Freebie Feelers... Truck Racer

Freebie Feelers is a series where we download the free monthly console-specific or newly released free-to-play games to test their worth.This series will contain some useful information as well as plenty of personal opinion. While these articles may not be reviews, we hope that you will be able to use them to help decide whether that free download is worth it.

What is it?

Have you ever wanted to be behind the wheel of five tons of metal and power? If yes then say hello to Truck Racer, a racing game where you drive, drift and ram your way to victory in this power filled racing title. Featuring a number of different trucks with over 50 different upgrades, 10 different environments and 48 tracks there is a lot to take in before you jump into the driving seat. Including both online and local multiplayer with truck destruction that impacts your performance and the health of your truck, Truck Racer has a lot of promise packed into its small download size.

What did you think?

Truck Racer is an interesting little title. If you are expecting to find a racing game like Mario Kart then you will be deeply disappointed but as it stands, it’s not a bad title. There are a number of different modes you can take your truck into and with local multiplayer you have some extra life to be found within this title. As for the racing itself there is a small learning curve to get around as you need to understand how to handle your 100mph box of metal around a track. Not only that but drifting is key to winning here as by doing these you will fill up your boost bar which allows you to have a small speed increase to help overtake other racers.

What is by far the most impressive feature of Truck Racer is the realistic and localised damage system that heavily impacts your trucks. You will find a health bar for your engine at the bottom right of the screen and every hit, small or large, will take from this bar. The more it drops and the more of your truck is lost to the wind, then the harder your truck will be to control. Speed, handling and even turning can be affected by the damage meaning you need to watch yourself out there on the track. That said though, a well placed hit on another racer can see them worse off than yourself so there is some use to crashing into your fellow racers. Besides that though, every race plays out the same and there comes a point where you have seen everything and won’t find anything new to experience.

Is it worth downloading?

The PlayStation 3 lineup for PlayStation Plus is a bit hit and miss but as far as racing titles go Truck Racer is by no means a bad title. It isn’t a standout racing game but it has some charm to it that allows it to be worth a download. Don’t expect to find countless hours of playtime here but with the damage system and local multiplayer there is fun to be had.

Truck Racer is available now as part of the PlayStation Plus lineup for September, 2017.