Radial-G : Racing Revolved Reviews

Great game, sorta like F-Zero except instead of being on a flat 2-dimensionalish track, you are on a round snake like track which you are free to move and rotate around. Sorta think of a monorail which you can move freely around. Unlike a standard racing track which you may slam against a side wall or guardrail, you are able to rotate freely around the track, allowing for a huge amount of racing space. This creates a need for "driving" skill since unlike a traditional raceway there tends to be very little bottlenecking where you can fight aggressively against your opponents. Instead, you have to focus on maneuvering around the track, dodging slowdown shields and trying to hit every booster you can, in order to get your highest possible speed. In it's current state, the game is very fun and feels polished, but there are few tracks and ships to choose from, which is to be expected from an early access title. Due to the lack of "content" at this point, the races can become very repetitive. As the game updates however, we should expect to see more added content, adding for a more unique experience each race. If you are looking for a racer in which you can immerse yourself, and spend hours playing, look elsewhere for the moment. If you are willing to take the slight lack of content built on top of a quality core and give it a test drive, this is a great title to look into. I personally look forward to keeping up with updates and trying out the new features as the game becomes more immersive with features, and hope others are willing to do the same.

Decent, but not much else. F-Zero fans thirsting for something novel, look elsewhere. If there's a lesson to be gained from this game, it's that making a game like this requires a lot more polish and attention to detail than you'd expect. Nothing feels "right" enough, here, and for this kind of Breakout-esque title, if that feeling isn't there, not much else is - not even the odd feeling of spectacle from the good background design and general graphical fidelity makes it worthwhile. The tubular tracks, also, seem misguided, and not all that interesting to play through or look at. For a time this was, essentially, one of very few F-Zero-likes out on PC, and sadly it doesn't do the concept much justice. Seek Redout instead.

EDIT: Revised 10/23/16 My previous review of the game was during early access. The game has been updated considerably since my first review. Radial G is a futuristic racing game inspired by F-Zero. Radial-G is sadly nothing special. Gameplay is boring & very repetitive. The AI does not provide any fair challenge. Either the AI is insanely far ahead or it's stuck respawning time after time in the same position. The individual worlds are beautiful and very well designed. Tracks on the other hand are uninspiring and very 'cramped'. Even though you have the ability to rotate around the hole track tube, they don't feel 'open'. Only specific areas of the track allow you to leave and even at that, you respawn instantly. You don't have the option of trying to fly back onto the track. They're rocket ships but can't fly? Performance is ten-folds better now compared to when I wrote my last review. Game is at a steady 60fps. No more stuttering or slowdowns. As I mentioned before, the game looks great. Sound effects are great but dull. Either they're too quiet or lack bass / treble. I almost expected to have the sounds screaming & blaring intensely. I felt nothing as if the sounds are placeholders. I love the sound track. Brings me back to the days of Destruction Derby series, F-Zero, Vigilante 8, and early twisted metal. I'm not a fan of the UI. The UI is generic and doesn't look like it fit with Radial-G. Looks exactly like Unity's example asset UI. The UI does not allow for mouse control or tab control. Quality options is very limited. Radial-G uses Unity3D. Unity has a huge list of options for developers to implement into their games. Radial-G only allows for Resolution change and a simple quality switch low, medium, high. I seriously think that Radial-G would benefit from having ultra widescreen / multi monitor support. The UI does not scale to ultra widescreen / multi monitor and the FOV is not properly adjusted. This game could be improved so much but it doesn't seem like the devs care or they have moved onto another game. I do not recommend getting Radial-G for $25. Wait for it to go on sale. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785907894 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785907859 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785907821 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785907757 MultiMonitor: 4800x900 Triple Monitor http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785913924 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785913815 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=785913726 PC Specs: Fx8320 OC'd 4.2ghz 8gb ram GTX 980 4GB - Driver 372.90 | Resolution 1600x900 / 4800x900 Surround ZBoard Stealth 2004 Razer Death Adder 2012

Great VR racing game. The game is good even without VR. Admittedly at first, I was hoping for a Wipeout clone... this isn't it. It's actually different and I think better. It's like a Wipeout game, but for a new age. Add VR... A latest patch (v0.9) makes VR easy and work very well. One of the very best VR games I've played so far. I'd recommend this games for any fan of this type of racing, and this is a MUST HAVE game for anybody with VR. (playing with a DK1, I'm sure newer tech will be even better)

This game had potential, however with now years of inactivity on a game which promised further updates, and no responses whatsoever to any discussions on steam, I can't suggest this game to purchase, as it honestly feels incomplete.

It's funny how so many developers believe that just because THEY make a game everyone is going to choose THEIR game to play together online instead of the thousands of other multiplayer titles available It's a competent racer but the deal breaker for this game is that the better vehicles can only be unlocked by gaining XP with live players in Multiplayer The servers are, of course, dead and that means you will never have access to those ships You can race AI waiting for a drop in but you can't score XP in an MP match only inhabited by bots

I first played this 1st person Wipeout inspired game back in the Oculus DK1 days as a free demo which showed great promise. Somewhere along the way, the potential crashed just like you'll do many, many times in this confusing racer. The premise is simple - Wipeout in ships that can race on the outside of tubes. Back in the early days of VR, roller coaster rides were very popular, and developers were competing to make the sickest rides, and it feels as though the devs of this game had the ambition to combine the fastest, most gut wrenching roller coaster ride, with an actual game... and failed. At these speeds, the concept of an extremely twisted track will cause the average player to be on the "underside" of the tube pretty often, which means you can only see the track a few meters in front of you. So unless you know the track by heart, anything you do at this point is pure luck - you have no idea whether to turn left or right or stay put. Furthermore, the handling of the ships themselves just feels "off" and unsatisfiying - especially during jumps and the concave parts of the track. The AI opponents seem to whizz around extremely erradically. Weapons were also added very late in the development cycle, and they're an unbalanced mess. You unlock different ships during the single player "campaign", and they differ in the balance of shield, handling and speed. But changing ships during a session on the same track is ridiculously cumbersome, requiring you to quit all the way to the main menu if you wanna see the stats of the available ships. The presentation is also lackluster - the visuals suffer from very crude textures plagued by "coder color" syndrome, and NO lightning/shadows making everything look very flat and dull. The "techno" music has it's moments though. Meh. 58%

