Xenon Racer

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 14
  3. Negative: 1 out of 14
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  1. Push Square
    Apr 1, 2019
    40
    Xenon Racer isn't a terrible racing game, but in order to enjoy it you need to overlook the game's atrocious handling, horrible difficulty spikes, and general mediocrity. Not having big ambitions is fine for a game as long as it's fun, but developer 3D Clouds is wide of the mark on both counts.

Awards & Rankings

46
#46 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

User Reviews

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User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 30 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 30
  3. Negative: 11 out of 30
  1. arcadegamer
    Mar 26, 2019
    6
    Currently a very unforgiving trackmania without all the fun.
    Waited a lot for this and it was a disappointment. There is definitely potential    Currently a very unforgiving trackmania without all the fun.
    Waited a lot for this and it was a disappointment. There is definitely potential for a great racing game but it's far from being fully finished. Graphics detail is bit dated but ok for racing, only if it would run with high fps on standard ps4. It gets seriously laggy-blurry on some tracks on high vehicle speeds. The career mode is surprisingly difficult but once you "get it" it becomes not that frustrating, finishing some really difficult events was really rewarding but also frustrating as hell.
    And what mostly makes it so frustrating is the trackmania -style controls that are implemented horribly; it's clunky and unresponsive, at times there's such a delay to make that tight turn, you have to memorize the whole tracks in order to steer at right times ahead, because driving only according the visual input is just impossible due fps drop and control delay. Sometimes the car won't start drifting even if the correct key sequence is definitely pressed at right time.
    Changing difficult only affects the AI drivers not the unforgiving time limits on timeout events. Loading times are long and very frustrating, especially when trying to complete timeout event where even a small fault will require restart, and every restart takes a minute to load, when in trackmania the grind was more fun as race restart was instant.
    Announcer voice is horribly annoying, it insults you when you reach a checkpoint less that one second late. Music is kinda ok, fast 90's electronic music. Track design is fine but the directions of curve signs are sometimes hard to make out from other surrounding textures, or are too much of a pixel mess from far away.
    I hope this game gets updated and developed further, because underneath all the bugs there lies a potential for a great arcade racing classic, similar in rewarding skill improvement to Wipeout and Trackmania.    … Full Review »
  2. Doomtroid
    Sep 1, 2019
    8
    As a huge fan a long time player of high speed racing games, I truly do not understand why this game gets so much hate. If you're not bad atAs a huge fan a long time player of high speed racing games, I truly do not understand why this game gets so much hate. If you're not bad at video games like SOME reviewers, the game isn't clunky or hard to control at all, and you'll actually find that the steering and drifting are quite smooth. The tracks are basic, but fun enough that it doesn't matter because you'll be more focused on having fun racing. The car look extremely cool, with fairly in depth customization and lots of color options. So in my personal opinion, if you're a fan of racing games and aren't going to complain the moment things aren't baby easy, I definitely recommend picking this game up… Full Review »
  3. SebbyPlaysMusic
    Jul 28, 2020
    8
    I feel really bad for whoever is playing the Switch version, as that is very clearly affecting the score ratio for what is otherwise a fairlyI feel really bad for whoever is playing the Switch version, as that is very clearly affecting the score ratio for what is otherwise a fairly enjoyable game.

    I actually got this game for $3.99 on sale on the PSN, and based on the first three championships, I'd say this game is easily worth much more than that. This kind of mimics the experience I had buying XGIII for the same price when I was a teenager; A surprisingly good game for a surprisingly cheap purchase. I wouldn't recommend picking up on the PSN at full price, though, as the hard copy is $20 compared to $40 on the PSN.

    I could do a pros and cons list, but honestly this game is pretty straightforward; It's all about drifting.
    The game operates on a dynamic of building up turbo boosts from drifting, which keeps the pace engaging and gets me trying really hard, making brash moves to push myself to catch up if I'm behind.

    As of writing this review, the PS4 version has been patched up multiple times with added vehicles and tracks, as well as some very notable differences from what I read in the other user reviews on here. Actually...

    I haven't had any issues with controller responsiveness other than maybe once or twice it didn't catch when I tried changing directions on a drift (which I adjusted my technique to consistently avoid after not long). Personally, I had zero issues getting used to turning in this game, given all racing games take a little adjustment to get used to tight turns on a track.

    I haven't noticed a bad frame rate, I can definitely see the turn indicators on the track, and you constantly have a mini-map in the corner to confirm your distance from where you should start drifting.

    I barely noticed the announcer's voice. He'll literally say like 1-3 words maybe a quarter-to-half of the time you pass someone out or hit something.

    Very random, but the Italian accent that only comes up when you win is kind of funny to me. ^.^;

    If the other reviews were actually accurate, they definitely listened and fixed it, as far as I can tell.

    I only have two particular complaints: 1. The time-out challenges can be unforgiving on the first marker.
    2. The enemy AI occasionally sabotages you if you're not careful. It can get ridiculous, but it only happens a small fraction of the time.

    So overall, would recommend, especially considering how the developers aren't exactly giants in the industry.

    Follow-up edit: Beat the main game after 4 days.
    I really have to admit that reading the professional reviews has me convinced none of these people actually know how the controls work. x.x It's not hard!
    Instructions for you all: Hit the gas. On an average turn, tap R2 and control your drift, which is adjustable in the garage, along with all sorts of other typical variables like handling, acceleration, etc... The only time you really need to lay off the gas is on tight turns. If you start and stop, THAT is why it seems difficult, as you can DEFINITELY maintain your speed around corners if you execute a mix of the normal slide (tap R2) and the handbrake (tap X repeatedly/as necessary to adjust while minimizing speed loss.) Then there's a boost button... that's it! Obviously if someone can't turn at the right moment and ram their car into a wall over and over again, it'd be pretty cheap to not penalize them for that, because you're not supposed to keep hitting the wall! Obviously!
    I have not once had my car reach max damage more than once in a race.
    You folks really need to try harder. -.-    … Full Review »
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