E3 2018: Antigraviator Review
What’s up, FanBros! We’re here to discuss the latest futuristic, blur-racer released recently on Steam: Cybernetic Walrus’ Antigraviator. I guess it’s immediately clear that if you’re a fan of the Wipeout series, this would be pretty appealing to you. While that game remains to be the pioneer of this sub-genre, other developers have found more to explore in the realm of “blur racers”(I will be using this term going forward). So, what makes Antigraviator different? Let’s dive in:
Immediately, I can say this game is absolutely gorgeous. The details of the tracks, environments and shimmering reflections on your vehicle are immediately apparent while you’re flying along techno-tubes and streets. he lush outdoor environments to the vibrating indoor ones have a sheen that(while not necessarily original), is a feast for the eyes. And if you’re running this on a PC, it’s worth running at the highest settings.
The game’s progression system will feel familiar as you begin opening new vehicles and more difficult tracks. As your vehicles improve and the difficulty increases, you’ll quickly realize you’ll need to use my personal favorite feature during races: a shift/juke system that allows you to move vertically during races to either dodge or recalculate a little during a drift. It becomes a critical/clutch move later as you’re flying around corners while dodging racers and obstacles.
Now, what separates Antigraviator apart from the pack are two features: Multiplayer & Traps. The multiplayer is a nice callback to the days of couch co-op. It’s fun, intense and quite impressive to see it can maintain such high quality of visuals and speed without slowdown(this review was done with a 1080 GPU). But, the Trap system is the most crucial selling-point. Similar to Mario Kart, you occasionally pick up weapons you can unleash upon your opponents to cause a hindrance on their lap. But, the effects of that trap can also effect you. This includes explosions from the walls of a tight corner or the ceiling turning into dangerous blocks. It can provide some pretty fun moments of frustration without ever feeling too unfair during matches.
Overall, Antigraviator is a fun title that feels like it would be great with an expansion into each feature(Traps, vehicles, more complex tracks, etc.) but has the inner-workings for something genuinely great later.
