:: FAMILIAR THRILLS
Set for release soon, Rebellion’s motorbike racing game, Raceline CC certainly looks stylish. But how does it play? I got my hands on a preview build to answer exactly that.
More like a drag racer than a conventional racing game, Raceline CC is going to be quite familiar to some. You play your way through various races, using up fuel before eventually having to wait for it to regenerate. Where Raceline CC grabs you a bit more noticeably is with its sense of speed.
Each race only takes around 30 seconds to complete. A quick and steady tap on the revs counter, and the rest is a matter of dodging around traffic. The key to reaching high speeds is to draft behind vehicles. There’s a visual indicator telling you when is best to pull around them, and there’s a real sense of satisfaction when you repeatedly dodge around cars. Do it just right and the race can be constantly frantic but ultimately very fast. Do it wrong, and you get stuck behind a vehicle and all the rhythm immediately vanishes.
One thing that stood out as a little different from the norm is a grid-based challenge, whereby you partake in a series of challenges for an ultimately good prize at the end. It at least feels more organized than some races.
It could turn tedious, though. All the areas I’ve seen so far look very similar, with the level of competition being the only thing really that distinguishes stages. There’s a plentiful supply of races to compete in with the usual bevy of daily challenges in there too, plus plenty of upgrades to pursue, but time will tell how enticing that will be after extended play.
We’ll be sure to let you know more about it when Raceline CC released on the App Store, later this summer.
:: SHADOW OF ITS FORMER SELF
:: CHARMING BUT SLOW