Graphically Gas Guzzlers Extreme looks pretty damn great. The engine is fast and smooth and I haven’t noticed any glitches or screen tearing. There is also a vast array of different locations from the arid desserts to arctic wastelands giving a nice change of scenery. Gas Guzzlers Extreme is an over the top combat racer, featuring 12 game modes, 42 tracks, and 12 arena over 8 environments. There’s also 21 cars that you can customise and upgrade with various paints,parts and weapons.
Awesome world destruction racing extreme. Car combat games feel like the hardest genre to master. At least that is my conclusion considering how many of them are not very good. Of course, the demand for them has dwindled over the years so I have played less and less as time goes on, I still clamor for that same rush I had when playing the first two Twisted Metal titles. Gas Guzzlers Extreme scratches an itch I forgot I had.
This combat racing title brings very little new to the style, but does so much of it right that it is easy to recommend. I spent an unhealthy amount of time playing Gas Guzzlers, and yet I can’t remember one thing that stands out above the rest. Gas Guzzlers combines all the standard modes and races one would expect from this type of game. The career mode took me through multiple race types such as elimination, standard racing and of course car combat.
Again, nothing here I hadn’t seen before. The online features a robust collection of diversions such as deathmatch, capture the flag and more. There is never a shortage of things to do here, though sadly the online lobbies are not exactly booming with participants.
When I did manage to get into a match though, it was a blast. Finding others enjoying it as much as I was made it worthwhile, and of course the game fills out empty slots with bots until others join, which is nice. Upgrading and buying new cars became a minor obsession for me.
I was always trying to get the next best vehicle and max out its upgrades, and with nearly 20 to choose from, it kept me occupied. I also was always on the lookout for more firepower. The combat mechanics work well here.
Offering some guns that fire both forward and behind, combined with the pickups that I could drop such as land mines and smoke, made for some fun races. Points are awarded for every type of attack landed, and if I took down another racer during a combat encounter, they were gone for good. It is a nice way to thin out the competition. Track selection is also vast. The career mode starts off slow with only a handful, but by the end I had unlocked nearly 40 different routes around a handful of areas.
I love the design of the tracks too. Twisting and turning and offering up lots of shortcuts reminded me a lot of Beetle Adventure Racing on the N64. This became a pattern while playing. I was always comparing Gas Guzzlers to my favorite racing games over the years. Everything feels like an amalgamation of my fondest memories of the genre, all rolled into one big package. This is why it is hard to put too fine a point on what makes Gas Guzzlers so good.
The car handling feels like a nice mix between Flatout and maybe Evolution Studios’ acclaimed MotorStorm franchise. Cars feel like they have a nice weight to them, and the controls are simply spot on.
It only took me two races to get the handling down, which just felt incredible with the Xbox 360 controller. Have I mentioned how gorgeous Gas Guzzlers is? Because this game sure is gorgeous. The massive tracks feel like an open-world with suggested roads. The dirt and particle effects ran buttery smooth, even with multiple cars on screen. This game just looks and runs great.
Damage modeling is included, and the variations in tracks really help keep things fresh. The voice work is annoying more often than not, and the presentation and menus can be rather confusing at first. The soundtrack is decent at best with some generic rock tracks filling out the package, again nothing new or innovative here.
I still cannot begin to tell you why I love Gas Guzzlers so much. I think it stems from the feeling of combining all my favorite obscure and popular racing games over the years, and rolling them into one experience. It has been a long time since I really sank a lot into a car combat title that didn’t infuriate me. For the price tag I highly recommend checking out this sleeper hit. I was shocked at just how much fun it brought me out of nowhere.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
Don’t drink while driving – you will spill the beer. It’s not often a racing game comes across my lap that I’ve never heard of. Gas Guzzlers Extreme?
Yep, never heard of it before this review. Well, for fans of driving games, one that take players back to some of the purest arcade racing ever, this is a no brainer. Gas Guzzlers has taken me back to the days of classic racing games, the kind I used to sink quarters into, and I couldn’t be happier.
Fart Gulch First off, as far as games go, Gas Guzzlers doesn’t hold back on letting players know that there is a sense of humor to be had here. From the name of tracks, the voice over for the driver, and the names of the AI racers. It’s one thing to have Duke Nukem voice a character, that’s cool as it is, but to have an Arnold impersonator voice as well, I couldn’t stop laughing during the races. Yes the lines repeat eventually and they get a bit mundane, still it’s an appreciable effort. MSRP: $24.99 Price I’d Pay: $24.99 Multiplayer: N/A How long to beat: 5+ hours Enough about the humor, the real question is how is the racing? Surprisingly good honestly, which surprised me. That’s not to say that player will be getting simulated physics with their driving, but cars handle well, can be upgraded, and sliding around corners becomes fun and chaotic.
Did I mention that the game is not only about racing, but also destroying the opponents? Each race consists of either using weapons, boosts, or power ups to take the opposing racers down. This can add to some hilariously fun and exciting races. Explosions rocking the screen, mines on the ground to avoid, and smoke screens in the players face. At times it can almost feel like too much, as playersbarrel down a dusty desert road or snow covered embankment.
The more races players succeed at, the more unlocks open, from new tracks to new parts and decals. Using money gained from race wins and random pickups in the races gives players cash to buy new cars and upgrade the current vehicles. Do well enough in races and sponsored cars can show up, giving players bonus money for each win. Start sucking though, and they take the car away. Such is life. The tracks here consistently kept surprising me as more and more unlocked. They consist of multiple pathways usually, and at times remind me of some of my favorite racing games of the past.
Like a cross of Twisted Metal, meets San Francisco Rush, and even Beetle Adventure racing. Some tracks have shortcuts that help shave off precious seconds, others have jumps, and of course some have environmental objects to avoid. Meanwhile chickens, cactus, fences, and other assorted debris that exists on the tracks can be run into and just get blown away. Arcade Glory I honestly can’t surmise how fun and exciting this game is for me as an arcade racing fan. I had literally just been playing Forza Horizon 3, probably one of my all-time favorite arcade open world racers. So when jumping into Gas Guzzlers Extreme, I didn’t expect much going in, even outside of comparison sakes.
Yes, the soundtrack is composed of odd metal riffs and typical rock melodies, the graphics, while decent, are not the best visuals in a racing game today, and load times are a bit long in the tooth. Yet I’m hooked, and this is slowly becoming a new 2016 favorite. The environments and tracks are varied, the racing fun and exciting, and the humor silly and absurd even. Gas Guzzlers Extreme might be a small time release, but it’s full of pure, unadulterated, racing heart. Favorite moment: Turning a corner, blast away racers, and hearing an Arnold impersonator go wild with commentary. Worst moment: The UI is basic and bare bones, yep, that’s all I got.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.