or a divider, rarely a bridge. It's still a lot of fun, I'd just like more of it.

Both of these problems are entirely reasonable for early access, and the latter problem is a sign if how good the game is - my problem is that I want more!

Best motorcycle combat racing game this century that lives up to the Road Rash legacy with ease. If they manage to license a few songs (this is a natural fit for Soundgarden) or build in an mp3 player, they'll beat it.
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Developer response:
KingmakersDev_IanFisch  [developer] Posted: 24 Sep, 2014 @ 8:58pm
We are still building out the soundtrack, and a built in mp3 player is something we are working on now.

You actually do buy entirely new bikes right now, but we are going to be fleshing that out a lot more so you can choose paint color and have more of a selection of bikes instead of the current system where bike 1 is across the board worse than bike 2, and bike 2 is worse than bike 3. We want a system where one bike has better handling, but the other bike has better acceleration and you have to choose.

The guns are pretty fun currently but they definitely need to scatter more at long range and up kick like in Counter Strike.

The procedural generation is always a work in progress, but it gives mostly pretty good results right now. It will be getting better though of course.

Thanks so much for your feedback.
7 Comments
KingmakersDev_IanFisch  [developer] 25 Sep, 2014 @ 2:12am 
We're definitely going to experiment with various ways to decrease loads between missions. If nothing else, we think we'll be able to cut them down substantially.
ZekeDMS 25 Sep, 2014 @ 1:29am 
One more gameplay thought - is there any chance of a more seamless ride to come? i.e., the store and missions pop up in an overlay rather than a full level load? I don't know how plausible it is to do that between environments, but having multiple events in a row without a load between would be fantastic if possible, and it'd feel more immersive to move from say, coming in third or so in a race to "get revenge by killing seven targets", or "escape their revenge by beating the clock" after a win. Maybe a "Seal the deal and eliminate <x> riders" after a win. A more natural flow than the somewhat arbitrary loadscreen to store to mission assignment. It's a small thing, but I think it would add a lot.

(2/2)
ZekeDMS 25 Sep, 2014 @ 1:28am 
Can't wait!

Smaller thought - likely already on the way, but a control option for gamepads would be nice in the form of remapping the shoot button. Having grab on the right bumper fits well, but trying to aim, shoot, and not lose the throttle is brutal. Will it be possible for deflect/shoot to be on the same button? Since their functions are exclusive currently that seems like an easier option - or even an option of hitting the stick button (though that would just lead to me wasting ammo!).

One bug note, one incomplete function (maybe!) - during no weapon events, if I grab a rider and slam their head it's counted as a weapon kill. Environmental kills only, as is. C4 also seems to count as a melee weapon. I didn't get a plank when all I had was C4, but at the same time, if I'm using C4 I have no deflection option. That's a real vulnerability!

(1/2 - I'm full of thoughts, it turns out)
KingmakersDev_IanFisch  [developer] 25 Sep, 2014 @ 12:58am 
Zeke,

These are all great suggestions. We're definitely going to be offering more modes. One, in particular, will be a toned-down race only mode, without a lot of the more outlandish ideas.

We're also working on car physics in order to make them seem more weighty and have more believable interactions with other cars. In many cases, this is as simple as changing the car to a heavier model. Thanks again.
ZekeDMS 25 Sep, 2014 @ 12:48am 
I should specify on the guns - I think they're a lot of fun so far if tricky to aim on a gamepad. Mostly it's not a big deal, though it can be a real challenge in the rooftop race when I'm trying to hook helicopters. The other tweak I could suggest is that cars feel rather weightless in their movement. It feels like they have an incredibly low turning radius, and just sort of form mobile walls when they get aggressive without any sense of effort or impact from them. I assume they'll have driver modelsater – will hitting the driver cause extra damage?
I’d enjoy mood/rules toggle - full on crazy or serious business modes. Car rain, jump jets, and rainbow roads in the first, but not the second. Otherwise, aside from half-joking suggestions of a skitchin' mode (although it would be fun to see that one make a return), things are fantastic. I've been enjoying the game since the first public alpha, and it's already gone way beyond what I expected from it. Keep it up, I love it.
(2/2)
ZekeDMS 25 Sep, 2014 @ 12:48am 
It sounds like you're on top of everything that I thought of! Seeing an mp3 player is coming is great, so far it's just been a media player in the background. I can provide my own Soundgarden tracks that way ;)

I'm happy to see the bike system will have a decision between handling and acceleration (I wouldn't mind speed, too!) rather than just a linear upgrade path. Speaking of linear upgrades, the option to choose a starting level might be nice as alternative to only starting at level 3. Maybe even a cash or XP bonus for starting further back as a balancing mechanism to that.

(1/2 due to character limits)
KingmakersDev_IanFisch  [developer] 25 Sep, 2014 @ 12:17am 
Thanks again for your comment. It was very thorough and helpful. If there's anything else we can do to improve the game, please let us know. We'd like to use this Early Access period to refine the game as much as possible.