Antigraviator Review

By Marcus Jones  |  Posted: June 18, 2018

Admittedly, I haven't played a racing game in quite some time. However, I do have some very fond memories of specific titles, especially from the 90s. Antigraviator feels like a mixture of classic titles Extreme G and F-Zero with some modern flair. It's fast-paced, hectic, and takes your attention to stay on top.

The game is structured like most arcade-style racing games. The campaign mode has you load up, pick your race difficulty challenge, and then it's a series of four matches to see where you end up in the rankings. However, that's where most of the similarities end. Antigraviator offers a variety of race types including death races and countdowns. While there isn't a ton of explanation that goes into the different modes, death race is a last racer standing scenario and countdown is a checkpoint based race. At the end of four races, you're awarded currency that's used to either enter the next set of tracks or can be spent on modifying your ride. Additionally to the campaign, there are quick races available against AI and local play. Much like the campaign mentioned above races, death races and countdowns are available in quick play as well. For those looking for a more significant challenge can take their skills online and play in ranked play to gain (or lose) ELO which is essentially a form of ranking "currency." The more you have, the better you are at winning.

Modifying your ride is a crucial detail to successfully winning in later stages. In total, there are four categories available for modification: grav, wing, transmission, and (armor) plating. They all aesthetically change your vehicle's appearance, but the grav itself is the biggest since that's the model you're actually flying. It's neat to mix and match, but getting the advanced pieces is required to win with the tough opponents out there. They aren't cheap either, but with eight different racing series to participate in and HUGELY ramping winning pots, it's doable to upgrade quickly. Aside from the actual dynamics of your ride, there are several paints and appearances available. Some cost money, but if you're winning what does it matter?

One thing I do enjoy about Antigraviator is that it removes the weapons from the game. There are power-ups to collect on the tracks that provide additional fuel boost or fuel to lay out traps, but there are no actual weapons like missiles to fire at the other racers. The traps, however, are a different story. Around the map are trigger points where you'll quickly see a flashing icon, and you have to press the trap button before it's too late or someone else triggers it. From there, it can be a variety of different pop-ups all meant to take you and others out. Some maps throw out large, building block-type obstacles, some launch missiles after you, while another sends an alien ship down to the track to incinerate you.

The game offers full 60fps but demands a beefy rig to run it with a GTX 1060 at the least (I'm still running an old GTX 980). However, the game is fantastically beautiful even if it can be a bit tough to see the scenery. A lot is going on around the screen, but the game's environments and maps are diversified enough to give plenty of variety. It's just hard to fully appreciate them when you're always trying to either not scrap yourself off the wall, your opponents, or dodge the traps set by other racers.

Simply Put

Having tried the game with both a controller and keyboard, I do recommend using a gamepad. It makes the game that much more enjoyable. That being said, this is an arcade-style racing game. It's got some definite good points, and it's insanely fast for those that want speed, but I'm more concerned about replayability. I know there's an online component, but I did not have much luck in finding matches. I'm hoping that the online community picks up, as the game isn't bad by any means. I am just concerned that it's easy to run out of things to do once you beaten the single-player modes and fully upgraded your vehicle.