Obliteracers Review (PC)

A lot of different casual racing games have appeared throughout the years, with many of them seeking to recreate the monumental success of Nintendo’s Mario Kart series. Some have come up with new ideas while others have relied on nailing the actual racing mechanics or the drifting system.

Obliteracers, coming from Varkian Empire, not only tries to feature the classic casual racing experience with easy drifts and deadly weapons but also throws in support for all sorts of actual control inputs besides the regular keyboard or gamepad. You can use a smartphone, a tablet, or even a laptop to control a vehicle and get in on the action.

With this huge emphasis on local action, not to mention intense, knockout-based racing, Obliteracers has quite a lot of potential. Does it manage to reach the finish line unscathed or should it retire out of the race? Let’s find out.

Gameplay and multiplayer

Obliteracers does throw in some back story for its different racing tracks, but there is no central plot, so don’t worry about getting bogged down in cut scenes or things like that. It’s just pure racing and combat, and thankfully, the title pulls both of them off really well.

First up, the game isn’t a traditional racing experience, as you don’t try to complete laps and reach a finish line. Instead, it features multiple game types based on knocking out other opponents as well as staying in the lead.

You score points by directly blowing up opponents, and in most cases, you have to wait to respawn until there’s just one remaining kart. However, this doesn’t mean that you’ll just grow bored watching the remaining racers have fun. Instead, the game displays a reticule to each killed played, and once they keep it on top of a surviving enemy, they can fire a missile. While it’s not a one-hit-kill projectile, if your kart has already sustained damage, it might be enough to kill you. This mechanic adds a pretty great layer of strategy, as most of the time, you’ll try to blow up the guy or girl in the first spot so that his or her lead doesn’t increase.

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The actual weapons that are available via pick-ups scattered on the track are quite varied, from mines to slippery oil, missiles, flame throwers, EMP pulses, and many others. Some are better than others, especially since you can’t discard some of them by simply pressing a button. Even so, after a few races, you’ll soon learn them all, and you can plan your pickups depending on the state of the contest.

It’s worth mentioning that each player also has a shield that can be deployed for a limited time, and if you press the shield button while driving over a pickup, your kart’s health will be replenished, although you’ll no longer get that actual weapon. This is crucial in the lengthier game types like Endurance.

The tracks themselves are quite varied and well designed. They have plenty of jumps, bends, loop-de-loops, and other such sections. You can also drift during bends, and after a short while, you can exit it to gain a burst of speed.

As mentioned above, control input isn’t limited to keyboard or controller. Owners of smartphones or tablets can scan a bar code, and if they’re on the same network, they can jump in on the fun. While these devices may not be perfect, they’re more than enough for a few quick races with friends.

Of course, besides the local action, you can get in on the online multiplayer. Lag might appear if you have rivals from all over the world, but even so, things don’t get too bad. If competing against humans isn’t your thing, you can still enjoy the campaign where the AI slowly ramps up in difficulty and capability.

Visuals and sound

Obliteracers boasts a slightly cartoonish visual style and pulls it off flawlessly. Colors are sharp and vibrant, models are polished, textures are sharp. The framerate is rock solid, and it’s a blast to admire.