Screamer (PS5) Review: Anime-Inspired Racing Game Is Rewarding Fun

Italian developer Milestone is well known to many racing game fans for its simulation titles, such as MotoGP, Monster Energy Supercross, and the old WRC games. However, we’ve seen the studio dabble outside simulation lately, with solid arcade games like Hot Wheels Unleashed. Now comes the studio’s most ambitious title to date, Screamer, which is an anime-influenced racing game with a unique look, a full-on story mode, and a lot of interesting ideas.

Screamer’s gameplay depth is slowly doled out during its story mode, which allows players to really enjoy the basics first. From the unique choice of making the drifting mechanic tied to the right analog stick (allowing you to steer separately with the left stick) to a fun shifting mechanic that allows you to rely on rumble feedback to know when to shift, there’s a really solid and fun racing game at its core before its more arcadey gimmicks are introduced.

First off, a new technology called Echo allows racers to survive crashes and return to races (essentially a respawn mechanic). There are also two gauges that build during races, allowing you to trigger speed boosts (and you can get a longer-lasting one if you time it just right), shield your vehicle from opponents, and strike into enemies with the intent of causing their cars to explode. Finally, there’s a massive boost called overdrive that will take all of your energy but will destroy any vehicle you touch or yourself if you collide into a barrier, so use it wisely. All of these fun systems interact with each other really well, and it makes Screamer a really rewarding game to play.

However, there definitely is a learning curve to Screamer, and that’s where the main story mode comes in. Clearly inspired by anime, the mode features fully voiced cutscenes and interactions from an international cast and has an intriguing, mysterious death tale at its center as different groups of racers take part in a tournament looking for answers and revenge. The production value is really strong, and I was impressed with Milestone’s storytelling ability, given that the studio generally sticks to simulations.

If there’s one complaint to be had with the tournament mode, it is the difficulty. Even on lower difficulty settings, it is oddly hard to complete some missions despite the arcade mode having much easier opponents for you to race when you’re first learning the ropes. If this mode is meant to introduce mechanics (and unlock plenty of extra content), then it should have a better difficulty ramp.

Difficulty quibbles aside, the mode wound up being my favorite part of Screamer, as it introduces the different characters and their special abilities quite well. There are plenty of other racing modes that are more traditional, such as team races, checkpoint trials, time attacks, and a fun overdrive challenge where it’s on from the start and you try to survive for as long as you can. There’s also online and split-screen play, so this will have a lot of staying power.

Screamer (PS5) Review: Final Verdict

Screamer is a refreshing racing game from an incredibly reliable studio. Milestone has taken a chance to do something different, and it has paid off as the anime-influenced story mode is a blast and the game looks fantastic. Playing just as impressively as its visuals, racing fans looking for something new will want to check this out.