My general feeling on racing games is that if I have to brake, I’m not interested. I realise this doesn’t exactly comply in real life, but then I’d rather drive an actual car than a simulation. Yet cartoon fantasy racing? Drifting? Looping courses? Banana throwing? I’m in.
Resistor certainly fits the bill, and then some. At least, minus the bananas.
You see, this isn’t just a racing game but a CaRPG with the aim of bringing back fun to the genre. Not only will players be driving high speed cars, they’ll be exploring a cartoonish open world, engaging in a choice-based narrative, and heavily customising their character and vehicle. It’s incredibly ambitious.
Speaking to lead designer Violet McVinnie at Gamescom, it’s clear where the inspiration for the game has come from. McVinnie used to work for both BioWare, on the Mass Effect series, and Codemasters, known for its driving games. Resister, then, is Burnout meets Mass Effect.
McVinnie talked me through the main elements of the game in detail.
First up, the racing. Resistor isn’t about tournaments or racing to first place. This is a speedy stunt racer, with takedowns, drifts and flips. Players can race up ramps and corkscrew their vehicles for maximum style points, used as a currency to reward spectacular racing, maintaining momentum, and completing Tony Hawk style challenges along the way.