In the dystopian future of 2066, things have turned for the worse in many ways. So, to relieve the stress and frustration, the world has taken to pitting contestants called Clones and pit against each other on some pretty devious tracks. These games occur on circuits filled with life-ending traps and obstacles, where the winner lives on to play again. Think of it like the racing version of the Running Man movie. That’s the premise behind the upcoming title called DeathSprint 66, from Sumo Digital.
What exactly is DeathSprint 66
While at Summer Game Fest 2024, I spoke with the game director of DeathSprint 66, Andrew Willans. As I sat down with him and watched as he gave me the rundown of the game, I began to see the inspirations behind the game, including racing games of the yesteryears, such as Wipeout, F-Zero, Super Mario Kart, and even Team Sonic Racing. As I began blurting out the names of these games, Andrew nodded and smiled. I was right on the money. DeathSprint 66 is, at the essence, a circuit racing game, and the DNA of the aforementioned games is apparent.
Racing at breakneck speeds, contestants in DeathSprint 66 will risk life and limb racing around these tracks, each full of deathly traps and tracks that will try to end you, items to pick up that can help boost your chances of winning, wall running that feels taken from Titanfall, and rails that you can grab or grind in parkour style.
Once Andrew handed me the controls, it took a few moments to get used to the layout and how to stay ahead of my AI-controlled opponents, avoiding those deathly traps. It all sounds simple in conception, and jumping into a game felt good. So much so that we upped the ante, and off I was onto a much harder track, which didn’t end as well as my first endeavor. Still, Andrew says that I’m one of the few who successfully scored a win during the Summer Game Fest. I’ll take that as a small victory.
Playing online is the main draw of the game
DeathSprint 66 has several game modes: PVP, PVE, and Practice. The main mode of the game is playing against seven other opponents. It’s here where everything falls into place. Your skills in navigating the tracks while picking up items that can either take out your enemies and vice versa or items to protect you. The PVE mode is similar to completing tasks, like Gran Turismo’s driving tests. There, you’ll be up against AI-controlled opponents who are just as deadly as their real-life counterparts. While the practice mode has you sprinting around the tracks by yourself, training and improving.
While it seems barebone, I can tell you that the time I spent going up against the AI was extremely fun, sometimes beating them and other times getting scraped off the floor. I never once felt frustrated while losing, while dishing out the hurt and sensation of speed is great. It’s as if F-Zero and Wipeout had a child together. By design, DeathSprint 66 is meant to be a different take on the old-school arcade circuit racer genre, and the game has that in spades. Except, you’ll die a lot. But no worries there, as a few seconds later, another clone will be pulled from the freezer, and you’re back into the race again.
Picking up the game is fairly simple. As we were using Xbox controllers, the right trigger handled acceleration, and the left trigger handled power sliding around controllers. If a rail is present, driving towards it will automatically put you onto the rail, or jumping upwards will allow you to grab it. Springing onto walls will automatically let your wall grind, where you can move up and down as needed. The controls felt great and were responsive. It’s as solid as an arcade racing should be.
There are also plans to allow players to customize clone suits, emojis, and other aspects. While getting the most out of the game is doing so online, this isn’t a GaaS, so there is no need to worry about that.
When can you play DeathSprint 66?
Sumo Digital is still developing DeathSprint 66, and Andrew claims that the game will be ready to ship before the end of 2024. There may be plans for a demo before this, but the goal is to get the game polished and ready for primetime. Sumo Digital only has plans to release DeathSprint 66 on the PC, but consoles haven’t been ruled out either. That will depend on how well the game does on the PC.
As someone with some solid track time with DeathSprint 66, I can sincerely say that once this game drops, I’m optimistic that it will be a fan favorite. Not because I got a chance to play it before most others, but because it feels solid and, most importantly, fun. It has all the makings of a solid arcade racer and as someone who enjoys a good arcade racer, this will fill a void that has been empty for far too long. F-Zero and Wipeout are all dead and gone, leaving only Super Mario Kart the sole survivor, and even that has gotten stale after how long the game has gone with little to no innovation. It’s time for some new blood, and DeathSprint 66 is what the transfusion needs. The only thing that stinks about the game is waiting to play it again. Until then, you can wishlist the game on Steam, and I recommend that you do.
DeathSprint 66 is due to be released in Q4 for the PC.
