Thanks For subscribing and hitting like :) Some strange comments on this video.. 1) ask yourself is this on a par with other 35$ games ? 2) Sure you can have fun with it you can have fun with anything , ask yourself can you not effectively do the same as in this game and many other games to the same degree or more ? Games which came out 15+ years ago and are still active and much cheaper. 3) the video is not saying this should definitely be a combat racer the video is saying the game lacks a hook and is dull and that rockets would at least be something , as would better track design or more cars. LITERALLY ANYTHING to make this stand out in some way. 4) Even if you are then going to say it's pure racing , well then the tracks.are super dull the objectives are super dull , there are tons of pure racing games that do off-road much better , the AI spins you in this repeatedly and is dull to race 5) Apparently you can bind separate pedals but only if acel brake is not bound else where , the UI and button binding on the game you have to admit is worse than games from 20 years ago. Regardless this could have genuinely been a really good game with a bit of game design behind it and some relatively small changes on the grand scheme of games development for a title like this. As an indi demo or 10 game it's fine at $35 it should really offer more. Regardless the foundation is there for them to use this tech for good future projects.
@@lowkiller62 please make that happen I say!! That would be flippin epic and no one has done that before. I mean, doesn’t have to be just 1930’s, but let’s say, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s. With the whole atmosphere of that era, maybe story mode etc.
Please make that happen I say!! Doesn’t have to be just 1930’s. Maybe make it 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s. With the atmosphere from those eras, a story mode, gameplay hardcore sim racing ofc. Man, now that would be something new and different no pun intended
I like that their idea of an alien planet is pretty much the same as Earth terrain and flora, but with maybe a few giant mushrooms or big weird purple shrubs dotted around.
2:39 Of all the problems this has, this is the most bizarre to me. I was so excited to see amazing planets with bizarre atmospherics, gravity, topology, flora and fauna. So far every gameplay video I've seen shows... Earth, with some SciFi decorations. They've explained it away by saying it's an "earth-like planet"; but WHY would you come up with this and then not take advantage of the premise? Absolutely agree with your comments.
If you consider that even N.I.C.E. 2 from 1998 had more depth that this and actual wheel support - and most important the ROCKETS - it shows how much efforst went into this title.
@@6665hitm4k3r I've played a ton of racing games from the 1980s and 1990s, but I have never heard of N.I.C.E. 2. This is coming from someone who played Terminal Velocity and AeroGauge and loved MegaRace on the 3D0. Now I'm going to have to go look that up. Thanks for the suggestion.
Loved Carmageddon!…and version 2 where they had the blood censored, but there was a patch to turn it back to red!….that big yellow dozer was scary when it was on your tail…man Great times, what the hell happened!.. 🫨
Setup moon-gravity in BeamNG and you know why people never were walking on the moon, and most certainly not driving with EV's on it. Or maybe you can code a suspension- and tyre-phyics setup that makes it possible to drive in moon-gravity like in the videos. IMO any vehicle capable on driving on the moon needs to look very different than a car on Earth because this concept with four wheels and a chassis is just made for Earth's gravity. A tank probably works with the weight of a tank.
That was my first thought, GRIP Combat Racing is so much more fun than this one and I really don't see any reason to pick this one up. Played the 2020 version and thought it was a promising demo, but needed to add things to make it actually interesting. Looks like they haven't...
I have put over 100 hours into the original game called Drag by Orontes. We were a small group of like 15 people who regularly drove together online. With a little community this game can be pretty fun.
I'm one of those people (kinda-I religiously attacked the monthly challenges but rarely played multiplayer). I'll be honest, I miss how hard the cars were to drive in DRAG. The current driving model feels too forgiving. I still like the game, though.
I honestly don't like when futuristic racing games have weapons, I really enjoy having a feel of driving, getting the good racing lines, but It's really true the environment work and level design are a bit bland, in a game like this we hope to see more open ended maps, especially when you come up with offroad looking vehicles !
I second that. I play these games on my PS3 and on emulation on PC with 60fps, very cool that this is even possible. It is a shame that Sony closed Evolution Studio, they had phenomenal tech and, yeah, creativity and a strong will to push further with every game. But i am also having much fun with ExoCross. Stumbled over the Drag demo on steam last year (always on the lookout for something like MotorStorm) and i liked it. Bought it when it came out on PS5, knowing that the full game is light on content. The tracks being not overly creative, although well designed in my opinion. I know that ExoCross is not easy to recommend for the price tag it comes with. For me, the handling makes up for the lack of content.
the buggies look cool, the graphics look cool. give it driftier, arcade physics, make the speed higher, add weapon pickups, jumps, splitscreen on pc. then i would be in. blur for example is still one of my favourite games to play with mates on the couch.
I think this more aligned with a top gear 3000 spiritual successor, driving in different planets, collecting fuel and boost on trackside, earning money for car upgrades.
Wow can you imagine if they did it right. We would have the equivalent of Mario Kart but with modern wheels and pedals, semi-decent handling that we could play in our expensive sim rigs with our friends. Add to that VR, and this would be a masterpiece. But alas, we can't have that 😔
I actually like this game. I appreciate that it is just an arcade racing game with good physics. No open world, no weird social or always online mechanics. Now what I think the game needs. I think the cars are too fast. The sense of speed is nice, but it can make your car unruly to handle on these tracks. One small mistake and your flipping through the air. I think the fun part of racing in dirt is sliding around and maneuvering the course. I think this game should position itself more as a dirt, track mania. The courses need jumps and more crazy obstacles to tackle. This game feels like they are touching on something that could be great but are just missing the mark. Perhaps they will update it or make Exocross 2.
Did you ever play it when it was called DRAG? The cars were about a hundred times harder to drive then. Believe it or not, they sharply reduced the difficulty to make it more appealing for the market
'This one feature would fix the game' Then you look at that one feature and it's like 1-2 years dev time to get it working, tested and implemented successfully. I'm not saying it wouldn't make the game better but it's not a small thing to just add. It'd probably be easier to make interesting tracks (e.g. motorstorm) than it would be to add a complete weapon system.
