Screamer Review

We’ve seen plenty of examples where a developer revives an old property but fundamentally changes the essence of the series. This thinly veiled attempt to cash in of brand recognition generally results in a misfire and a quick trip back into obscurity for the IP, but that’s not always the case. Screamer, the latest arcade racing game from developer Milestone, is an example to the contrary, where an injection of new ideas and innovations has breathed new life into an all but forgotten name. The anime-inspired story mode threatens to send it off the track, but it’s what’s under the hood that makes this homecoming worth taking for a spin.

Screamer is technically an established series hailing from the boom period of 3D racers in the 90s, but it’s largely faded into obscurity over the subsequent years. While this entry shares its name and has a smattering of recognisable traits, it’s really a new car built for new roads.

Arcade racers aren’t known for their stories, and Screamer continues that reputation, with a campaign, titled The Tournament, that is positioned as part story mode, part tutorial. But sadly, it falls short on both.

Every car absolutely looks the part

A high-stakes Screamer tournament is being held by the mysterious and enigmatic Mr A, with an enormous cash prize pool being a big enough hook to land five diverse teams to compete. The central trio of Hiroshi, Frederique, and Róisín make up the Green Reapers, a group of mercenaries who entered the competition to exact revenge on Gabriel, the affluent leader of Anaconda Corp, who happens to be in the tournament as well. Each of the teams, ranging from scientists to K-pop bands, have their own motivations, secrets, and goals that are explored across the five-to-six-hour storyline.

The racing is the true star of the show, and Screamer is an arcade racer in every sense of the term, and will have you blazing through city streets, tickling 300 km/h, all while drifting around every tight turn, just not in the conventional way. Rather than ripping your handbrake to initiate a drift, Screamer works on a twin-stick system that sees the left stick deal with general steering, while the right stick takes care of drifting duties. It’s a difficult system to learn, but a satisfying one to master. Carefully pushing the right stick to pitch the rear of the car until you perfectly glide around a long bend feels incredible, just don’t expect to be doing so right out of the gate.

While each of the 15 fictional cars handles differently, they each share a hefty weight that provides a great tactile feel. Far from lethargic, these wide-bodied anime machines are insanely fast, but they take some taming to become nimble. Every car has a semi-automatic transmission that will shift on its own if left unchecked. However, if you time a shoulder button press correctly, you’ll change gears and get a tiny speed boost. This Active Shift mechanic will keep you dialled in, but it won’t steal away your concentration thanks to some clever audio and visual cues. The core driving experience is good, but it’s the aftermarket modifications that really make this engine purr.

Nailing a long drift feels as good as it looks 

Each car comes equipped with an Echo device, allowing the racers to tap into several over-the-top abilities. Two gauges at the top of the screen will fill as you drive, one for speed and defence, and the other focusing on complete carnage. By maintaining high speeds, nailing Active Shifts, and completing drifts, you’ll fill the gauge on the left (Sync). Consuming one bar will grant you an intense Boost, and completing a quick-time event will net you even more velocity if timed correctly. You can also choose to spend a bar to conjure a Shield, protecting you from an incoming attack.

And that’s where the gauge on the left (Entropy) comes in. Entropy is gained by using Sync and is spent to knock your fellow racers out. Consuming two bars will activate a Strike, a short burst of forward-facing speed that will destroy an opposing racer on impact, forcing them to respawn and often lose position. Better still, you’ll earn back some Sync if you manage to successfully destroy another car, feeding back into the loop. Manage to fill both gauges completely, and you activate Overdrive, a risky mix of Boost and Strike that will end in your own car exploding if you touch a barrier.

The Sync and Entropy gauges share a symbiotic relationship that’s incredibly fun to weave together once you’ve got your head around the concept. It can be punishing as it to mistime a Boost, or miss a Strike, but the high of chaining together eliminations to crawl from last to first in a trail of scrap metal and fire will quickly quell those lows.

Humming along at a casual 359 km/h

Each of the colourful characters and their signature wheels comes with a unique ability. Outside of the cars handling differently, these abilities shake things up in small ways, such as Dirk gaining a powered-up Strike when he eliminates an opponent, or Noboru earning additional Entropy with Active Shifts. It’s not too mechanically dense, but it adds to the fighting game influence seen throughout Screamer.

It’s a shame then that Screamer’s anime-inspired campaign doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain. The design of each character is exceptional, and the talented voice cast brings these multinational individuals to life, especially during the game’s cutscenes. Japanese animation studio Polygon Pictures does fantastic work here, adding depth to these eccentric personalities. Unfortunately, any interaction outside of these cutscenes is reminiscent of a visual novel. One that doesn’t know when to stop talking.

Long dialogue sequences between largely static images break up the racing and cutscenes, with these interactions often boiling down to teammates resenting and shouting at each other. Then, once the yelling match or heavy-handed exposition is done, you’ll do a time attack race because…why not? You’re infrequently given a reason behind races, other than, you know, it’s a racing game at the end of the day.

Conversations are about as engaging as they look

I mentioned earlier that The Tournament is meant to introduce you to the game’s mechanics, but it does a very poor job of that as well. No form of offensive driving is mentioned, let alone explained, until at least halfway through the story. While I was hoping for an interesting and engaging anime story with racing woven directly into the plot, what I got was an overly aggressive tale of apathetic folks who jump in cars from time to time.

What The Tournament does manage to show you is the various tracks and race types on offer. 32 tracks, split between four visually impressive biomes, will keep you busy, with many featuring clever shortcuts and hidden tactics that reward an eagle eye. Time attacks, score challenges, checkpoints, team races, and standard races are met with an Overdrive challenge to round out the modes on offer. All the regular modes are spot on, with the insane Overdrive race, which starts with the boost on and scores you based on the distance travelled before you explode, being a highlight.

Final Thoughts

Screamer is far more than a fresh coat of anime paint on a forgotten franchise. The aesthetic and tone give it a certain flair, but it’s the various systems that borrow from the fighting game genre that set it apart from other visually striking racers. Mechanical depth and satisfying gameplay are the fuel that keeps the engine running, but a misfire of campaign, filled with rough dialogue, shallow direction, and an allergy to the game’s fundamentals, greatly impacts the motor’s overall performance.

Reviewed on PS5 // Review code supplied by publisher

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