Velocity G

At first glance, Velocity G seems to have it all. It's a stylish cel-shaded racing game inspired by the likes of F-Zero and WipEout that plays well and is brimming with content. It's only when you get behind the wheel that you realize that this new game from Repixel8 is different in one crucial way -- it's the easiest futuristic racing game you're ever going to play. That's great if you find yourself frustrated by the speed and challenge of those other games, but fans of the genre will likely find this otherwise solid racer to be a bit of a snooze.

The year is 2086 and the world has fallen in love with an exciting new racing series featuring hovering ships speeding through a 360-degree tunnel. It's basically F-Zero meets S.T.U.N. Runner, and the result is an addictive racer where you can speed across the ground, walls and ceiling in order to come in first. And with 128 events to complete, Velocity G will take quite a few hours to get through.

Let's start with those 128 events, because that number is overwhelming at first. The game is split up into eight different locations, each with sixteen individual events to complete. What you'll quickly realize is that all eight of these locations play out exactly the same way. They all give you eight multi-lap races to complete, four slalom events and two of both the sprint and drag races. You'll earn money and experience points for coming in the top three in each event, which you will use to unlock the different locations, vehicles and upgrades.

The tracks themselves are these elaborate tubes that go in all directions. This allows the developer to create a wide variety of courses instead of making us replay the same ones over and over. The tracks are fairly straight-forward and plain, with only a few obstacles to worry about. You'll spend a lot of time dodging walls and lasers that block the path, as well as rough track that will slow the ship down. There are also times where large chunks of the track are blocked off, limiting your movement.

It's worth noting that there are no weapons are power-ups in Velocity G. While it may be inspired by WipEout, there isn't a mode that lets you shoot missiles or unleash earthquakes. The only items you'll find on the race track are health pick-ups, which will keep your ship from blowing up. There are also parts of the track where you can jump, but I'm not sure I would call that an advantage. This is a game centered on perfecting your racing skills and beating the competition.

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Unfortunately, that's this game's biggest problem. Where other futuristic racers want to push you to the limit with high-speed tracks and aggressive competition, Velocity G takes the opposite approach. There's no beating around the bush here, this game is easy. It's the kind of game where even the beginning ships will have you lapping the competition on your first try. It's only slightly hyperbolic to suggest that there are races in this game where I could unplug the controller for extended amounts of time and still win. This game is that easy.

The idea of being that much better than the competition is exciting at first, but it won't take long before the easy difficulty makes this speedy racer kind of boring. You rarely see the other pilots after the first few seconds, so most of the time it's just you against the track. This made the multi-lap courses feel like they dragged on for hours, which is the opposite of how you should feel when playing a futuristic racing game. It's really only when you unlock the final location where the computer starts to put up a fight, but by that point it's far too late.

It also doesn't help that the stages all blur together. Yes, there are a lot of different tracks, but they are all enclosed in that suffocating tunnel. You'll see the futuristic settings through the bars of the cage, almost like you're stuck in this long and winding prison cell. Outside is something far more interesting, but you can barely see it most of the time. Instead we focus on the track, which tends to repeat a lot of the same ideas and obstacles. I played hundreds of races, yet I can't think of any of the tracks that stood out in any meaningful way. That's disappointing.

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On the other hand, Velocity G does have quite a bit going for it. I like the cel-shaded look, even if the tunnels were a bit repetitive. I also think the game controls well and is probably a good first step for people looking to get into futuristic racing games. Best of all, there are a bunch of multiplayer options, including a split-screen mode. And based on tweaks made just prior to me posting this review, it seems that the developer is committed to fixing the difficulty. It's still too easy, but it wouldn't surprise me if they eventually got it right. I look forward to that day.

Although it has its problems, Velocity G is a competent and often fun racing game that was clearly inspired by the likes of F-Zero and WipEout. Unfortunately, it falls short of those classic franchises due to unremarkable course designs, repetitive race types and a difficulty so easy that you'll often wonder if the competition is even trying. This is a solid first stab at a futuristic racing game, but Velocity G just can't keep up with the classics of the genre.