Drift Runners 3D, the newest installment in the racing series by LongAnimals and Biscuit Locker is out, and that means it's time to strap on your seatbelt, pretend your automatic is a stick shift, and start doing donuts in the supermarket parking lot. Or you could just sit within the safe confines of your comfy home office with the speakers turned up high.
Just use the [arrow] keys to steer and hit [CTRL] or [SHIFT] when you want your car to drift around the turns. Each successful drift you do adds to your chain and gives you increased boost, which you'll need if you have any hope of passing the finish line before time runs out. Complete the timed races to unlock the "cows and cones" levels and earn some serious coin for your upgrades and the chance to buy snazzier new vehicles.
All of this will be familiar if you played Drift Runners and Drift Runners 2, but the big difference is the move away from an impersonal top-down view to a in-your-face third person perspective, which really puts you in the race. Also, the cars in Drift Runners 3D are a lot easier to handle, unlike the barely controllable anarchy of the previous games. But, don't be fooled simpler gameplay and more streamlined menus don't make for an easier game. You'll have to practice if you really want to get your drifts just right. Just remember to do it on the computer and leave the real life drifting to the scary looking guy with the bowie knife and tattered backpack that hangs out on the interstate off-ramp by your house.
I'm sorry but the drifting mechanic has been ruined. Original drift runners was a neat little physics game where the main goal was to drive and drifting was an obstacle. Sometimes it even paid to go slower and let all the other cars crash while you take a short curve. But this was just pole position with combo bar.
I am disappointed. 3/5
The visuals really wanted me to back in time and play Outrun in the arcades again. The inspiration by Sega's AM2 division is pretty clear.
However, the gameplay itself was disappointing: hold down Up, hit whenever the game prompts you to (really!), and you only need Left/Right to make minor corrections. Also, even though this is an arcade racer, the concept of building up turbo/boost by doing some arbitrary action (in this case, drifting) has always annoyed me.
Drop the drift mechanic and put out a "traditional" race game with this game engine, and it'll be awesome.
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