I have worked with people that could get a nice rocket system into a game like this in a way that would be really fun in under 2 weeks ( they could prototype it in a workable way in under 4 days) , especially given all the features that this already has ( respawn system , Damage , Open tracks , Easy handling ) Mind you depends on the engine and the code of the game maybe its super messed up. Actually tracks could end up being way more work than rockets , depending on how complex the tracks were and what you were aiming to do , rockets could work with most the current tracks and systems in the game. Also rockets does not = complete weapons system , a very rudimentary rocket system with a very rudimentary shield mechanic or even no shields could work great and could be prototyped in a very short period of time. Sure simple but well thought out tracks could also be done quickly but ironically the tracks in this have quite a bit of detail in many ways its just way to subtle for this type of game.
@@GamerMuscleVideos I think you're just not factoring everything in. A feature might go through Concept Documentation Engineering UI Art User Research Quality Assurance Localisation Publishing I'm not saying someone can't build it in a fairly short span of time. But build it to the right quality, verify that, build all the systems around it so that the game can sensibly support it? Adjust the AI to use this mechanic and be able to react to it... test the effects of these changes with users, adjust the UI and localise all elements of the UI so that they function across the regions that the game is published. Even just building out the feature is extremely optimistic at 2 weeks work because of the consequences it has on other systems, but beyond that there are a lot of other facets of the pipeline that cause things like this, to take a lot longer than you'd expect. On the other hand, I have also worked on indy projects at gamejams and stuff, and if you said we were making a game with cars and rockets. Sure, I reckon a team of 3 of us could get that working in a few days... but it's really not the same project at all.
Man this is a really well done review and hits perfectly on all the issues that I was wondering about. Also, the Florida bits about rocket launchers and gators had me laughing out loud. The physics and graphics look spot on, but it would have been awesome if the game had more dynamic and really cool sc-fi tracks like in Fast RMX.
For a moment I was scared that this was Exo Rally Championship, another upcoming game about rallying on alien planets, made by the same people that made Exo One. That one looks really promising!
I dunno man, the game feels like a good time trial racer to chill/vibe on. That being said, yes I got this looong ago super cheap, so the ExoCross update was free for me, and I never spent much on it in the first place. Personally I couldn't care less about multiplayer and stuff, rockets & car combat, and whatever. It's a nice little lapping simulator to get some vibes, to chill & relax, and have occasional laughs & giggles at surprisingly complex damage model. The landscapes are gorgeous, the visuals are solid, and the car designs are futuristic enough. It's like some competition is there but it's not banging into my head with pressure and/or too much progression to grind for in order to advance. 'Tis a neat little 'Free play' mode turned into a full game, and I'm happy with that. I'm pretty sure there are lots of people enjoying it that exact way.
For offroad racing they could have just looked at Motorstom, especially Pacific Rift. Much better track design then the flat nothing they have in ExoCross. And about combat racing: take a look at Jak X. Still my most favorite combat racing game I ever played.
I would love a game like Gas Guzzlers with more sim like driving. Very much a missed opportunity with this game. I mean the cars are remotely controlled so any violence lacks teeth and can still be all ages focused. Too bad, it got my interest when announced.
Been wanting something like this, just a simple track arcade racer ( that is not another open world) with some good physics but the serious lack of content and lack of imagination in track design and environments really hurt it, but enjoying the driving. there goes my money though it looked promising.
Personally I'm a huge fan that it's not a battle racer. But I do agree it's bland. I would like to see them focus more on the technical aspect of driving and off-roading specifically. If you play the track of the week or whatever it's called currently, it's a super fun track. It goes off course so it has an off-road sectionand there's jumps that need to be hit properly as well as super tight hair pins. If the tracks were like that I believe the game would be so much more fun.
@GamerMuscleVideos Some sort of futuristic cross cart would be awesome, and pretty easy with what they have. Honestly I thought this was going to be off-road trackmania from Iracing based off what drag was, so I was surprised there was actual racing. I would be super down for that too though
I just tried this, what a missed opportunity. Was expecting on track powerups, some weapons as you mentioned ala Wipeout, ramps and jumps, tracks with various routes - shortcuts etc for you to discover. It is such a plain jane. I didn't even bother with a pad or wheel, just keyboard and still found no challenge at all with it. KERAP.
I don't know how anyone can have this little creative motivation. I would never have the guts to charge $40 for this. There's a solid core. Just give us big jumps, crazy alien environments, weapons, natural disasters to avoid. Like Motorstorm Apocalypse meets Twisted Metal. And don't forget a badass soundtrack. Maybe a mix of modern Doom and Motorstorm Apocalypse. I'm sure tons of us are frothing at the mouth for a game like that. Its literally been done before. 13 years ago. In a game I mentioned twice already. We need more over the top offroad racers.
Yah it's pretty funny how this game could have had 6 months more development with artists purely making 6 nice stages that look different and are interesting, assets could even be licenced not everything would need to be made in house. I get the impression they will do an exo cross 2 and they just wanted to cash in a bit on this specific version.
I hope the purchase means iRacing plan on releasing an off-road racing or rally type game. This looked fun until I realized it was just circuit racing instead of a Dakar type game with giant craters and mushrooms in the way.
I bought this cheaply when it really was just being sold as a tech demo. Could see the potential, really is a shame they weren't able to run with it. It's hilarious that the premise is future cars on alien worlds and you race through... a tree farm. Everyone should check out GRIP if for some reason they haven't yet. Really fantastic game.
The original game had soul, focus was on good physics and baremetal driving. No assists, only your skill keeping you on track and that was the challenge. Getting around the track and not crashing your car while also going as fast as possible was very fun especially with multiplayer.
Name a recent track racing game that's semi realistic with rockets ? Only pure arcade stuff has rockets Ironically rockets would probably work well with this game and it doesn't have it.
Sure, making it into a battle racer would be fun, but even more basically, why is everything so flat? Where are the jumps? With vehicles like that there should be massive hills and tons of crazy airtime. The completely absence of any kind of ambition is baffling to say the least.
i don't know if i've ever seen a game that was so obviously developed by people with zero interest in the subject matter. the absence of any passion or joy or anything that makes gaming/racing great is so glaring it's hard to believe iRacing decided to let it see the light of day, because it only reflects poorly on them.
