Developer: VooFoo Studios
Publisher: VooFoo Studios
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Tested on: Xbox One
Mantis Burn Racing – Review
We’ve come a long way since the Micro Machines games were still a thing, and after their grand success, many other tried to create something equally appealing. Many tried, and nearly as many failed but there were some that stuck out and presented gamers with something appealing. While these games often had flashy visuals or a rather unrealistic setting, Mantis Burn Racing tries to revive the genre by linking realistic visuals and gameplay to their title, albeit in a fairly toned down mediocre fashion.
Story
As expected, games such as this go without a thick plot, or any for that matter, thus you will not find any exciting tales here to quench your thirst for a higher racing calling. That being said, the game works just as well without a story, as it would have when one was incorporated. Race alone, race with friends, it’s your pick.
Graphics
The game leaves us with mixed feelings in terms of graphical prowess. On the one hand there are courses that look quite stunning, for the genre, as they have loads of tiny details, good looking foliage and proper effects when driving through the sand or mud and so on. On the other hand there are dull looking urban environments which lack the same kind of detail as the off-road tracks, and look a bit dated overall.
Overall the car models are pretty fun to look at, and as you progress, you’ll be able to unlock some cooler looking vehicles. Nonetheless, they look a bit bland when it comes to their finishing touches, as every car has a seemingly matte finish, making them look like toy cars, which doesn’t sync properly with the otherwise realistic setting the developers were going for.
Sound
We were quite stoked to experience the soundtrack of this title, as the trailer immediately bombarded us with rather heavy and explosive tunes that instantly got us in the proper mood. When we finally booted up the game, we were not that enthusiastic anymore, as every tune has a backdrop that gets looped every few seconds, over and over again, slowly driving you mad when you leave the game running in the background. Even though some of the tracks have potential, they feel as if they were quickly put together, to have a reasonable amount of tunes in place before the game went live.
The sound effects are decent and are what you pretty much expect from a game such as this. Proper engine sounds, albeit subtle ones, and the occasional collision and destruction sound kick in. Nothing extraordinary, but certainly not bad either.
Gameplay
Mantis Burn Racing is a top-down racing game that tries to be more realistic than many other games in the genre, all while incorporating some ‘RPG’ mechanics, albeit very subtle ones. The game has a high multiplayer focus, but to unlock new rides and upgrades you’ll have to plow through the single player campaign first. The latter feels a bit like a missed opportunity, as it would have been fun to incorporate a multiplayer career mode in this game, rather than one that is solely single player.
The career mode consists of pretty much all racing types this game has to offer, which all revolve, as expected, around regular racing. Most modes are only slight variations of one another, as you’ll have to beat lap records, stay in the lead for a fixed amount of time to accumulate points, or simply finish in the top three at the end of a fixed amount of laps. While this is all rather standard, that’s pretty much all there is to this game, except for the upgrades you can link to your vehicles, and the ones you unlock by leveling up (gaining experience from racing a lot) and earning enough money to actually purchase them. The upgrades don’t properly state what they do, but their names often indicate what you can expect. Sadly, the differences with or without upgrades feel a bit underwhelming, which doesn’t grant you the feeling that you’re properly tuning your vehicle(s). The better cars you get, the more upgrade slots they’ll have, allowing for a bigger difference when you completely fill them.
Overall there are slight differences in how the different cars handle, some are speedier and more agile, while others are true powerhouses but lack the maneuverability the lighter cars have. Even though these differences are rather clear, the surface on which you’re driving has hardly any impact on how your car handles. The urban location feels pretty much the same as when you’re driving in the middle of a sandy region, and even muddy areas do tend to feel the same. While this creates the opportunity of getting to know your car perfectly, it makes the different locations and the variation in soils quite useless.
Truth be told, it’s the multiplayer features that do tend to keep this game interesting, especially seeing the game is rather easy to learn, making sure everyone is on track after a few races. Sadly, the AI is not that fun to play against, as it is quite ruthless. Even on the easiest setting, a small mistake can cost you an entire race, as your opponents drive almost flawlessly all the time, making it hard to motivate players who lack the necessary racing experience for a game such as this.
Conclusion
While this game doesn’t really do anything wrong, its biggest flaw is the lack of features, making Mantis Burn Racing a rather bland experience. Even though things look reasonably decent, the soundtrack ends up being annoying and the mechanics feel as if there were tons of good ideas, but the developers never decided to act on them. If you’re into games like this, you’ll still have a fairly fun experience unlocking all cars and a hefty amount of upgrades.
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