Race The Sun – Review (PC)

Race The Sun – Review (PC)

Race The Sun gives you control of a solar powered ship with two objectives: stay in the light of the sun and don’t crash.

Simple stuff for sure, but there are factors in play to make things harder for you. For starters the sun is your only light source and it is constantly setting, putting pressure on you to chase after it (I reckon ‘Chase The Sun’ would have been a more apt name, but I digress). When it does sink below the horizon, you have a second or two of solar power left and then it’s game over. In addition to this, you have to navigate around the game world’s polyhedral obstacles. It starts out very sedately with only a few things to dodge around and little risk of collision unless you take big risks.

Predictably, the game gets increasingly hard as the stages progress. First you might find openings big enough to easily negotiate through with  bit of leeway. Soon you will be trying to squeeze through gaps barely the wingspan of your ship followed by boulders rolling across your path and then… Well, you get the idea; the game ratchets up the difficulty as you get further and further until you crash and burn or run out of sunlight (which is followed by a depressing glance at your world ranking, a list of challenges and a retry button).

Race the sun 2
It’s only fun when they run… to the sun.

This brings us to the first problem with the game: The turnaround time. When you restart, you get thrown back into the first, most relaxed, region which gets rather tiresome after the first half-dozen times. The game has already been altered to shorten this stage, but it does get boring and most common reason for me ending a play session was that I couldn’t be arsed with the first bloody level all over again after wiping out on the tenth region due to an ill-advised ramp jump.  Thankfully, nothing outstays its welcome; the game world regenerates every day so at the very least things aren’t repetitive for too long. It’s also a clever solution to the question of tedium without resorting to a system that randomly generates the game world each time, as that messes with the legitimacy of the global high score board (it’s important to some people, you know). You are also able to add slight modifications to your craft that can enable you to store more jump pickups or last longer in the shadows. It does cater for different styles of play, but ultimately feels a little shallow. I never really noticed the effects that my modification was having. I feel that it is an element of the game that could have done with some more development.

The game’s landscape is very minimalistic, requiring some kind of imaginative interpretation by the player. It’s clear that some of the structures that the game throws at you are supposed to be something; a polyhedron on a cuboid stalk is almost certainly a tree and a pyramid might be a mountain (or maybe just a pyramid). The layout can turn these features into a breath-taking infinite panorama of shapes looming at you from the horizon. However, this brings us to a difficult point. The game lacks colour almost entirely. Other than the light blue sky, the (frankly quite beautiful) sunsets, and the occasional tinted fog, everything is grey. Even the sun itself shines a harsh white rather than a warm yellow. Ultimately, this is functional; it lets you see the coloured pickups very easily. I suppose that’s what the art style on show here is all about. Still, when colours are added to the equation, the game starts to look legitimately gorgeous. The featured user made map at the time of writing, Fast Future, looks like Tron as imagined in the late nineties and adds a new layer of awe (all the pretty colours!) and beauty to the game. However, this is where you start to see that the austerity of the base game’s pallet is a necessity; having colours all up in your face makes it much harder to see, well, anything.

No time to admire the sunset - it's about to kill you.
No time to admire the sunset – it’s about to kill you.

The soundtrack offers a variety of sounds, from the almost fanfare- like tune of the first region (with which you will become all too familiar) to the eerie tension of the track that kicks in as the sun is starting to set. The drums in particular are very slick throughout; this is certainly not a game where the music was an afterthought. The sound effects are, much like the art style, functional and satisfying in their own way.

I might be coming off as quite critical, but Race The Sun is a fun diversion that will entertain you for some time. It’s one of those games that will last you a while because you will play it in short bursts here and there. However, the daily level regeneration can’t stave off the dullness of repetition forever and once you reach level 25, there are no more short term goals to reward you other than topping the daily high score boards. Still, for what it is, Race The Sun is good clean fun that is well worth the modest price tag.

Pros

  • Addictive without dragging you into excessively long play sessions.
  • Innovative “world reset” idea keeps things fresher for longer.
  • User made maps and world builder potential.

Cons

  • Ship modification system feels somewhat shallow.
  • No motivation other than high scores once you reach level 25.
  • Limited colour pallet is functional, but not especially pretty.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
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