The map for the track of the week or whatever is extremely fun. Why aren't there more tracks like that? It has really fun jumps, it goes off the track for an off-road section and it has tight hair pins
I remember this game when it had a free demo (or free beta?) and the one thing they advertised the most is that this is the first and currently only game where the wheels' rotation/friction against the ground actually makes the vehicle move and not like all other games with vehicles, especially racing games, where the vehicles move in a simulated manner and the wheels just turn and rotate exactly where and how fast they should at a given turn and speed.
Motorstorm, Split/Second, heck even excite truck. If you can get some good physics and good particle effects you don't need much else to get an exciting off roader game. Even some ramps and a sense of speed would do wonders. But this is the most vanilla racing i have seen in ages
add machine guns and power ups sure could be the best game. a realistic death race game with automated vehicles could be a nice hook. they could add attack, defense, unique nodes for a map. when the car goes over it can activate that option in their prebuilt car. the cars can be drones that change from hover to all terrain. the key part of the game are the match types, i can see capture the flag where a vehicle is the flag and the enemy teams cars have to box it in to capture the flag and the enemy team must do the same when they do capture it. they can have another mode called fetch where you pass a puck to one vehicle to another and you have to cross the goal with it and the enemy can steal the puck. you can pass the puck but the farther the distance the more time it takes to travel and it can be stolen during said travel. if both teams dont get the puck it gets dropped someone further on the track. modes like this can make a game mode fun, they have the mechanics down but the action will drive younger payers in as the competitive nature keeps older people.
You mention it could/should have been a race game with weapons in it and it immediately makes me think back of Rock n Roll Racing from back in the day. That game for me was the best game ever to just have fun and mess around while trying to beat your friends. A game like that with modern day tech could be a huge success if done well but i'm not hopeful.
Watching GM driving in a game that he doesn't recommend while he tells us about a different non-existent game that sounds really good :D They should hire you.
Drivers in Nascar use their cars as rockets so it's not needed. Nascar has actual drivers in the cars , there is actual danger and actual risk so it's exciting. Nascar games if good , again have deep driving mechanics strategy and interesting physics along with 15+car grids safety cars and a ton of other stuff.... Take a guess what this game doesn't have.
@@GamerMuscleVideos it's an arcade racing game not meant to have strategy mechanics etc its like Mario kart or need for speed but with better graphics this game was probably more of a test of there engine before nascar 2025 comes out and new things to come to iracing. If you dont like it that's fine but don't go all out saying they should of add rockets and this and that no one can take you seriously and since you played under 2 hours if you bought it on steam you can get a full refund. Yes it's lacking but it's iracing first game outside of sim racing, asking for rockets is pushing it
i fully agree with you gamer, this would be sick if it also had rollcage type physics, if you remember this game from the ps1, combined with attack and defence mechanics, this game would be absolute fire, and some >>> turbo strips xD
I think the tracks should be more complex, and maybe even more like rally where they arent circuits and use baja/rally notes to help you know whats coming up, and you can have some serious hazards too.
Disagreed as well, you're describing GRIP:Combat Racing. I've always wanted a racing game with realistic physics, not "grounded" to planet Earth yet still purely focused on racing. Purely focused on racing is this game's charm, you can play Subway Surfers 2 on your phone while racing if it's that much of an issue.
@@kennygaming208 Wreckfest is more like destruction derby, and yes grip is good, but felt they made tracks difficult to navigate. Each to his/her own though
@@glenorpheus the buildings were the weapons you used to destroy the other cars. I found it quite fun trying to time all the explosions to hit correctly.
Stunning engine. There's places in that demo where it's getting four colours on screen at once! Brown, green, beige and grey. Truly, we are living in the future. Go look at San Francisco Rush 2049. Colour and spectacle everywhere - flying trams, hidden tracks, loops that cover half the track. That was 25 years ago, you lazy bastards! It had Stunt mode, Battle mode, Race mode, Obstacle mode - this has driving around in a muddy field. Lazy, weak, lame.
They'll just let the modders take it from here. Or they put it out as finished and take all these cool ideas and release it as DLC. Like immersive multi-biome maps, or maybe like a semi-open world combat map/mode reminiscent of Twisted Metal. That's what I wanna see. An Open-World Twisted Metal. It can have infamy, reputation, and cash function as the catalysts for progression via rpg mechanics. It would be perfect with Campaign and MOBA modes with & map DLCs and even running seasons etc. Call it "Ballistic Lightweight Assault Machines" B.L.A.M.
It's a shame, I wanted this to be good but I have to agree that it is pretty dull. My time with the demo killed basically all of my enthusiasm. Good tech, uninteresting game. I really, really want a new MotorStorm game.
Yep, growing up in the ps1 era with Rollcage, wipeout, destruction derby 2, etc...this game is so dull in comparison. Creativity seems to be the hardest thing to implement for the games industry in 2024
ExoCross is definitely super niche. I loved it when it was DRAG because the cars were insanely difficult to drive and putting up good lap times felt like a real accomplishment. The current driving model dumbed the driving down to the point that the game lost its identity. I'm still enjoying it but I want old DRAG back (and don't tell me to turn off the assists; even without the assists the game is still much easier than it used to be).
A nuanced comment, refreshing. I do not like it when people always go to the extremes and put something down overly harsh. I also played DRAG on Steam and while i was really shitty at it, i liked it enough that i bought ExoCross on release date. Got the PS5 version though because that is my preferred platform and i like the controller Sony has put together for PS5. I know what you mean what you say about the original driving model, but leaving it the way it was, would make the game even more niche ... At least that is what i think. Not that it would matter much, saleswise, i fear. I really hope this game has a future with more tracks, more cars, car tuning, especially track width i would find interesting as a first step. Hopefully they botched the release not too hard, given the price tag and the meagre content. I fear it is not an easy sell ...
Also missed an opportunity to make a modern game in the style of Trackmania, with crazy circuits and time trial challenges with jumps, loops, boosts, etc. Hopefully iRacing was more interested in the studio than this game, because they plan to expand into new casual racing games that will work on console.
I think you have been just a little harsh here. It is a bit of fun with pretty good graphics. It's just a game not a sim and not shooting is a good thing.
