Review: Star Wars: Galactic Racer

It’s been a extremely very long time since we’ve acquired a brand new Star Wars racing recreation so you possibly can simply think about the fan shock when Star Wars: Galactic Racer was introduced throughout 2025’s The Sport Awards. Being developed by Fuse Video games and revealed by Secret Mode, Star Wars: Galactic Racer seemed unbelievable when it was showcased and I can safely say that, yea, this recreation is an absolute blast to play. Let’s placed on our racing helmets and I’ll inform you why it’s best to think about choosing this up.

In Star Wars: Galactic Racer, gamers will tackle the function of Shade, a Gathii from the planet Gathleon. Whereas Gathii, you might be nonetheless a human. You don’t really see your racer’s face however you’ll be able to customise their determine, helmet and voice. As soon as that is out the way in which, the sport kicks off by getting you launched to Darius Pax, a quite shady particular person who bankrolls a galactic racing league. He tries to get you concerned within the league however your character doesn’t actually appear all that .

After agreeing to participate in a warmup match, you find yourself beating Kestar Bool, a Bool overlord from the royal household that guidelines Gathleon. Issues escalate and Kestar will get quite ticked off at you after the race. That is the place Darius will get concerned and tries to recruit you into the racing league in an effort to actual candy revenge on Kestar and put him in his place.

Darius turns into your backer and offers you a league token which is a requirement for getting into the racing league. Lose your token and also you’re out of the league. Collectively along with your mechanic Hibi, you then set out on a racer’s journey which can span a number of planet’s race tracks with the last word purpose of beating Kestar Bool.

Racing in Star Wars: Galactic Racer includes collaborating in a sequence of occasions. There’s varied various kinds of races similar to customary grand prix league races, elimination races and experimental car subject testing races.

The twist to the sport, nevertheless, lies with the truth that it’s a roguelite. Every run by means of the qualifiers will likely be totally different in Act 1 with the ultimate race culminating in a face off towards an iconic Star Wars character that I can’t spoil right here. When you’re by means of the qualifiers, issues escalate even additional and also you’ll be racing with larger stakes.

Every run by means of the qualifiers will likely be totally different in Act 1 with the ultimate race culminating in a face off towards an iconic Star Wars character…

All of that is interspersed with very transient segments the place you possibly can stroll round a small setting on every planet and have conversations with the opposite racers, Darius or Hibi. This was surprisingly well-done and truthfully it makes me yearn for a full-on Star Wars motion role-playing recreation on this third particular person Mass Impact-like model.

A number of the racers again on the base camp will give you commerce offers that affect your racing with upgrades however this happens randomly as you play the sport. It’s a pleasant contact and I recognize that the builders did this as a result of it makes it really feel as for those who’re really part of a racing league hopping between planets with precise opponents that aren’t just a few faceless competitor.

Gameplay in Star Wars: Galactic Racer is extraordinarily quick and responsive. Racing feels extremely quick and you actually get the sense of pace from the visible results. A lot so that you simply’re positively going to crash and burn fairly often when it’s the primary time you’re on a observe. The tracks obtainable require some exact drifting or cornering at excessive speeds and the educational curve does really feel a bit unforgiving at first. Extra informal avid gamers will wrestle for a bit earlier than coming to grips with the sport’s racing mechanics.

Gamers may have entry to a “Ramjet” on their autos which provides you much more pace on high of your afterburners that may be triggered when a gauge is full. Utilizing the ramjet comes with a warmth build-up value although and for those who use it for too lengthy, you set your self liable to blowing your self up from overheating your car’s thrusters. Racing due to this fact turns into a cautious steadiness of utilizing your regular afterburners and your ramjet on the proper second to overhaul your opponents and safe victory.

Racing feels extremely quick and you actually get the sense of pace from the visible results.

This isn’t as easy because it appears as a result of along with the ramjet and afterburners, relying in your car kind and what skills you will have unlocked, you possibly can have further components to think about. For instance, a selected car kind permits the usage of an Autopilot function which can actually take full management of your car, make turns and use the ramjet with virtually pinpoint precision. Utilizing the Autopilot function on the proper second can really are available in clutch or it will possibly trigger you crash straight right into a wall based mostly on whenever you activate it. Activating shields is one other one which’s helpful since you possibly can protect your self and aggressively push different autos away or utterly take them down Burnout model.

