My Gamescom highlight was DeathSprint 66, a fast, fluid foot racing game that’s like The Running Man meets Mario Kart.
When I play DeathSprint 66, I’m no longer in a small demo room hidden in a hall at the Koelnmesse exhibition center at Gamescom. Instead, I’m transported to a dystopian game show where I run on foot across a track that’s hellbent on killing me. Laser traps of all shapes and sizes threaten to cut me into a thousand pieces if I make a wrong turn, while I also have to contend with menacing, whirling blades protruding from the walls and rival bot racers that aren’t afraid to shove me.
I get into a flow state as I try to survive, drifting around tight corners, hitting Surge to accelerate, and paying attention to the direction of traps as I wall-run and launch myself to a higher track. When I land on a railing with a well-timed jump and glide over it, avoiding multiple traps in a row, I get a sense of satisfaction. The fluid, fast pace of the race, coupled with the chaos swirling on the screen, keeps me constantly on my toes. I’m so intent on reaching the finish line that I even find myself leaning in my seat to mirror the direction of each twist and turn of the race.
All goes well until another game show contestant hurls me into a series of lasers and I unceremoniously explode. But this isn’t the first time I’ve died, and it certainly won’t be the last. I’m quickly back in the race, gliding, sliding and swinging across rails, walls and alleyways again, and my flow doesn’t break for a moment. I’m immediately impressed by how fluid and responsive the controls are, and it doesn’t take long to realize that I haven’t had this much fun playing a competitive racing game since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
I can’t remember the last time I clicked so quickly in a game, but Deathsprint 66 is one of the biggest highlights of my Gamescom experience this year and, for me personally, one of the best surprises.
Fast and Furious
I’ve lost count of the hours I’ve spent playing Mario Kart 8 over the past few years. Although I play against my sister regularly, nothing comes close to replacing Nintendo’s competitive racing game. But DeathSprint 66 offers a similarly satisfying brand of mayhem to Mario Kart – albeit with its own dystopian twist – and I can already see myself playing it again and again. Perhaps the comparison shouldn’t be so surprising – when I say it reminds me of Deathrace 2000 without cars, game director Andrew Willans compares DeathSprint to “The Running Man meets Mario Kart.”
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Similar to the item boxes you can ram in Mario Kart, for example, DeathSprint 66 features its own item markers that randomly give you one of several useful tools against other racers. Because reaching the finish line isn’t all that matters in Sumo Newcastle’s racing game – causing more chaos and sprinting through the track in style will please the crowd. From throwing a giant circular sawblade to chop everyone in front of you to pieces, to activating a shield that makes you invulnerable to laser traps for a short time, using one of these traps at the right moment can make all the difference.
DeathSprint also features several different tracks and events in various PvP and PvE formats. I get to try out a selection of PvE modes, aptly called “episodes” to feed into the game show that’s being set up during my demo session. I start with “Killing Time,” a timed challenge where I start with 15 seconds on the clock. I have to race my way around the track to rush through rings that will give me more precious seconds. Of course, traps get in my way, and if I catch one too many, my head suddenly explodes when my time runs out.
More chaos ensues in a hardcore Death Race called “Five Lives,” where I have five clone racers—five chances—to make it to the finish line. It’s certainly not easy with so many traps lurking around every corner, but I can feel myself grabbing hold again and being swept off the track. But things really get exciting when I get into “Bloodbath Sprints.” Willans introduces me to the mode by foreshadowing that I’m “going to die a lot, and that’s absolutely fine,” and as I soon discover, he’s not wrong. Since I’m racing against seven other bot players, the track is teeming with deadly traps and unexpected surprises around every corner. With the other racers also firing items and pushing me off the track, every leg of the race that I stay alive feels like an achievement.
Finding my flow
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Willans tells me he’s always been a snowboarding fan and wanted to create an experience that helps players find the satisfying flow state that can bring. DeathSprint 66 definitely delivers on its promise in that regard. I once again find my flow when I’m drawn into the chaos of Bloodbath’s episodes, and I often lose all sense of time and place because I’m having so much fun during my session.
As I switch between modes, I see some announcements on the screen from a fictional in-game news channel, Bachman Media Network. Through the “BBC News-like banners,” as Willans puts it, we learn more about the backstory of DeathSprint 66 and the futuristic world in which this bloodthirsty show is set. The network’s name is even a playful nod to its inspiration, with Willans pointing out that Bachman is the pseudonym Stephen King used when the book The Running Man was first published.
I’ve had something of a love affair with some of the best racing games since I was a kid. From Sega’s Out Run to Super Mario Kart on the SNES (and all that followed), I have many fond memories of games like Crazy Taxi, Simpsons Hit and Run, and Midtown Madness 3. Then later in life, I fell head over heels in love with the Forza Horizon series, but until now, I’ve never played an on-foot racing experience like DeathSprint 66. I’m surprised by how well it works without vehicles in the picture, and how much fun I have with it. It’s fast, chaotic, and incredibly satisfying to play, and when my demo is over, all I want to do is read more episodes. Thankfully, I won’t have to wait long to get back into my flow, with the September 12 release date looming.
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