As a PC port of an iOS remake of a PC game; Death Rally comes full circle back to the PC. Remedy Entertainment, better known for the Max Payne and Alan Wake series has released the iOS remake of their original 1996 PC racer onto Steam. Death Rally is top down racer/shooter (think RC Pro Am with guns) in which the goal is to win each race by being the fastest or murdering your fellow racers. The premise is simple and designed to be fully understandable within your first ten minutes of play.
This is a classic arcade race that’s not exactly trying to weave a Tolkien-esque epic. The story is pretty bare bones and the game kicks off with the player’s character trying to escape the police. Once he is inevitably caught, “Tex,” the local police chief, decides to ignore the player’s extensive rap sheet, chalk full of car-related felonies, and forces the protagonist to enter Death Rally in exchange. The only way out is to rise up through the ranks and lure out “The Adversary,” the top dog in Death Rally and Tex is sick of his murderous shenanigans. Cutscenes are told via motion comic with Tex and one other cop, with Tex being fully voice acted. The story unfolds as you continue to complete races, but it’s not the game’s focus and doesn’t really serve as a driving point for continued gameplay.
The main draw is that ever enticing next unlock. Playing through the race events or the death match event yields cash used to repair (damage is persistent between events), upgrade your car, or the weapon you currently have equipped. To unlock new weapons and tracks, a certain number of parts must be collected, which can be obtained by destroying fellow drivers or found randomly through the track. Races are quick and chaotic, most lasting for about a minute. Tracks range from desert to icy environments and are laid out well, catering to the fast pace of the gameplay.
It’s great to burn through a few quick races and feel that sense of progression with the cash earned and new parts found, but with only a handful of tracks, things can get pretty repetitive. If you’re planning on unlocking all of the cars and weapons, get used to playing these tracks a few dozen times. The occasional shady phone call from “The Shadowman” helps to mix things up a bit though, giving you the opportunity to use future unlockable cars or weapons for a cut of your cash earnings, or offering you a reward for taking out a specific driver.
The death match event is a bit weaker: one open area, group of AI opponents, highest score in the allotted time wins. The event can drag and, due to the top-down camera, trying to be precise with shots while in an open area can be tricky.It’s a lot easier to aim on a track with everyone moving in the same general direction. Most matches devolve into several cars driving in circles or figure 8’s until one of them explodes. Matches last longer than races, and the rewards aren’t worth the effort. I found my self rarely jumping into a death match.
Controls are simple with “up” and “down” buttons for throttle/braking and two buttons to steer. Default keyboard controls use the standard WASD or arrow key set up for movement, with primary and secondary fire set to X and Z or Left mouse and Right mouse, respectively. Controls can be completely remapped and gamepads are fully supported. I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on the iOS version, but I imagine that playing with a gamepad is the best control option overall. The camera can also be switched from the fixed top-down view, to a chase cam,top-down view focusing on your car. I preferred the chase cam during my playthroughs, as it made aiming and driving much easier.
The comic book style cutscenes fit the general colorful and almost cartoon-y visual aesthetic to the rest of the game, which is pretty nice to look at. Environments are varied, explosions are well done and car models are clear and distinguishable. Different paint jobs help to be able to separate your car from the pack on screen, though a momentary break of concentration can leave you searching for your A-Team inspired van amongst the chaos.
Death Rally is a well made remake/port that only slightly suffers from some repetitive traits. I would have enjoyed if Remedy threw in some more tracks and different types of events while remaking the original, but I still enjoyed my time with the game. Forget about story, come for raw and classic arcade gameplay, stay for the destruction.
Price & availability: Death Rally is out now on Steam. Normally $9.99, it is on sale for $8.49 at the time of this writing.
Fun fact: Several rival drivers are nods to established game journalists, or characters from Alan Wake.
Bottom Line: A fun and explosive classic arcade style racer that could use some more tracks and events.
Words By – Victor Kalogiannis