Star Wars Galactic Racer Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, & PC)

Star Wars was built for racing, and not just any kind of racing. It has its sci-fi setting going for it in the galaxy far, far away. So many diverse planets and biomes that would make for the perfect tournament grounds. The rich lore is ripe with drama and alien entanglements. We have played futuristic arcade racers in the past. However, pod racing is distinct in the franchise for starters. And it just would be nice for racing to finally receive something different that isn’t open-world adventures or kart racing. Something that hasn’t been released in recent years, with little to no innovation, let’s be honest.

EA has long held the rights to exclusive rights to the Star Wars franchise. However, Disney and Lucasfilm Games have taken back control of the wheel, and all I can say is, “It’s about damn time.” If Star Wars Galactic Racer is the taste of what’s to come, then I’m sat. I have my schedule to wrangle with, given the flurry of steamy titles I already have in my backlog. But goddamit, I’ll make the time. If the racing game I’ve just played is the foundation on which to build forthcoming entries, I can’t imagine how exciting the next couple of years are going to be. I’ll even be a little lenient with adding transformative features because at this point, the laps already feel miles ahead.

Lucasfilm is already taking off at blistering speeds that current racing games will be struggling to keep up with, and I’m here for all of it. And now to the specific features and details that are making me all jolly. Here’s my review of Star Wars Galactic Racer so far.

I Like Me A Little Rivalry

It would have been fine to focus purely on the racing. However, Star Wars Galactic Racer takes a step further to structure a story campaign around your tournament racing. It’s giving you a reason for getting back out there and giving your best shot, and I absolutely love it. I like me a little drama and brushing of shoulders with the peculiar characters of the Star Wars universe. I think some of these conversations will genuinely keep you invested. It’s the distinct designs of the alien species you meet, their unique movements, and speech. 

This is very much a Star Wars-themed story that doesn’t go too deep into unnecessary exposition. It sticks to light confrontations with your opponents, side characters, and more. Although I will say that your main opponent, the guy that you should ideally work your way up to challenge and beat is an ass. That guy must definitely be put in his place. Otherwise, I found myself smitten by many of the characters. It’s not even my own character that grabbed my attention the most. My faceless character that I could easily forget that everyone is supposedly watching. It’s Biddy Blas who’s my self-appointed mascot of future Star Wars Galactic Racer games. You heard it here first.

It’s Going to Be a Marathon

I think the story definitely elevates your experience. Those conversations in between races remind you where you are, though it’s hard to forget with the Star Wars universe stealing the spotlight. But even those moments when you can explore the world in third-person and speak to characters make the racing experience more cohesive.

It makes it a journey that, hey, you have a race coming up, psyched up for it? And when you return, you run into characters cheering you on or taunting you for losing. Imagine replacing that with menus. Not even replacing it with menus because that’s the standard that most racing games currently have. You go through menus to choose your next race. And back to the menus when you cross the finish line. It feels disconnected, which is the opposite of what Star Wars Galactic Racer accomplishes with its campaign.

Catch Me If You Can

And when I say campaign, I mean that it’s structured into actual Acts to go through. Three Acts total that will take you about 20 hours to complete, depending on skill. These are your steps to climb to the level where you can finally compete against your biggest rival. You can take him on before hitting the end of Act Three, but you’d be out of your depth.

First, focus on leveling up your skills and upgrading your rides. You’ll unlock so many upgrades, buffs, and special abilities you can use during races that actually make a difference in whether you make it to the podium. And yes, Star Wars Galactic Racer is pretty punishing when you don’t fully utilize the perks that it gives you, and that you earn through effort, determination, and relentless pursuit of getting better. 

But hey, don’t frown, love. All of that work will hardly feel like it because the races, oh, the races are an absolute blast. That’s where the secret sauce of Star Wars Galactic Racer is. I think what excites me the most during every single race is how lightning-fast my Landspeeder is. That’s like your race vehicle that hovers over the air and jets off so fast that the circuit boundaries are a blur. I have no idea how I could see the tracks, and those sharp bends that came out of nowhere definitely got me more times than I can admit. The speed is the greatest strength, I think, because you compare it to other racing games, and it’s laughable. 

Losing Is Not An Option

And now imagine that the Speeder Bike is even faster than the Land Speeder. Though there’s a special love I have for the Pod Racer, which, yes, they will show up ceremoniously during your campaign. You should find some favorites among the racing vehicles, with the freedom to customize their livery, performance parts, and stats.

Here’s where you’ll need to spend quality time on carefully considering the upgrades and buffs you receive for your completed matches and wins, because you’re going to crash and get crashed. And remember the Burnout slow-motion crashes? Yup, those are back, crispier, and brutal. Your vehicle breaks down into mini bits, it hurts, and oddly motivating not to put my vehicle through that again.

But there’s more. Oh, there’s so much more. See, Star Wars Galactic Racer makes another fantastic decision to make the races roguelike. Failure to make it to the podium in key events sends you back to the start of the Act you’re in. Use up all of your “lives” for the Act, and you’re right, it’s back to the start. So, try not to crash too many times.

Grab those “Finished First” as many times as you can. Otherwise, you will lose your hard-earned upgrades. Permanent ones will stay, but you definitely lose significant buffs that you’ll have to start all over again to accumulate. Mind you, the upgrades are random, so there’s no guarantee that you might even get them back. And these upgrades are damn special. 

When the Risks Outweigh the Reward and Vice Versa

I don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of all of the perks you can get. Trust me, they are more than enough to build a beast of a machine, including pick-me-ups for when you make mistakes during races. Say, you run over those lava pools that make your vehicle overheat too quickly, which can lead to your vehicle exploding. Though there are brilliant ways to mitigate it by putting on shields or taking advantage of one of the planet’s water pools to cool you down. See, Star Wars Galactic Racer is just the gift that keeps on giving. 

Anyway, so you have your standard boost meter, but even more exciting is the Ramjet. Now this feature is everything because it really pumps up your speed, in addition to knocking others out of the running. You can’t spam it, though, as it’ll start to overheat your vehicle, and then boom. A key part of racing is managing your risks versus reward. You can push to top speed, but those sharp corners are slick. You can get your hands on a vital upgrade, but it can come with debuffs. The Ramjet is everything, but at what cost?

Verdict

Make this into a single-player experience or a multiplayer one. Check out the Scenarios that are sizeable chunks of the campaign or the arcade mode, which is like a mash-up of time trials, challenges, and more. No split-screen, I’m afraid, which may be the only disappointing take from Star Wars Galactic Racer. Otherwise, everything is tight, crisp, responsive, and engaging, whether you’re on or off the track. And that’s not an easy feat to accomplish, especially when every aspect of the campaign and multiplayer mode hits all the high notes of near-perfection. 

I can wait for the sequel because I suspect I will be playing this for an embarrassing amount of time without ever feeling like it might be time to move on.