Talking of takedowns, aggressive racing is so satisfying in Star Wars: Galactic Racer since taking down an opponent triggers a mini-cutscene the place you will note them get completely wrecked. The identical additionally applies to you so that you do must watch out when racing on the market.

Because the core gameplay loop includes roguelite mechanics, for those who place final in an elimination race and lose your league token, you’ll merely begin over from the underside in a brand new league season as Darius explains it. The roguelite part of the sport includes slowly however certainly unlocking sufficient assets to start out completely upgrading your three car varieties and your personal pilot’s racing model. You can even buy beauty upgrades and there’s fairly a little bit of customisation allowed with the blending and matching of components. Oh, and you’ll even change up the liveries and regulate the colors from some predetermined combos.

The roguelite side of the sport can be one among its greatest flaws. There are some racing leagues that may lead to you being eradicated early and others the place you could possibly go on a legendary successful streak due to the upgrades you handle to build up. Nonetheless, as a result of restricted variety of planets and tracks, the fatigue from racing on the identical observe time and again units in fairly rapidly when you’ve seen each observe. Hopefully extra tracks and planets are added to the sport over time however this stays to be seen.

The three car varieties which you could race with are a land speeder, a speeder bike and a skim speeder. There may be podracing within the recreation however you’ll must work to get this unlocked and it’s very watered down in the mean time. I’m anticipating fully-fledged podracing to function as a paid DLC in some unspecified time in the future as a result of they exist already in-game however you possibly can’t customise them to the identical extent as you’d your speeders.

Finally the gameplay loop in Star Wars: Galactic Racer is kind of enjoyable. The repetitive nature of the sport solely begins changing into a bit grating after quite a few hours into the sport and for those who race nicely, you’ll have a blast anyway as a result of your opponents are not any pushovers. As long as you’re taking part in on the traditional issue or above, you’ll even have a difficult roster of opponents right here and so they actually will put up a superb struggle, particularly in elimination races the place a easy takedown can value your or them their league spot.

Nonetheless, as a result of restricted variety of planets and tracks, the fatigue from racing on the identical observe time and again units in fairly rapidly when you’ve seen each observe.

Gamers do even have entry to multiplayer modes (together with a podracing particular mode) in addition to a single-player situation mode which is kind of difficult to finish. There’s a number of content material obtainable within the recreation exterior of the principle marketing campaign and that is nice to see albeit nonetheless a tad repetitive with the identical tracks that includes right here.

Graphically, Star Wars: Galactic Racer is among the best-looking video games this yr. The whole lot on this recreation appears downright stunning, particularly the environments and visible results. Racing by means of the stays of a fallen Imperial Star Destroyer on Jakku is a wide ranging expertise the primary time round and the plush inexperienced forests of Lantaana look superb too. Once more, this makes me hope that extra planets and racetracks are in growth for this recreation as a result of it will be such a wasted alternative if extra content material isn’t really being deliberate for launch.

The soundtrack for Star Wars: Galactic Racer is superb with orchestral themes excellent for high-speed racing. Voice performing within the recreation goes to be polarising although. Hibi has a really Scouse accent and Biddy Blas speaks in a excessive pitched Huttese voice. Personally I discover it nice however I can definitely see this as being off-putting to some avid gamers on the market.

Last Verdict

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is an excellent Star Wars racing recreation. It has the racing gameplay and pace completely nailed with the roguelike components including to the sport’s longevity. The one main complaints that I’ve are that the observe and planet roster are fairly restricted and that the sport suffers due to this. If there’s extra DLC deliberate, I hope that it expands the quantity of planets and tracks considerably since this can make an enormous distinction in preserving issues recent with every run by means of the sport’s marketing campaign. In case you’re a fan of racing video games, miss taking part in Burnout or need to race a podracer once more like we did within the outdated PlayStation 2 days, Star Wars: Galactic Racer is the sport for you. Fuse Video games, don’t abandon this title, it’s a shining gem of a racing recreation and deserves a tonne of reward.

PS5 Evaluation code offered by Secret Mode | Star Wars: Galactic Racer Deluxe Edition is available to purchase at Nexus Hub for R1,380