RACCLOG

There’s nothing wrong with pinching a bit of DNA from the greats. Not only is the idea of every game being an evolution rather than an iteration kind of exhausting for devs and players alike, but iteration is how we’ve gotten some of the best games of our time. Forza is basically Xbox’s Gran Turismo but with a vinyl editor, Sleeping Dogs and Saints Row have Grand Theft Auto beat in many areas, and - relevant to the game at hand - Metroid and Castlevania were the games that launched a thousand, erm, Metroidvanias. But you gotta add your own flair. You gotta do something with it. I have no idea what Journey to the Savage Planet really does. Journey to the Savage Planet Year: 2020 Genre: FPS, Metroidvania Developer: Typhoon Studios Publisher: 505 Games Played on: PC Also on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, (Employee of the Month edition on PS5, Series X|S and Stadia (lol)) My Playtime: 7 hours Right from the offset, Journey to the Savage Planet tries to carve a standout identity for itself, albeit...

I am one of maybe two people who has purchased old WRC games in current year. Why? Because rally games are fun! Even the crummiest ones usually have some kind of saving grace, like an interesting vehicle lineup or variety in its locales. It’s also kinda refreshing to play racing games with licensed vehicles that don’t rely on the same collection of real world circuits over and over again - I may dissociate from video games altogether if I have to race Brands Hatch or Laguna Seca too many more times. Since, per the most recent Steam Summer Sale, I now own around half of the currently available FIA-licensed WRC games from WRC 4 to 8, I thought I’d check out where the series began by giving the original World Rally Championship on PS2 a whirl, only to find that the series has been passed around between developers a lot. The WRC games I just bought on Steam are developed either by Milestone or Kylotonn, while the first five entries on PS2 - which are part of the same series except not real...

I remember a time when racing games were everywhere.  Franchises like Gran Turismo and Need for Speed were household names, while every developer and their dog was throwing their hat into the ring. The 2000's were a time where series like Project Gotham Racing could get four entries across five years, Need for Speed could be experimental, and simcades you've likely never heard of released to tiny fanfare, like Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli and Superstars V8 Racing. Nowadays you have a few flagship series like Gran Turismo, Forza and The Crew, a small number of devs trying to keep the sim racing genre alive with games like Assetto Corsa (rest in peace, Project CARS) and the odd indie title attempting to stir up fond memories of old arcade racers. Racing games are all but absent in the AA and AAA scene - you simply wouldn't get games like Pure or Split/Second anymore. Weirder still, I think, would be a remaster of a late-2000's racing game. Sure, EA occasionally oblig...