Harsh pointing out that a $35 game lacks any specific hook and doesn't really do anything different or better from titles that came out 20 years ago ? Harsh for pointing out a little bit better track design , or maybe rockets or maybe anything could have been done to make this into a really stand out title ? I was being mild , this game is a glorified tech demo or at best a nice Indy title that needs some game design behind it. Given it was already basically out 3+ years ago it's a bit off a piss take to then effectively sell the same core thing with some mild window dressing for 35. Has nothing to do with if it's a sim or an arcade game.
I played the demo for this when it was on Steam in its previous guise, I also thought it looked nice but the gameplay was a bit meh and I felt that it would be much improved by weapons or a combat mode. Although that would put it up against Grip: Combat Racing which is still an excellent game.
I played those games ironically they have pretty bad handling , it seems that we can never have nice handling cars and combat at the same time unless its , burnout or Wipeout
Feels like a dead world with dead vehicles. The different planet scape thing should match Ratchet and Clank in terms of diversity. The vehicle list should match Motorstorms diversity. And the game could have action events like Split/Second. Build up your action meter and then send asteroids crashing down onto the track, have volcanos blowing up the track. Have gravity modifiers.
It's a dead world with dead vehicles because of the size of the dev team (two people). This is about as good as you're gonna get with a team that small. I agree that having more variety in the environments and tracks would be great (and hopefully it happens one day) but it's gonna take time for meaningful changes to come down the pike
I agree what you say about a dead world, but the cars look very lively to me. Look at the shock absorbers and how they have to work to keep the tires grounded. Granted, theres no drivers in the vehicles ... And yeah: I too miss a modern iteration of motorstorm. RIP Evolution Studios.
It doesnt even run for me. I was able to time trial for an hour just fine, then after trying one race my game is stuck at under 15 fps irrespective of graphics settings.
To me it gives the vibe of Mario kart, if they added some missile's, and other stuff to be picked and shoot eat others then it would definitely be a Mario kart replica😂😂😂. Forgot the shining speeding lanes
The devs should make multiple planets instead of one, more environments will be better than this Earth-like view And make one look like Geidi Prime in Dune 2. That must be sick.
@@GamerMuscleVideos hope so. I wonder what this game could have been if the old Evolution Studios had control over it to develop it as a new Motorstorm. That series felt great physics wise and looked the part aswell trackwise. Got motorstorm vibes while watching exocross but the latter misses some artistic inspiration. Maybe someday ✌️
Thanks for this. I think this game would be better if the devs took a page out of Nintendo's book of Mario Kart tracks. Yeah, that's what's it's missing.
Thanks For subscribing and hitting like :)
Some strange comments on this video..
1) ask yourself is this on a par with other 35$ games ?
2) Sure you can have fun with it you can have fun with anything , ask yourself can you not effectively do the same as in this game and many other games to the same degree or more ? Games which came out 15+ years ago and are still active and much cheaper.
3) the video is not saying this should definitely be a combat racer the video is saying the game lacks a hook and is dull and that rockets would at least be something , as would better track design or more cars. LITERALLY ANYTHING to make this stand out in some way.
4) Even if you are then going to say it's pure racing , well then the tracks.are super dull the objectives are super dull , there are tons of pure racing games that do off-road much better , the AI spins you in this repeatedly and is dull to race
5) Apparently you can bind separate pedals but only if acel brake is not bound else where , the UI and button binding on the game you have to admit is worse than games from 20 years ago.
Regardless this could have genuinely been a really good game with a bit of game design behind it and some relatively small changes on the grand scheme of games development for a title like this.
As an indi demo or 10 game it's fine at $35 it should really offer more.
Regardless the foundation is there for them to use this tech for good future projects.
i lost it at 1930's racing simulator
@@lowkiller62 please make that happen I say!! That would be flippin epic and no one has done that before. I mean, doesn’t have to be just 1930’s, but let’s say, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s. With the whole atmosphere of that era, maybe story mode etc.
Please make that happen I say!! Doesn’t have to be just 1930’s. Maybe make it 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s. With the atmosphere from those eras, a story mode, gameplay hardcore sim racing ofc. Man, now that would be something new and different no pun intended
I like that their idea of an alien planet is pretty much the same as Earth terrain and flora, but with maybe a few giant mushrooms or big weird purple shrubs dotted around.
2:39 Of all the problems this has, this is the most bizarre to me. I was so excited to see amazing planets with bizarre atmospherics, gravity, topology, flora and fauna. So far every gameplay video I've seen shows... Earth, with some SciFi decorations. They've explained it away by saying it's an "earth-like planet"; but WHY would you come up with this and then not take advantage of the premise?
Absolutely agree with your comments.
+10 points for mentioning Carmageddon, I'm that old too. Epic game that was for it's time.
@@StreetPete O man, the hours I spent on that! It was the reason to buy my first 3dfx card 😏
If you consider that even N.I.C.E. 2 from 1998 had more depth that this and actual wheel support - and most important the ROCKETS - it shows how much efforst went into this title.
@@6665hitm4k3r I've played a ton of racing games from the 1980s and 1990s, but I have never heard of N.I.C.E. 2. This is coming from someone who played Terminal Velocity and AeroGauge and loved MegaRace on the 3D0. Now I'm going to have to go look that up. Thanks for the suggestion.
Loved Carmageddon!…and version 2 where they had the blood censored, but there was a patch to turn it back to red!….that big yellow dozer was scary when it was on your tail…man Great times, what the hell happened!.. 🫨
@@mkilner still got all of them 🤣
Different gravity on different planets would give each place a unique feel and responsiveness!
yea generally speaking I think they should have commited more to the extraterestrial planet kind of thing.
Setup moon-gravity in BeamNG and you know why people never were walking on the moon, and most certainly not driving with EV's on it. Or maybe you can code a suspension- and tyre-phyics setup that makes it possible to drive in moon-gravity like in the videos. IMO any vehicle capable on driving on the moon needs to look very different than a car on Earth because this concept with four wheels and a chassis is just made for Earth's gravity. A tank probably works with the weight of a tank.
Finally an explanation for iracing physics !
