I often found myself raging internally whilst playing Race the Sun. I’d get so far, just to crash right into a block that wasn’t there a second ago. This only fueled my desire to try again, and again, and again, making this game fairly addictive.
Race the Sun’s objective is to simply “Race the Sun”, as the title states. You’re placed in control of what appears to be some sort of futuristic spaceship and tasked with riding towards the sun, just visible above the horizon directly ahead of the ship. The problem is, there are many obstacles in-between the ship and the sun. The obstacles become more obtrusive as time goes on, starting with the transition from static to dynamic objects. Upon crashing into any object, you’re done, unless you happen to have a multiplier active, in which case, your multiplier disappears, but you remain alive.
During this time, you’re introduced to the various “challenges” that can be completed, and, upon completion, the challenge is replaced with a completely new challenge, among a variety of different challenges. These challenges reminded me of the goals included in that mobile game, Jetpack Joyride. The game also featured user-created worlds. Steam Workshop support is planned (according to the in-game menu), so we’ll have to wait to unleash the full potential of the world builder.
The game has a major flaw, that being the lack of diversity offered out of the box. Race the Sun is probably going to end up relying on user creations to keep its value over time, but the pre-packaged worlds did not satisfy the amount that I had expected from the game. Still looking forward to more worlds offered by the community.
The game’s graphics were set in grayscale, with a few very bright whites also present. This was a great style overall and I thought it fit well with the type of gameplay provided. The game also includes some great atmospheric sounds and music to it, although it was difficult to pay attention to while concentrating so hard on avoiding objects flying at you going hyperspeed.
Race the Sun progressively built up my frustration when I played it for long periods of time. The gameplay works best when experienced in small bursts. Warning: Playing for extended periods of time may result in a broken controller. Race the Sun’s purchase can be justified if you’re the type of gamer who can’t sit through a game for more than 30 minutes.
cublikefoot 