Racing Bros is one of the few free racing games that exists and maybe the only free racing game in the Playstation store. Does that mean it is worth a try? Racing Bros has turned into a kind of meme game. Most aspects of this game are kind of terrible, but in a very entertaining way, which doesn't make it so easy to rate.
There are a couple of different maps and modes available, which range from classic races, to Cops vs Thieves (Mafia) Chases, Downhill Falling contests and modes, in which you have to destroy your opponents. In some you are even piloting a spaceship or a boat instead of a car. The spaceships however control exactly the same as the cars and the boat levels are rather boring and bland, but at least the variety of modes got slightly enhanced. One of the strengths of Racing Bros is the fact, that all races can also be played in 2-4 player offline splitscreen races. Unfortunately there is no online multiplayer available, which is a big wasted opportunity. Regardless of the amount human players, all races also feature a couple of Bots, which drive weirdly around the maps and constantly bump into each other and yourself. There is indeed a lot of mayhem, or let's better call it chaotic nonsense, going on.
The biggest problems of Racing Bros however are the gameplay and driving physics, the visuals, as well as the many Bugs. Your car is going to flip really soon and sometimes apparently random, which can indeed look quite funny, but is certainly not well executed gameplay. The driving controls are very imprecise and the collision detection just feels off. The cars will bounce more allover the place instead of actually driving somewhere. Overall I found the driving in the game to feel rather horrible, which is kind of a big negative for a racing game. It is certainly chaotic, but despite its inherent potential for amusement, I can't say I enjoyed the races too much after a couple of minutes. Playing with friends might entertain you for a little longer, but it can't hide the many gameplay flaws either.
The visuals in Racing Bros are also very underwhelming. If this was a PS2 game, I would ask myself what went wrong in the development. I don't know which visual engine was being used, but all the environments look so bland and empty. There are no details on anything, including the vehicles, and most environmental elements like buildings and trees repeat over and over again, without alternation. The Racing Bros maps remind me of some sketches early in development, but not of finished products. Low budget, free game or not, this flaws could not be excused for a PS3 game and certainly not for a PS4 game.
Racing Bros as previously mentioned also has many glitches. That you can already start driving a couple of seconds before the starting countdown reaches 0 is rather entertaining, but getting permanently stuck in the environment, or being unable to see anything, because the camera is glitching around, is not. At least the winning music is rather good in Racing Bros. I guess that's something???
What I am quite unsure about is how the game finances itself. The PS4 version is free and there is no additional purchasable gameplay or cosmetic content. Maybe the game simply had a very small budget? There is however also a PS5 version of the game, that doesn't look noticeably better than the PS4 version, but costs nearly 10 Euro/Dollar. It does have trophy support, which the PS4 version lacks, but no additional content. Whether this "upgrade" is worth it, can be doubted. The PS4 version of the game released in 2020, the PS5 port in 2021 and maybe there will be a PC port in late 2022. Every couple of months there are some small content updates being released, which is commendable. That being said I have no idea why they keep developing new content for this game, instead of fixing the noticeable issues with the game or releasing a different, better project instead.
Pro:
+ 2-4 player splitscreen races
+ Meme aspects can be funny for a while
Contra:
- Bad driving gameplay
- Horrible physics and collision detection
- Ugly visuals
- Too many glitches
- No online races
Result:
Racing Bros is obviously just a Meme game and at least some people celebrate it for that, but I unfortunately can't join their praises. Goat Simulator for example is also a Meme game, but that one actually got at least halfway decent gameplay to back its jokes up. The game modes in Racing Bros aren't anything special, which you couldn't have seen in any PS1 game as well, and the gameplay is for the most part just plain bad. The glitches and countless flips and crashes in Racing Bros are not funny, but just annoying. Some will say Racing Bros is so bad, it has already become good again. I unfortunately however believe it is for the most part just bad.
3.5/10
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