@@GamerMuscleVideosThe iRacing-planet is certainly located in another solar-system, possibly galaxy, we aren't aware off.
@@Leynad778we just know it's very cold over there
Rollcage / Rollcage Stage II / Grip: Combat Racing did all the things you mentioned, but better. i loved the original. maybe worth looking at.
First thing I think when I see the cover of the game, rollcage vibes!
@@Esubalol I'm not sure that's really the same subgenre.
That was my first thought, GRIP Combat Racing is so much more fun than this one and I really don't see any reason to pick this one up. Played the 2020 version and thought it was a promising demo, but needed to add things to make it actually interesting. Looks like they haven't...
Remember Motorstorm? All of that stuff, but in this game. Job done. It'd be a banger.
I have put over 100 hours into the original game called Drag by Orontes. We were a small group of like 15 people who regularly drove together online. With a little community this game can be pretty fun.
I'm one of those people (kinda-I religiously attacked the monthly challenges but rarely played multiplayer).
I'll be honest, I miss how hard the cars were to drive in DRAG. The current driving model feels too forgiving. I still like the game, though.
I honestly don't like when futuristic racing games have weapons, I really enjoy having a feel of driving, getting the good racing lines, but It's really true the environment work and level design are a bit bland, in a game like this we hope to see more open ended maps, especially when you come up with offroad looking vehicles !
Another game to add to the *GOLDENAGEOFSIMRACING* , what a time to be alive
That sounds way more boring than you think... or that was your point?
@@CasepbX let gamers enjoy what they enjoy. toxic much.
Just give us another MotorStorm game SONY.
I second that. I play these games on my PS3 and on emulation on PC with 60fps, very cool that this is even possible. It is a shame that Sony closed Evolution Studio, they had phenomenal tech and, yeah, creativity and a strong will to push further with every game. But i am also having much fun with ExoCross. Stumbled over the Drag demo on steam last year (always on the lookout for something like MotorStorm) and i liked it. Bought it when it came out on PS5, knowing that the full game is light on content. The tracks being not overly creative, although well designed in my opinion. I know that ExoCross is not easy to recommend for the price tag it comes with. For me, the handling makes up for the lack of content.
the buggies look cool, the graphics look cool. give it driftier, arcade physics, make the speed higher, add weapon pickups, jumps, splitscreen on pc. then i would be in. blur for example is still one of my favourite games to play with mates on the couch.
35 quid is daylight robbery for this! It's like something from the 90's
Check your eyes bro
Check your brain I'm not talking about graphics... Look at the UI and the game design. Straight out the 90's
Don't insult the 90s
I think this more aligned with a top gear 3000 spiritual successor, driving in different planets, collecting fuel and boost on trackside, earning money for car upgrades.
Wow can you imagine if they did it right. We would have the equivalent of Mario Kart but with modern wheels and pedals, semi-decent handling that we could play in our expensive sim rigs with our friends. Add to that VR, and this would be a masterpiece. But alas, we can't have that 😔
If they added jumps and made rhythm sections like Motocross, it would at least be exciting without rockets
I actually like this game. I appreciate that it is just an arcade racing game with good physics. No open world, no weird social or always online mechanics.
Now what I think the game needs. I think the cars are too fast. The sense of speed is nice, but it can make your car unruly to handle on these tracks. One small mistake and your flipping through the air. I think the fun part of racing in dirt is sliding around and maneuvering the course. I think this game should position itself more as a dirt, track mania. The courses need jumps and more crazy obstacles to tackle.
This game feels like they are touching on something that could be great but are just missing the mark. Perhaps they will update it or make Exocross 2.
Did you ever play it when it was called DRAG? The cars were about a hundred times harder to drive then. Believe it or not, they sharply reduced the difficulty to make it more appealing for the market
@@musume7723 I also played DRAG, so i can confidently say you are 100% right!
'This one feature would fix the game'
Then you look at that one feature and it's like 1-2 years dev time to get it working, tested and implemented successfully.
I'm not saying it wouldn't make the game better but it's not a small thing to just add. It'd probably be easier to make interesting tracks (e.g. motorstorm) than it would be to add a complete weapon system.
I have worked with people that could get a nice rocket system into a game like this in a way that would be really fun in under 2 weeks ( they could prototype it in a workable way in under 4 days) , especially given all the features that this already has ( respawn system , Damage , Open tracks , Easy handling )
Mind you depends on the engine and the code of the game maybe its super messed up.
Actually tracks could end up being way more work than rockets , depending on how complex the tracks were and what you were aiming to do , rockets could work with most the current tracks and systems in the game.
Also rockets does not = complete weapons system , a very rudimentary rocket system with a very rudimentary shield mechanic or even no shields could work great and could be prototyped in a very short period of time.
Sure simple but well thought out tracks could also be done quickly but ironically the tracks in this have quite a bit of detail in many ways its just way to subtle for this type of game.
@@GamerMuscleVideos 2 weeks? Jesus Christ, even for you this is a stretch.
@@GamerMuscleVideos I think you're just not factoring everything in. A feature might go through
Concept
Documentation
Engineering
UI
Art
User Research
Quality Assurance
Localisation
Publishing
I'm not saying someone can't build it in a fairly short span of time. But build it to the right quality, verify that, build all the systems around it so that the game can sensibly support it? Adjust the AI to use this mechanic and be able to react to it... test the effects of these changes with users, adjust the UI and localise all elements of the UI so that they function across the regions that the game is published.
Even just building out the feature is extremely optimistic at 2 weeks work because of the consequences it has on other systems, but beyond that there are a lot of other facets of the pipeline that cause things like this, to take a lot longer than you'd expect.
On the other hand, I have also worked on indy projects at gamejams and stuff, and if you said we were making a game with cars and rockets. Sure, I reckon a team of 3 of us could get that working in a few days... but it's really not the same project at all.
@@Chronospherics "What is wrong with the games industry?"
Your post is a pretty excellent breakdown of exactly what the problem is.
Agreed. People need to remember that Orontes is a tiny studio (2 people iirc). Anything they implement is going to take a lot of time to pull off
Man this is a really well done review and hits perfectly on all the issues that I was wondering about. Also, the Florida bits about rocket launchers and gators had me laughing out loud.
