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Antigraviator is unapologetically fast. This game is designed top to bottom to focus on speed.
Speed Kills.
Antigraviator comes at you right out of the gate. There is very little time for adjusting to the speed that it throws at you. In many racing games there are a few easier courses to start with where brakes aren’t important and you can get a feel for what the top speeds are in the game. In Antigraviator the game just says “there is no slow, get used to it”.
You do get used to it. At the start it’s daunting but the game is so well built on the focus of speed that you start to focus more on tracks and when to lay off the accelerator and soon you’ll be holding your own.
The best way I can explain it is when you’re driving on the highway for a long period of time going 65 and then you get off on an exit and you feel like you’re crawling, you got used to traveling that fast. That’s what happens when you play Antigraviator.
The game starts you with a tutorial and my suggestion is to take it. In most racing games you just pick it up and play. Nope, not here. Besides the speed, you also have to learn rolling and traps.
Rolling is done by pushing the right thumbstick left or right and your vehicle will do a barrel roll in that direction. This is incredibly useful in avoiding traps and outmuscling other racers who are going neck and neck with you. Coming into a corner with someone right on your side? Throw a barrel roll into them and watch them skid along the guardrail as you disappear into the distance.
Traps are well, traps. They’re obstacles that you can set off by collecting power-ups to slow down other racers. There is an on-screen notification for the traps to let you know where they can be set and if they were successful or not. There’s also audible prompts but they mix into the music too much to rely on that only.
The trap system feels a little out of place but it doesn’t detract from the game. One thing that you should know about the traps is that they stay in place. If you make rocks fall down in a certain part of the track be aware that on the next lap you’ll be one of the racers avoiding them. It’s not a system where once they hit a racer disappearer from the track. If you’re not good at avoiding the traps maybe don’t spam them all over because, in the end, they’ll slow you down more than the competition. You get a shield that protects you from your own traps but I still slowed down from my own friendly fire. Also if you’re able to avoid the trap you placed you still need to avoid the racers that cause a bottleneck as they navigate the traps. All in all, it’s a very risk/reward gameplay element.
There are a quick race mode, online, and a career mode. Quick race and online are self-explanatory while career has you playing circuits to unlock higher levels. I would have liked a bit more variety in the circuits because they have a very wash-rinse-repeat feeling to them.
There are upgrades and vehicles available to get as you progress through the campaign but again, it does feel a little lacking.
The soundtrack fits the action very well. It’s a collection of fast-paced music that you would imagine a game like this having.
The one thing that actually bothered me about the game? There’s no track on the HUD, just a straight line showing start and finish and where the other racers are along that line. It makes strategy difficult when you have no idea where the other racers are on the track. Antigraviator’s trap system also loses some of its punch because you’re never exactly sure where the other drivers are. It relies on hope more than anything else.
I’m excited to see where Antigraviator goes when it comes to post-launch support. I would like to see tracks and vehicles fleshed out a bit more. There’s a good game here and it does harken back to the days of F-Zero but the way the content feels maybe it mimics it a bit too much?
If you want breakneck speed Antigraviator should be on your list.
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Why it may be helpful for people with anxiety
- You need to focus in order to do well
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Why it may be unhelpful for people with anxiety
- If symptoms are preventing you from focusing you will do poorly and you won’t get very far
- It throws a lot of flashing and strobe effects at you
- Everything is very urgent in the game
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Should you be playing this?
How well do you do with stress-inducing gameplay that demands your complete attention while throwing a light show at you?
That’s harsh but it’s honest. This isn’t a bad game overall, it’s a good game but I don’t see how it’s a good game for the majority of people who play games to alleviate their symptoms. If you’re someone who has good days and bad days try it on a good day. If you do better during the day than at night or vice versa than try it when you do well. There’s a good game here that I expect to get better as the developers support it going forward. It’s just not a game that I can recommend for everyone.
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This review was based on the PC version that was provided by the publisher.
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