Recent reviews by JRufer

Great multiplayer fun.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you were a living bouncy ball with an arsenal of weapons that would make an american gun nut blush.
I can't stress how addictive the arena combat can get in this roll and gun action game. The controls are simple but tight and responsive and the combat mechanics are superb.
This was one of the first games I picked up for my Steam Deck and it plays really well. The frame rate isn't amazing but it never dips low enough to interrupt the fast paced action.

Distance is an absolutely phenomenal racing experience. It started off as a basic arcade racer and then just turns more and more into a physics puzzle, moving at the speed of a rhythm game. Blending puzzle-like track navigation with physics-defying acrobatics, and moments of complete aeronautic freedom Distance will have you twitching like a fast-paced rhythm game in no time.

Every track will have you swerving around corners, weaving between obstacles, boosting for extra speed while trying not to overheat, using jump thrusters to get over barriers and gaps, flipping in mid-air to reorient yourself, and firing down-force thrusters to press your wheels back to a newly oriented section of track. At times the track will just end and you must extend your vehicle's wings to fly through hazards until you reach a new section of track to land on. You aren't just competing against the clock but competing against the track itself.

Though head-on collisions will destroy you completely, lasers and saw blades may simply shave off a chunk of your vehicle. If you can manage to steer what's left past the next checkpoint, you will not only regain all your parts, your boost heat will be reset. If... no, when you are the unfortunate victim of complete vehicular annihilation, the race isn't over just yet. the clock keeps ticking while you restart from the last checkpoint you passed. In fact, the clock doesn't stop until you quit or win. It keeps counting while you reset from a crash, load between levels, and even when you pause the game. If you care about your time score, you won't be answering any phone calls, getting up to pee, or even blinking for very long. Every second counts.

From a visual standpoint, Distance draws from futuristic racers like Wipeout, and Redout. It frequently reminded me of the rhythm game Thumper and even takes environmental set piece hints from the classic science fiction puzzle game Portal. Mostly relying on low poly models and sparse textures to keeping things simple so as to not distract you from the task at hand. The game's lighting and post-processing effects do an amazing job to provide its cohesive visual aesthetic. Things don't get stale though, thanks to some innovative track mechanics, everything about the track and the general environment can change in an instant, sometimes just changing things up and some times cranking up the geometry and texture detail level like you just got ripped out of The Matrix.

As far as audio goes, trance and electronica keep the the score in pace with the gameplay. If you can dig the virtual neon cyber-dystopia of the graphics, the music will sit well with you. The music just fits the game's style to a tee. If ya like the looks, you will probably dig the tunes.

Oh and all that is just from the game's narrative single player "Adventure" mode. There is also a heap more to the game that I have yet to explore at all. VR support, 12 player online and 4 player split screen multiplayer races, stunt competitions, and even tag. It even has a built in random track generator and a level editor so you can build your own courses to challenge your friends on.

I've said enough I'm going to shut up and get back to playing. I hope you enjoy.