The physics and graphics look spot on, but it would have been awesome if the game had more dynamic and really cool sc-fi tracks like in Fast RMX.
Make a game with offroad buggies… let them race on slightly bumpy racetracks.
I didn't know that alien-planets just look like Earth with humongous mushrooms. Are those pinetrees?
Yes, thanks to a vast network of stargates dotted throughout the galaxy, almost every planet looks like British Columbia!
For a moment I was scared that this was Exo Rally Championship, another upcoming game about rallying on alien planets, made by the same people that made Exo One. That one looks really promising!
Dude I LOVED Exo One. Thanks for mentioning their racing game here, I'm gonna wishlist it now
iRacing's headquarters are over 1300 miles away from Florida.
oh , lol i thought they were in florida
@@GamerMuscleVideos they’re in Massachusetts
@@GamerMuscleVideosMassachusetts is the Florida of New England.
ExoCrossWipeout is what you want. That would be AMAZING.
I dunno man, the game feels like a good time trial racer to chill/vibe on. That being said, yes I got this looong ago super cheap, so the ExoCross update was free for me, and I never spent much on it in the first place.
Personally I couldn't care less about multiplayer and stuff, rockets & car combat, and whatever. It's a nice little lapping simulator to get some vibes, to chill & relax, and have occasional laughs & giggles at surprisingly complex damage model. The landscapes are gorgeous, the visuals are solid, and the car designs are futuristic enough. It's like some competition is there but it's not banging into my head with pressure and/or too much progression to grind for in order to advance. 'Tis a neat little 'Free play' mode turned into a full game, and I'm happy with that. I'm pretty sure there are lots of people enjoying it that exact way.
Redout is a more pure-racing take on Wipeout with crazy alien planets, so it can definitely be done.
For offroad racing they could have just looked at Motorstom, especially Pacific Rift. Much better track design then the flat nothing they have in ExoCross.
And about combat racing: take a look at Jak X. Still my most favorite combat racing game I ever played.
$40 price tag is inexcusable as well
This has just made me want a proper new Motorstorm, those guys nailed it! ... It does look nice though
You just unlocked a memory, Motorstorm on PS2 was better than this shit.
@@hola_chelo Haha! I was originally gonna mention Insane and Insane 2 but im not sure people would even remember that
I would love a game like Gas Guzzlers with more sim like driving. Very much a missed opportunity with this game. I mean the cars are remotely controlled so any violence lacks teeth and can still be all ages focused. Too bad, it got my interest when announced.
Been wanting something like this, just a simple track arcade racer ( that is not another open world) with some good physics but the serious lack of content and lack of imagination in track design and environments really hurt it, but enjoying the driving. there goes my money though it looked promising.
Why do they not have vehicles like this racing in real life? I’d watch that
These vehicles exist in real life i would say ;) Although at a smaller scale. Google RC-Buggy.
Personally I'm a huge fan that it's not a battle racer. But I do agree it's bland. I would like to see them focus more on the technical aspect of driving and off-roading specifically. If you play the track of the week or whatever it's called currently, it's a super fun track. It goes off course so it has an off-road sectionand there's jumps that need to be hit properly as well as super tight hair pins. If the tracks were like that I believe the game would be so much more fun.
Then why not make an actual rally game or an actual cross cart racer or I don't know something actually compelling
@GamerMuscleVideos Some sort of futuristic cross cart would be awesome, and pretty easy with what they have. Honestly I thought this was going to be off-road trackmania from Iracing based off what drag was, so I was surprised there was actual racing. I would be super down for that too though
1. NEEDS MORE CAR CUSTOMIZATION
2. CRASH PARTICLES WHEN CRASHING DOING BAREEL ROLLS OR CARTWHEELS.
I just tried this, what a missed opportunity. Was expecting on track powerups, some weapons as you mentioned ala Wipeout, ramps and jumps, tracks with various routes - shortcuts etc for you to discover. It is such a plain jane. I didn't even bother with a pad or wheel, just keyboard and still found no challenge at all with it.
KERAP.
I don't know how anyone can have this little creative motivation. I would never have the guts to charge $40 for this.
There's a solid core. Just give us big jumps, crazy alien environments, weapons, natural disasters to avoid. Like Motorstorm Apocalypse meets Twisted Metal. And don't forget a badass soundtrack. Maybe a mix of modern Doom and Motorstorm Apocalypse.
I'm sure tons of us are frothing at the mouth for a game like that. Its literally been done before. 13 years ago. In a game I mentioned twice already. We need more over the top offroad racers.
Yah it's pretty funny how this game could have had 6 months more development with artists purely making 6 nice stages that look different and are interesting, assets could even be licenced not everything would need to be made in house.
I get the impression they will do an exo cross 2 and they just wanted to cash in a bit on this specific version.
this just makes me want a new wipeout title with wheel support. wipeout pure and wipeout pulse on psp were absolute bangers
I hope the purchase means iRacing plan on releasing an off-road racing or rally type game. This looked fun until I realized it was just circuit racing instead of a Dakar type game with giant craters and mushrooms in the way.
I bought this cheaply when it really was just being sold as a tech demo. Could see the potential, really is a shame they weren't able to run with it.
It's hilarious that the premise is future cars on alien worlds and you race through... a tree farm.
Everyone should check out GRIP if for some reason they haven't yet. Really fantastic game.
The original game had soul, focus was on good physics and baremetal driving. No assists, only your skill keeping you on track and that was the challenge. Getting around the track and not crashing your car while also going as fast as possible was very fun especially with multiplayer.
It's so refreshing to not have fucking rockets in a futuristic racer. It's just a shame the underlying game is a bit shit
Name a recent track racing game that's semi realistic with rockets ?
Only pure arcade stuff has rockets
Ironically rockets would probably work well with this game and it doesn't have it.
Sure, making it into a battle racer would be fun, but even more basically, why is everything so flat? Where are the jumps? With vehicles like that there should be massive hills and tons of crazy airtime. The completely absence of any kind of ambition is baffling to say the least.
i don't know if i've ever seen a game that was so obviously developed by people with zero interest in the subject matter. the absence of any passion or joy or anything that makes gaming/racing great is so glaring it's hard to believe iRacing decided to let it see the light of day, because it only reflects poorly on them.