So far, So good !! Runs straight onto the Oculus Rift DK2 from the launch options in the Steam Library window with ABSOLUTELY NO FUSS and it looks B-E-A-utiful !! I am not running an amazing set up: I5 cpu, 8gb RAM, Nvidia gtx 750 2GB. As I write this, there are only 3 Ship Types and 3 Tracks but if you visit the steam forum you will see that not only is there a lot more planned for this game but the developers seem to be listening to what the community have in the way of input towards the game content. This is a Nice, Fast Adrenaline Fest !!

Radial-G is not Redout nor Wipeout. All of the tracks are tubular though not in their entirely, an important point from strategic racing perspective as you will want to maintain a downhill perspective for both time and visuals. For a small Indie effort and price there are enough tracks and ships, though the best ship is locked behind a multi-player level gate. There are multiple modes; Battle (most positioning points over 4 races), Time Trial, Race, Eliminator, Rival and Combat (weapons included). You'll breeze through the first of the two single player tiers or at least I did. The third tier is quite the challenge and this is where the game shines. While the game awards "PASS" just with a bronze trophy, the third tier will have you racing for a while. The A.I. at the higher difficulties thankfully is not of the rubber variety and seems very human. The tracks have obstacles. Some will slow you down and some will force you off the track but they are clearly marked as such. In fact Radial-G does as fine a job with environment and onscreen indicators as I have ever seen in a racer. Further this is where garnering the inside of the tubes warrants importance. If you are on the outer side of the tube good luck reacting in time to any obstacles. Opponent location looking ahead is handled by cylindrical rings. Combat includes lock on indicators. The combat races are fun and not frustrating though there were a few races where I was pelted by the A.I.. Tough! Wrong place wrong time. Sh*t happens. As I've stated the A.I. has the same aggressive behavior against itself. In a race where I thought no way I would be able to achieve any where close to the podium I was able to place third. I used to play a game called Descent2 and favored laying bombs in odd places. Radial-G, though not 6DOF let's you do just that. When you encounter one of these mine fields, good luck as already tough obstacle navigation just quadrupled. The boosting mechanic when used takes away shield strength so optimal usage is important and like F-Zero there are shield charging stations. Loosing shields completely will merit you one verbal warning after another which can be annoying. A sound effect would of been a more reasonable alternative. Word is that Radial-G is quite the VR experience. VR or not Radial-G shines as a futuristic racer. If you want to m/p hit me up

I absolutely love the concept of this game. It's definitely tons of fun... for the first hour or so. My major problem is, there's really no diversity in the tracks, aside from them looking different. Each track still plays the exact same way and doesn't change. They feel very.... static to me. There's no real hazards in the levels, and the only way you can pass someone is if you time your speedups right and don't mess up, or wait for them to mess up. But as it stands right now, it's fairly easy to be that "perfect player" that hits all the speed boosts and doesn't mess up. I don't want to be that guy, but the tracks should be more engaging and dynamic, because they just feel bland. And this is just a suggestion, but why not add some special abilities to the vehicles, and the white aura thingies recharge said abilities? For example, let's say vehicle A's special ability is a minor speed boost, and vehicle B's ability is a knockback, and vehicle C's would be something like missiles that slow down a target in front of you? Something along those lines would definitely keep player retention. Of course, there would have to be a lot of balancing of vehicles to ensure fair play. But that's just it. In its current form, it's a novelty that is fun for about an hour or two. But after that, it becomes incredibly dull. You've got the formula down, now you just need to figure out how to keep player retention, so that people will want to play for hours on end. I do love everything else about this game; it reminds me of this weird techno-motorcycle game I used to play on the N64. As bland as the gameplay is, the graphics are beautiful. The levels really feel alive, like when asteroids come wizzing past you as you're trying to pass the guy in front of you. I like how you can reverse gravity too, definitely a cool mechanic that needs to be utilized in a wider variety of scenarios. It looks very polished and refined, visually. I will give you guys credit for that. I'm not a fan of the game's soundtrack, but I can't really complain about it because it isn't that bad. Although I do wish it was more diverse. The soundtrack of any game is what really gets me immersed in the moment. For example in an RPG, where epic music plays on a huge boss fight with the choir singing and whatnot, and makes your hair stand up like you know you're about to have a great time. Soundtracks that can give me goosebumps like that are usually automatic likes for me. I like the techno theme this game brings, I just see a whole lot more potential than what's being presented. Throw in some dude shredding an electric guitar or something on one of em, or perhaps a solo violin segment on one of the levels with a more serene atomosphere, give it some flavor. Or who knows, maybe you can come up with something even more crazy that ends up working really well. But most importantly, a memorable track should have a discernible melody. Maybe that melody could be the game's leitmotif or something. Just some suggestions. I'm no expert. I realise this is still early access, which is why I'm writing this at all. Hopefully my thoughts will reach the developers this way. I'm going to not recommend this game for right now, simply because it feels sort of bland. But there's plenty of room for improvement. Spice the gameplay up a bit! Good luck!