System: Valve Index, HTC Vive & Oculus Rift
Price at Time Of Review: £19.49
Comfort Rating: Red
Genre: Racing
Input: Gamepad, Keyboard & Mouse
Best Playing Position: Sitting
Multi-Player: Yes
Age Rating: PG
VR Shop Score 1/100: 90
Description: Distance is an atmospheric racing platformer. Fusing futuristic arcade racing with parkour, survive a deadly, mysterious, neon-drenched city by jumping, rotating, and flying. The roads are treacherous with obstacles around every corner. Instead of doing laps on a loop, survive to the end in the quickest time. Your car has abilities that not only allow you to drive on the track but upside down and on buildings and walls! You can also fly to discover new shortcuts and paths. Take on the roads alone, or in multiplayer with your friends!
The game is a spiritual successor to the multi-award-winning Nitronic Rush, created by ourselves and 5 others at DigiPen Institute of Technology. It was widely praised for its innovative mechanics, visual style, audio design, and atmosphere.
Review: Let’s get this games biggest issue out of the way first. This game is INCREDIBLY nauseating. I’m not just talking needing your VR legs, I am talking about a game that was clearly not made for VR being played in VR! OK, now that is out of the way let me explain that Distance is a very unconventional racing game and really does have a steep learning curve. But that steep learning curve is not down to bad gameplay, in fact, the gameplay is as tight as they come and feels amazing to play with a Steam controller. It looks amazing, feels incredible to play and has more than enough content to keep you going for weeks and even has an in-game track editor!
While £19.49 (the current asking price) might sound like a lot you not only get a lot of content here, but the multiplayer is still pretty busy and the few times I played it I was able to get straight into an online race. This game isn’t for everyone as it takes time to get used to the controls, but if you commit to this game you will discover its joy and understand what all the fuss is about. If you like racing games and have a stomach of steel this is a must-play.