The map for the track of the week or whatever is extremely fun. Why aren't there more tracks like that? It has really fun jumps, it goes off the track for an off-road section and it has tight hair pins
I remember this game when it had a free demo (or free beta?) and the one thing they advertised the most is that this is the first and currently only game where the wheels' rotation/friction against the ground actually makes the vehicle move and not like all other games with vehicles, especially racing games, where the vehicles move in a simulated manner and the wheels just turn and rotate exactly where and how fast they should at a given turn and speed.
Motorstorm, Split/Second, heck even excite truck. If you can get some good physics and good particle effects you don't need much else to get an exciting off roader game.
Even some ramps and a sense of speed would do wonders. But this is the most vanilla racing i have seen in ages
Agree. Roll Cage on the ps1 from the late 90s is what this wants to be, but isn't.
add machine guns and power ups sure could be the best game. a realistic death race game with automated vehicles could be a nice hook. they could add attack, defense, unique nodes for a map. when the car goes over it can activate that option in their prebuilt car. the cars can be drones that change from hover to all terrain. the key part of the game are the match types, i can see capture the flag where a vehicle is the flag and the enemy teams cars have to box it in to capture the flag and the enemy team must do the same when they do capture it. they can have another mode called fetch where you pass a puck to one vehicle to another and you have to cross the goal with it and the enemy can steal the puck. you can pass the puck but the farther the distance the more time it takes to travel and it can be stolen during said travel. if both teams dont get the puck it gets dropped someone further on the track. modes like this can make a game mode fun, they have the mechanics down but the action will drive younger payers in as the competitive nature keeps older people.
You mention it could/should have been a race game with weapons in it and it immediately makes me think back of Rock n Roll Racing from back in the day.
That game for me was the best game ever to just have fun and mess around while trying to beat your friends.
A game like that with modern day tech could be a huge success if done well but i'm not hopeful.
Pod is another blast from the past that this game could have drawn inspiration from with level design and general atmosphere.
Watching GM driving in a game that he doesn't recommend while he tells us about a different non-existent game that sounds really good :D They should hire you.
Imagine this guy watching nascar for the first time you know what these cars need rockets on them😂
Drivers in Nascar use their cars as rockets so it's not needed.
Nascar has actual drivers in the cars , there is actual danger and actual risk so it's exciting.
Nascar games if good , again have deep driving mechanics strategy and interesting physics along with 15+car grids safety cars and a ton of other stuff....
Take a guess what this game doesn't have.
@@GamerMuscleVideos it's an arcade racing game not meant to have strategy mechanics etc its like Mario kart or need for speed but with better graphics this game was probably more of a test of there engine before nascar 2025 comes out and new things to come to iracing. If you dont like it that's fine but don't go all out saying they should of add rockets and this and that no one can take you seriously and since you played under 2 hours if you bought it on steam you can get a full refund. Yes it's lacking but it's iracing first game outside of sim racing, asking for rockets is pushing it
i fully agree with you gamer, this would be sick if it also had rollcage type physics, if you remember this game from the ps1, combined with attack and defence mechanics, this game would be absolute fire, and some >>> turbo strips xD
I think the tracks should be more complex, and maybe even more like rally where they arent circuits and use baja/rally notes to help you know whats coming up, and you can have some serious hazards too.
So it is the same as Iracing? No fun to be found 😅 Just play Grip and/or Wreckfest if you want anything like this.
this + Wipeout weapon/boost/shield pads + Jet Moto style levels = win
Disagreed as well, you're describing GRIP:Combat Racing. I've always wanted a racing game with realistic physics, not "grounded" to planet Earth yet still purely focused on racing. Purely focused on racing is this game's charm, you can play Subway Surfers 2 on your phone while racing if it's that much of an issue.
Everybody on the track has whiplash from you constantly ramming into them from behind.
The last good battle racing game was Blur. Shame it never got the attention it deserved, and shame iRacing missed a golden opportunity. 💯👊🏻
Split second came out on the same day and is also amazing
@@neblolthecarnerd I wasn't really a fan of Split second. It was more about blowing up buildings than attacking cars. But each to his/her own.
@@kennygaming208 Wreckfest is more like destruction derby, and yes grip is good, but felt they made tracks difficult to navigate. Each to his/her own though
@@glenorpheus the buildings were the weapons you used to destroy the other cars. I found it quite fun trying to time all the explosions to hit correctly.
I also don't get it, this is just an ultimate "an racing game", there's nothing of value going for it
Stunning engine. There's places in that demo where it's getting four colours on screen at once! Brown, green, beige and grey. Truly, we are living in the future.
Go look at San Francisco Rush 2049. Colour and spectacle everywhere - flying trams, hidden tracks, loops that cover half the track. That was 25 years ago, you lazy bastards! It had Stunt mode, Battle mode, Race mode, Obstacle mode - this has driving around in a muddy field.
Lazy, weak, lame.
Member in Colin Mcrae's rally games where the destruction mechanics where just as good as the handling?
They should have made this into a modern day Stunt Car Racer
Really not sure how many people will have heard of an amiga, let alone owned one.
They'll just let the modders take it from here. Or they put it out as finished and take all these cool ideas and release it as DLC. Like immersive multi-biome maps, or maybe like a semi-open world combat map/mode reminiscent of Twisted Metal. That's what I wanna see. An Open-World Twisted Metal. It can have infamy, reputation, and cash function as the catalysts for progression via rpg mechanics. It would be perfect with Campaign and MOBA modes with & map DLCs and even running seasons etc. Call it "Ballistic Lightweight Assault Machines" B.L.A.M.
Same impression I got. Driving looks decent enough, but, why would I actually want to spend time and money on this?
Maybe If it had some Motorstorm esque element's it could have been a little more interesting, but it just looks boring.
It's a shame, I wanted this to be good but I have to agree that it is pretty dull. My time with the demo killed basically all of my enthusiasm. Good tech, uninteresting game.
I really, really want a new MotorStorm game.
