After 30 years, the Screamer franchise has made a comeback as the developer Milestone, which worked on the original game, has brought the franchise back with a modern reimagining of the original Screamer franchise while bringing back some of the classic gameplay that made the franchise popular back in the day, while also bringing in some new mechanics and modes that gamers are used to within the racing genre.
Throughout my time with Screamer, I was able to try out the game’s campaign as I raced through so many races I lost count; tried out various racers and their vehicles; took part in the game’s numerous arcade game modes; and even customized some of the vehicles’ styles to suit me, so I will discuss some of these different features within my review, along with the different race tracks, the detail of the game world, and so much more.
Racing in Screamer is Very Challenging Due to the Gameplay Mechanics and the Other Racers
Since we are talking about a racing game, it makes sense for us to talk about the gameplay of this game, as it is the main aspect people will want to know about. During my time with Screamer, I often found the game to be a lot of fun, as each race was different in a few different ways; however, getting to the fun part of Screamer was a small challenge, as the game is not easy to get to grips with.
When you boot up Screamer and jump into the early races of the tutorial, the game is quite simple, with the game focusing on the simple acts of driving, boosting, and drifting so that you can win your races in style, but as the game goes on, the challenges begin to pile up as more mechanics begin to get thrown at you to keep the game fresh.
Although these mechanics aren’t overly hard to get good with, they do tend to become slightly overwhelming in a driving game as you have to focus on a few different situations to make sure you are taking full advantage of the game’s mechanics.
What I mean by this is that while you are playing Screamer, you are often having to keep track of a few different gameplay mechanics to ensure you have a chance of winning the race, such as ensuring you change gears at the appropriate time to get a small speed boost; although you don’t have to manually change gears, you do lose out on this boost if you allow the game to change for you.
There is also a standard boost mechanic, which has to charge up as you drive in the highest gear your car can go, which again is manually activated and is even a quick time event, causing you to hold down a button and release it at a specific time to boost your car to the maximum it can be boosted. That isn’t all, as there is even a shield mechanic that protects you from other racers who are looking to kill you in the race, with this requiring good timing and observation skills to use it at the right time to save your life.
Adding all these mechanics together as well as the two-stick controls of the car, with the left stick being the standard steering and the right stick being drift, I often found myself struggling to do everything at once, but what surprised me was how this didn’t ruin the experience for me, as normally when a game begins to overwhelm a player with various mechanics that overlap, the player tends to struggle and some mechanics get abandoned or ignored over time, but while I played Screamer, this didn’t happen.
Instead, I began to find myself getting used to these different mechanics and how they interacted with each other, and as time went on, they began to get easier in terms of skills and timing rather than simply being ignored and being replaced by just driving better than the other racers.
While I played Screamer, I often found that having these different mechanics was an increased challenge that made the game fun for a good while, as it really put my reaction skills to the test while also ensuring I could stay on the track and win races in a reliable manner. What also made the challenge even more interesting was how each car was different, keeping me on my toes as I never got too comfortable driving the same vehicle constantly in the main story, but instead I had to constantly change and adapt to the car I was driving.
Because of this, I was never really bored with driving in Screamer, as each race was very different, with different maps or variations on the different maps by going different directions or using altered starting lines and so on, leading me to enjoy the experience even with the rather overwhelming controls from the start, especially as I got used to the different mechanics even with the trigger points constantly changing between each car.
The Race Tracks Are Glorious to View With So Much Variety
A big part of any racing game is the track that you race upon, and it is safe to say that Screamer has a lot of different race tracks for the player to enjoy throughout their play session of Screamer. When it comes to Screamer, there are over 30 different race track variations for the player to drive through that each have their own unique twists and turns that put the player through their paces.
However, what makes these race tracks different from other racing games is that Milestone have made it so that the player isn’t always racing from the same location within these tracks, whether it be moving the starting line to a completely random location on the track or even having the race go the alternate way from your first run through on this track, each race is just as unique and random as the last.
This for me as someone who is very good at remembering track layouts was a very fun twist to behold as I was constantly struggling to learn how to maneuver on these tracks as each race was an entirely new experience to the point that in some cases I would load into the same track one game after another and not even realise I was on the same track as it was a completely unique experience.
What makes this a novel idea is that not only are there 4 environments in a standard form for the player to drive through, adding in all the different variations of these tracks allows the player to get even more out of the game while also having a unique experience every race.
