Gas Guzzlers Extreme (PC) Review

 Gas Guzzlers Extreme revs the engines and loads a few rounds in the chamber for a car combat title that’s fun but extremely familiar.

The racing game genres is one of the oldest in video games. Ever since the creation of Gran Trak 10, gamers of all ages have enjoyed getting in front of the hypothetical steering wheel and driving around at breakneck speeds. Maybe it’s all the restrictions we find in our daily driving habits which makes these games so appealing, or the fact that most of us would never dare go over 60 miles an hour. Whatever the case may be, racing games will continue to be a part of our libraries for time to come no matter what shape the vehicles themselves take.

One such instance was the recently released title Gas Guzzlers Extreme. Of course the ‘Extreme’ found in the title means that the game takes much more chances than anything else out there, Forza and Grand Turismo included. This is the first title from Gamepires too and seems like a very strange step for a new developer, considering what’s come before in the genre. Nonetheless it shows they are ambitious and daring… and dare I say, extreme?

This is not only a racing game though and is instead called by the creator, a car combat sim. It most closely resembles the Twisted Metals of yore, but focusing on racing more than the actual combat. The game takes a more realistic approach to the genre that Sony’s former behemoth though, and centers on somewhat believable combat and car models instead of the TM method of basically driving a massive gun. The actual driving control is fairly typical for a PC game, which means it makes more sense to use a gamepad for maximum precision. The keyboard works, but lacks the fine tuning you can get out of a controller.

The racing takes place on large tracks with barriers far off the road, which is pretty nice especially when you wipe out from an enemy’s weapon. The weapons include the usual minigun, rocket launcher, and shotgun with upgrades which can be bought with race money. There are also upgrades strewn across the track which give you small buffs like shields or more nitro. This isn’t a terribly elaborate game and instead focuses on doing things correctly instead of trying to venture out into the unknown. It’s not even possible to “kill” an enemy, instead a weapon just does damage to their car model and spawns them a bit behind you.

The game is graphically nice if that’s your thing. Car models and the environment look great even though the settings end up being as creative as “Desert” and “City.” The sounds could be better but what do you expect from a game which has guns on top of cars? Half the time you only listen to the monotone purr of the engines.

Final Thoughts

This was a fun and exciting game which delivers exactly what you expect from it and nothing more. This is based on racing with weapons slapped on top almost as a second thought. That doesn’t mean the shooting mechanics are bad, but they lack the originality that would blow players away from the AAA combat/racing games people are so fond of.

If you want a few hours of goofing around, then this is your type of game. Just don’t expect this to be very realistic… or original.