6:23 iRacing are located in Chelmsford, MA.
Yep, growing up in the ps1 era with Rollcage, wipeout, destruction derby 2, etc...this game is so dull in comparison. Creativity seems to be the hardest thing to implement for the games industry in 2024
I feel that creating a track generator for this would turn it into something quite popular.
Basically trackmania but without all the weird glitch and bugs you need to learn
This needed some well designed characters and good music. Even the HUD and menus are boring.
ExoCross is definitely super niche.
I loved it when it was DRAG because the cars were insanely difficult to drive and putting up good lap times felt like a real accomplishment.
The current driving model dumbed the driving down to the point that the game lost its identity. I'm still enjoying it but I want old DRAG back (and don't tell me to turn off the assists; even without the
assists the game is still much easier than it used to be).
A nuanced comment, refreshing. I do not like it when people always go to the extremes and put something down overly harsh.
I also played DRAG on Steam and while i was really shitty at it, i liked it enough that i bought ExoCross on release date. Got the PS5 version though because that is my preferred platform and i like the controller Sony has put together for PS5. I know what you mean what you say about the original driving model, but leaving it the way it was, would make the game even more niche ... At least that is what i think. Not that it would matter much, saleswise, i fear. I really hope this game has a future with more tracks, more cars, car tuning, especially track width i would find interesting as a first step.
Hopefully they botched the release not too hard, given the price tag and the meagre content. I fear it is not an easy sell ...
Thats some shocking driving
yup, weapons are under-rated, wipeout which had weapons was one of the most addictive games I ever played.
Also missed an opportunity to make a modern game in the style of Trackmania, with crazy circuits and time trial challenges with jumps, loops, boosts, etc.
Hopefully iRacing was more interested in the studio than this game, because they plan to expand into new casual racing games that will work on console.
...is it just me or is iRacing turning into the new MotorsportsGames?
I think you have been just a little harsh here. It is a bit of fun with pretty good graphics. It's just a game not a sim and not shooting is a good thing.
Harsh pointing out that a $35 game lacks any specific hook and doesn't really do anything different or better from titles that came out 20 years ago ?
Harsh for pointing out a little bit better track design , or maybe rockets or maybe anything could have been done to make this into a really stand out title ?
I was being mild , this game is a glorified tech demo or at best a nice Indy title that needs some game design behind it.
Given it was already basically out 3+ years ago it's a bit off a piss take to then effectively sell the same core thing with some mild window dressing for 35.
Has nothing to do with if it's a sim or an arcade game.
Yeah I agree. The idea could have been something exciting, but no no no.
I played the demo for this when it was on Steam in its previous guise, I also thought it looked nice but the gameplay was a bit meh and I felt that it would be much improved by weapons or a combat mode. Although that would put it up against Grip: Combat Racing which is still an excellent game.
Dude, can you play in split screen?
The handling reminds me of DeathKarz. I think battle mechanics would work here.
I'd like to see a 2024 revamp of demolition derby with decent FFB
I tried the demo and was sooo bored lol. A Motorstorm boost mechanic would make this game WAY more fun.
Better off playing GRIP Combat Racing. It's less realistic but it's way more fun and what you explained in 4:26
I played those games ironically they have pretty bad handling , it seems that we can never have nice handling cars and combat at the same time unless its , burnout or Wipeout
Racing game set on alien world with our planets architecture
Feels like a dead world with dead vehicles. The different planet scape thing should match Ratchet and Clank in terms of diversity. The vehicle list should match Motorstorms diversity. And the game could have action events like Split/Second. Build up your action meter and then send asteroids crashing down onto the track, have volcanos blowing up the track. Have gravity modifiers.
It's a dead world with dead vehicles because of the size of the dev team (two people). This is about as good as you're gonna get with a team that small.
I agree that having more variety in the environments and tracks would be great (and hopefully it happens one day) but it's gonna take time for meaningful changes to come down the pike
I agree what you say about a dead world, but the cars look very lively to me. Look at the shock absorbers and how they have to work to keep the tires grounded. Granted, theres no drivers in the vehicles ... And yeah: I too miss a modern iteration of motorstorm. RIP Evolution Studios.
Please don’t have them turn this into a battle racing game. I’ve been enjoying this game for a while as just a nice relaxed time trial simulator.
It doesnt even run for me. I was able to time trial for an hour just fine, then after trying one race my game is stuck at under 15 fps irrespective of graphics settings.
Thanks for your honest review :)
I think IRacing tyre model fit perfectly for this :D
To me it gives the vibe of Mario kart, if they added some missile's, and other stuff to be picked and shoot eat others then it would definitely be a Mario kart replica😂😂😂. Forgot the shining speeding lanes
They could have had some real fun with different gravity, different atmospheres etc
I like the game. It's about hitting your marks consistently aka... SIM Racing...
My god the environment looks like a mid-tier low-budget indie steam game
I think this game coulda been cool as an explorer/ semi open world game like atv offroad fury.
The devs should make multiple planets instead of one, more environments will be better than this Earth-like view
And make one look like Geidi Prime in Dune 2. That must be sick.
They prob want to but they don't have the resources to do it
Creating a sim requires nerds. Creating an arcade racer requires artists.
@@vennemans9113 sim devs are also artists , I think things just have to come together and for multiple reasons this game has no.
@@GamerMuscleVideos hope so.
I wonder what this game could have been if the old Evolution Studios had control over it to develop it as a new Motorstorm. That series felt great physics wise and looked the part aswell trackwise.
Got motorstorm vibes while watching exocross but the latter misses some artistic inspiration. Maybe someday ✌️
I’d definitely of purchased it if it had some sort of weapons
Thanks for this. I think this game would be better if the devs took a page out of Nintendo's book of Mario Kart tracks. Yeah, that's what's it's missing.
There are almost no platforms for jumping, no shortcuts in a game based on off road vehicles... It's completely nonsense, just why? 🤷
@@achilleconte4385 Forza Horizon games are so much better that this ExoCross
@@kennygaming208 I'll do it. Luckily I've bought it for 7$ as Drag during Steam Summer Sales.
Also the "alien world" looks a lot like Russia in this video
Jumps and better tracks. Would be sick