To add to the different environments, it is also safe to say that Milestone has worked tirelessly to make the actual tracks themselves look beautiful in every way possible as the detail in each track is impeccable whether it be the actual track itself or the extra flavor text added around the game world, it is all fantastic to see while also boosting the games lore in numerous ways.
Whether it be the sun shining off the tarmac, the glistening of the cars bodywork or the buildings you pass by, every little detail has been considered by the developers making the world look as full as can be while also ensuring that there are no distractions in the form of characters in the stands, items on the road, and just general clutter that in some cases would throw a player off.
Screamer’s Story is Full of Fun Dialogue That Ranges from Sad to Funny and even Angry, All While Being Fully Voiced
When it came to the original Screamer game back in 1995, players weren’t looking for a massive story that gripped them from start to finish but were instead looking for a racing game that allowed them to flip vehicles and race at the highest speed possible.
This version of Screamer changes this by having a narrative-driven story in an anime style that is fully voiced in a way that will shock everyone who is entering the game. The reason behind this is that each character is voiced in their original language, as in this Screamer universe, everyone is fitted with a universal translator that allows everyone to speak their own language but still be understood.
In terms of gaming, this is something that isn’t often done, as it can be a challenge for the developers to explain this in a way that makes sense while also fitting the game’s world, but in terms of Screamer, I found it to be done very well, as it is explained within the game’s main story in a rather entertaining way as one of the characters has altered their translator chip so that they can understand their dog Fermi as they bark, which, might I add, is also voiced by an actual dog, showing that the devs tried to keep each role specific to the right people for said role.
Voice acting aside, when it comes to the game’s overall story, it can be quite confusing from the jump, as a lot of information is thrown at the player regarding the game’s world and the various characters you meet and their various interactions, leading me to essentially create a spider’s web to connect which character knows whom, why they know each other, and what they want with each other, but as the game goes on, you do begin to learn about these different characters, and not just one or two, but all of the various characters involved in the game.
This again was a rather big surprise for me, as, yes, not all the characters get such an in-depth backstory as most, but the fact that each character is at least linked to one another and has some form of interaction, conversation, or reason for taking part in the race was a fun addition to the game that I was not expecting.
As always, I will refrain from talking too much about the game’s overall story as I do not want to spoil the game, but in terms of the overall impact the game’s story had on me, by the end I can safely say that I was pleasantly surprised by how in-depth the devs took the story while also ensuring that it was fun and not overly complicated, leaving me with more questions than I had answers.
What made the story a bit challenging for me to sit through was that a lot of the dialogue varied between short chats between characters and long conversations that could take you out of the action for a long period of time. As much as I enjoyed learning about the different characters and the world they were fighting for or against, depending on the character, there were some moments in which I was more interested in getting back into a race than listening to the extra dialogue and interactions between the characters.
Each Car and Driver is as Unique as the Last, Especially When You Design Them
Finally, I would like to add in the ability to customize your car that was involved within Screamer as well as the different characters you can unlock throughout the game as both of these mechanics are not solely locked to the game’s story mode The Tournament, as you can just simply enjoy the game’s extra modes to unlock new customization options and more, albeit the story mode being the fastest way to earn these things.
What made it fun was that I was able to be rather creative when it came to the vehicles in Screamer, as I could put all kinds of stickers, icons, and change the colors and more on the vehicles to create something unique for online play, or on the couch co-op.
Screamer
Summary
When it comes to Screamer, I had a lot of fun when it came to the actual racing part of the game, although it was a challenge to get used to the various mechanics and their difficulty curves at the start of the game. Once I was used to them, it was a lot of fun.
In regard to the game’s story, there was a lot of information to take in, especially at the beginning of the game, as it shows you all the different factions, but as the game goes on, we learn more and more about them, and it is interesting to see why they are there and what their intentions are.
The overall game design for Screamer is definitely high tier, as the different races are very detailed both on the track and the surrounding areas, and the fact that each track is varied in a lot of ways was also very fun.
HOURS PLAYED: 25
PLAYED ON: PS5
- Races were fun with a lot of skill requiring to win them.
- Each character was fleshed out each with their own stories and agendas.
- The story was very interesting keeping me entertained throughout.
- Controls were overly complicated to start off with.
- Subtitles are needed as there are over 5 languages to listen to.
- dialogue could get very boring with long conversations.
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our article talking about the console release of Necrophosis: Full Consciousness, or check out our review of Resident Evil: Requiem.
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
