Vector 36 is a racing game that's quite unusual, as you're piloting a Skimmer across the surface of Mars.
Vector 36 is Physics-Based Racer set on the terraformed surface of Mars. You pilot a Skimmer, a completely customizable, surface skimming vehicle. With total control over every component, you are responsible for how your Skimmer performs. Piloting skill and engineering make the difference between winning and losing.
It just got a lot more interesting too, as the latest update has enabled full online play. Not only that, the speed of the game has been boosted by "x1.5" so it should feel a lot more exciting.
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I love the idea of the game, however the interface for it is pretty ugly and that's being kind to it. However, the actual racing is surprisingly good and it's quite a challenge too. This is not some basic arcade racing game, there is a learning curve you need to get over and there's an interesting amount of physics simulation going on. You need to manage thrust, lift, watch out for damage, fires can happen and more.
If you like your racing games to be a little more unusual and unique, you can try it on Steam during the Free Weekend for another two days. It's also on sale, with 40% off.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
The tutorial could use some polish. I'd prefer if the game paused completely when showing the required tutorial steps instead of slowing down, since it's already challenging to control a vehicle where the trajectory doesn't immediately change when you turn it (and the slow-mo makes it hard to tell if you're turning too much). It also didn't register the fuel drop the first couple times and I had to restart that tutorial multiple times before it finally took (it finally worked when I dropped it at the repair station...no idea why).
It's also not immediately intuitive that holding the downward thrusts long enough turns the vehicle around. I had no idea why the vehicle was turning around when I was trying to hover to slow my decent in the tutorial (the slow-mo didn't help with that part either). It also wasn't clear that you didn't have to hold the downward thrusts the entire time you were descending, just toward the end.
Overall: it's fun once you get the hang of the controls. Haven't tried multiplayer yet. I was able to get first place on a couple maps in both Easy and Medium difficulties. Haven't played hard enough to place. The devs have earned a purchase from me.
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