Racing games have, for the most part, gone down the simulation route these past few years. Barring some noticeable exceptions, like the Forza Horizon series, there's been a distinct lack of daring titles within the genre that reminds us that video games can, and should always strive to be, fun. Enter Screamer.
Developer Milestone, who has already released the highly enjoyable Ride 6, really stepped out of its comfort zone, delivering a unique blend of engaging mechanics and visually pleasing aesthetics that evoke the feeling of a 90s anime heavily inspired by the neon-soaked color palette of Akira (slide included).
As an arcade racer, Screamer masterfully nails the art of being a game that's easy to pick up and hard to master. Perhaps its most innovative hook is the way the game controls: you use the left stick to steer left and right, but use the right stick to control drift movement. These are completely independent from one another, so while you can steer without engaging with the drift system, you will have to eventually juggle using both sticks to fully unlock the potential of your vehicle and navigate the hurdles that the incredibly competitive AI presents, even on the standard difficulties, and the wide variety of tracks that offer a decent mix of big long straight lines and trickier curve-filled extravaganzas that turn races into absolute chaos, as even the CPUs will be struggling to avoid collisions, adding a neat sense of realism and unpredictability.
Steering and drifting are not even half of the equation, as the Echo system really adds that extra boost to the already adrenaline-inducing core gameplay of Screamer. The Echo system has two distinct functionalities: a utilitarian one called Sync and a very, very, fun, aggressive mechanic called Entropy.
The loop is very simple, in practice at least: as you race and hit slick drifts or trigger Active Shifts (vehicles in Screamer are semi-automatic, so you can shift gears manually), you will be fueling the Sync bar on the top left side of the screen. You can use the Sync gauge to either activate powerful boosts, which in turn can be made even stronger if you time it perfectly, or use it to gain a shield to protect you from incoming attacks.
How will you be attacked? This is where Entropy comes in. By using Sync, your Entropy meter will fill, spend two bars of Entropy to activate a Strike, you'll gain a speed boost, and K.O any opponents you touch, making them explode and losing all momentum in the process. The Overdrive acts like a Super move, with massive high-risk, high-reward potential: it's a longer Strike, but you will explode if you touch any track barrier.
The track variety is nice, but I wish more of them were built with a lot more verticality in mind. Drifting is a key component of the game, don't get me wrong, but some courses are just curve after curve, and it prevents you from fully revving up that engine and hitting that exhilarating sense of speed as you surge past (or explode) other racers along the way with a perfectly timed boost or a Strike. That being said, the tracks that manage to be the perfect blend of long straights lines and pronounced curves that let you feel like you're in an Initial D episode are an absolute joy to play through.
I have to commend Milestone for sticking to its vision. Screamer is very casual-friendly as I said, but to fully invest in what the game offers on a mechanical level, you'll have to dedicate yourself to it. In many ways, it reminds me of the same mindset fighting games demand from their player base. In that spirit, Screamer doesn't feature your typical vehicle customization. You can still unlock cosmetic pieces to enhance the look of cars, but instead of tinkering with transmissions, exhausts, and the like, you'll have a wide selection of characters geared up with special abilities and very distinct-looking rides.
There are a total of 16 playable characters at launch, divided into teams as per the game's story. Some are much more noob-friendly, like Hiroshi, who can make his standard boost longer. Then there's Lavinia, who has a stronger Perfect Boost but will switch the timing each time you want to trigger it.
There's plenty to choose from depending on your playstyle, even if some characters are just outright bad, like Frederic, whose ability is making his Strike more powerful at the cost of exploding if he touches track boundaries. In a game as chaotic as Screamer, that's just begging to deal with constant frustration.
Also, while cars don't boast specific stats, they do play differently. Some are heavier, others are speedy but feel finicky to control, making them harder to control while drifting. Developer Milestone mentioned that each Team Leader drives the fastest car out of the bunch, and I can definitely attest to that.
Speaking of frustration, it's sad that I didn't vibe with the game's story. There's a massive effort in its presentation, with the team behind the game signing up Japanese studio Polygon Pictures to work on the game's cinematics. The story is very tongue-in-cheek, as different sets of teams compete in the Screamer tournament for a chance to earn $100 billion (that's not a typo). Of course, each squad has its own set of motivations, with Hiroshi, Frederic, and Roisin acting as the somewhat de facto protagonists. You'll meet a group of J-Pop stars, space explorers, and corrupt higher-ups turned street racers, and more.
There's no shortage of very quirky characters, including a shop owner who owns a very adorable Corgi with neurological enhancements that allow him to drive cars and even communicate with him. That said, the novelty wears off rather quickly, and the high-quality cutscenes are few and far between for me to get invested. Pair that with some odd dialogue and not even a voice cast that includes the likes of Aleks Le and Troy Baker can save this somewhat dull narrative.
If you do vibe with the overall presentation, there's a ton of content for you to enjoy, with the story being rather lengthy and also the main way you'll be unlocking characters and cosmetics. That said, even in the gameplay department, a lot of the missions have very counterintuitive objectives and requirements to complete that had me scratching my head.
Besides the main story, Screamer has a ton of modes for you to dabble in via its Arcade menu. There's your standard Race and Team Race with the added Screamer twist, as well as Time Attack or Score Challenges to fully showcase your expertise on a certain track.
Races are as fun as you want them to be, as they are incredibly customizable. You can simply jump into the game using one of the presets established, but by tinkering with the settings, you can save your own custom rules.
Want a race where only team leaders are selectable? You’ve got it. Want to turn it into a Le Mans-type endurance test by making it last 99 laps? Sure, why not? If you enjoy the core racing without the added Strike or Boost mechanics, you can turn them all off as well, or make them even more prevalent by increasing the regeneration rate of the Sync gauge.
There's, of course, online multiplayer, which I sadly didn't get to take out for a ride. What I did try out was split-screen multiplayer. Screamer supports up to four-player splitscreen. It's not the best performance-wise, and unless you have a big screen to pair it with the fact that you'll only be using a quarter of it in a very visually cluttered game at times, you might have a hard time dissecting what's happening. But hey, the option is there and is a very welcome one.
Beyond those, my favorite offering was definitely Checkpoints and Overdrive Challenge. In the former, you have to race endlessly through a selected course, trying to hit checkpoints before time runs out; the more you get, the more time extensions you'll get. Overdrive will test how well you control your vehicle, as the challenge will end as soon as you touch any part of the track.
A glaring omission in such a complete package is a proper Tutorial. You have the early Chapters of the tournament that work as an introduction to the game's mechanics. But if you want to pick Screamer back up after some time away from it, going through it again can undoubtedly feel like a bit of a chore.
Overall, if you're a racing game fan, particularly one that yearns for the craziness of those golden era 90s arcade racers, Screamer is one you should not let drift away. It's jam-packed with a ton of content and customization options. The ability to share the fun with up to four players locally is also very commendable.
The story might be hit or miss depending on how much you like anime, and the lack of a proper tutorial bogs the package down in a game so mechanically dense, sadly, so beware of that if you're looking for something more akin to Mario Kart in the sense that you simply pick up and play.
And that's it. Stick with us at Gfinityesports.com: your go-to source for all things racing games.
A PS5 code was provided by the publisher for this review.