VEKTOR 2089

Game: VEKTOR 2089 [Early Access Mode]

Developer: Impbox

Download Link: https://impbox.itch.io/vektor2089

MSRP: $5.00

If there is any genre that I get absolutely giddy over, it's futuristic racers. My zealous love for the F-Zero series knows no bounds and it has been absolute hell for me to not get a new installment since F-Zero Climax. So, I do what I can in this troublesome time of F-Zero drought by playing games of a similar caliber, be it WipEout and the clone games it inspires, FAST RMX which while good didn't quite scratch that F-Zero itch, for me at least. I've been on the hunt for a futuristic racing game to sink my teeth into and itch.io has definitely showcased its fair share of futuristic racers. One that caught my eye that I wanted to give a try was VEKTOR 2089.

Developed by Impbox, VEKTOR 2089 is a top-down futuristic racer with retro-inspired graphics and fast-paced racing action. I am a little hesitant to cover this game, as it isn't entirely finished. Heck, it's going through some graphical revisioning as I speak, which is great to hear. I'm very glad that this game is still being worked on, as itch.io has had multiple cases of unfinished projects being abandoned over the years, which saddens me. But I digress. 

Right off the bat, what attracted to me this game is the aesthetic, not to mention the great gifs that sell the fast-paced racing to a tee. The pixelated graphics along with the 60 FPS framerate were enough to drag me in, though I was almost already sold on the fact that it's a futuristic racer, so, in a way, I felt some sense of obligation to check it out. I assumed that it was going to be similar to Impbox's PICO-8 racing prototype that he also has on his profile, and my assumptions were correct to some fields and wrong in others. 

Graphically the PICO-8 concept and VEKTOR 2089 are similar in track design and controls are similar in concept with left and right arrows to steer and z to accelerate. VEKTOR 2089 adds on to these concepts with the brake acting as also a drift function to navigate turns better. The boost has been moved from the up arrow to the SHIFT key, which is weird on my end since I'm used to the PICO-8 game's controls. On the topic of controls, I like to play my racing games with a controller. That sounds all well and good, but I find the controls on a controller to be different for some strange reason. I find myself comparing the different control schemes to Kirby Air Ride's "Top Ride" mode where your two machines had two different control styles: one being based on the direction of your control stick and the other based on left and right turns. I like to use the latter control style as I find it easier to utilize, and that's all well and good when using a keyboard. Strangely though, the control scheme for a controller is based on the former vehicle's description, and I had a hard time adjusting to that. I do wish that there was a way to adjust the control layout for using a controller, and I hope that gets addressed.

VEKTOR 2089 boasts multiple racing modes: championship, where you race on multiple tracks in a set order and whoever accumulates the most points after four races wins, single race, where a single event is held on a track of your choice, time attack, where you race to get the fastest time on a track, versus mode for up to 4 players and "hotseat" for competitive time attack, similar to TrackMania. You get a lot of variety for your modes and the vehicles you can race as, with five unique vehicles across multiple different race teams that have different stats. You can also have gif replays by hitting the F9 key, which I would utilize, but with my keyboard having the "FN" key, it's fairly awkward to utilize. Other modes include a track editor and a vehicle editor as well, which I wish I was well versed with pixel art to use, but alas I am not. Still, very neat features to include.

The music for this game is stellar as well, with it being composed by French electronic music group, Dubmood. Their electro-chiptune tracks complement the game's vibe very well. Here's a link for their other music undertakings on Bandcamp.

I do feel like there is a lot of potential to be had here. I like the aesthetic, as I love futuristic racing games, the music is great, the art direction is great. I just wish the controls when using a controller were consistent with the keyboard controls. Maybe what I say will be outdated and get addressed, but I am looking forward to the future of this game. Check out yourself if you want!