Video Game Review - Pacer

Rob Lake reviews Pacer on Xbox One...

Pacer is a futuristic racing game that's been developed by R8 Games. The game is seen as a spiritual successor to the Wipeout series and has a lot in common with particularly with Wip3out. This is due to some of the R8 Games team previously working for Psygnosis Leeds. Coincidentally Pacer also has some design assets from The Designers Republic, who also worked on Wipeout. 

Yes, you can't talk about Pacer without talking about Wipeout. Everything about Pacer is very much inspired by Wipeout. Visuals, tracks, teams, ships and soundtrack is extremely reminiscent of Wipeout. Even Wipeout alumni CoLD SToRAGE have a track on the soundtrack. In a different world, Pacer could well have been Wipeout 5. 

So what's it about? 

Well, Pacer is an anti-gravity racer that sees you controlling a futuristic hovercraft as you attempt to be the last pilot on the track. These tracks defy the laws of physics and see you hurtling through impossible bends and steep inclines at breakneck speed. Pacer is incredibly fast-paced and much like the game they influenced it - you need a degree of skill to come out unscathed. 

If you don't have the reflexes of a Jedi, Pacer thankfully equips your craft with a handy shield and some pretty responsive breaks. Once you get the hang of the track layouts and when and how to break, its fantastic fun to zip through these courses at an incredible speed. 

Completing the introduction track then opens career mode up for your prospective pilot. Much like Wipeout, Pacer features a robust career mode that takes you through four championships of varying speeds. There are also fourteen tracks featured and each comes with various race-types to keep things feeling fresh. As you progress through the career progression you also able to race for the various teams that make up the Pacer championships. These teams all have their own goals which range from beating other teams, to eliminating various competitors during the race. Some of the objectives could have been more straightforward as on occasion you have to best a certain pilot, but your never sure who it is. 

Team objectives are a good idea and serve to break up the racing monotony, but with Pacer, the execution is a little lacking. 

When it comes to racing it's a pretty tight affair. Everything keeps up with the constant high-speed and races don't suffer from slow-down or any frame rate issues. I was impressed with the games A.I. as it jostles with you constantly and doesn't let give up trying to take you out. What makes Pacer great is the constant threat of danger. Your craft may well be a high-tech racing machine, but it's not indestructible. A few poor manoeuvres or a couple of lucky weapons hits from opponent's can see you suffering from low shields. This then changes Pacer into a survival game where you're either make it to the next shield pick up or become a smudge on the track. R8 Games have done a great job at conveying this sense of danger and it makes the whole game feel like a high-steaks death-race.

To help you survive the track, or hunt down your competitors, each craft can also be customised in various ways. These loadouts can then be selected at will and allow for modifications to be made to the crafts - Defence, Agility, High-Speed, Engine, Breaking, Anti-Gravity and Handling. Weapons can also be customised which range from various sets such as Machine guns, Lock-On missiles, Mines etc. These new toys are all brought using in-game money that's earned from racing. They are also unlocked at a steady pace and everything feels well balanced.

The visuals look fantastic and each track feels like an actual race track. Each is filled with various futuristic advertising boards and plenty of neon colours. The tracks also contort through the environment with particular finesse. Everything from scaling skyscrapers to twists and turns through the forests looks impressive, even more so on the Xbox Series X. 

The soundtrack is also great and fits into both the futuristic setting and the high-speed nature of the game. It features 80-techno tracks which both feel new and inspired by Wipeout. As mentioned earlier CoLD SToRAGE also makes a welcome return to the genre, as do a few other Wipeout favourites. I've been recently checking out the Razer Kaira headset and these coupled with the soundtrack gives you an audio overload which is fantastic! 

Overall, Pacer is a very competent anti-gravity racer. While it's very reminiscent of Wipeout it has a lot going for it that it stands out on its own. With a great selection of customisable craft and load-outs, Pacer gives you everything to customise your racer to your style. Backing this up is a superb soundtrack that begs for you to crank up the volume. 

Rating 9/10

A code was kindly provided for this review.

Pacer is also available for PlayStation 4 and PC. 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev