Screamer (2026) is one of my favourite gems this year

 I can always enjoy a good arcade racer. And Screamer had been on my radar ever since I saw the trailer for it back at the Game Awards last year. Luckily for me the game went on sale during the Steam summer sale this year. I bought it and started playing almost immediately.
This game doesn't seem to have gained a huge amount of traction given the huge platform it got shown off on. And people generally seem very mixed on it. I personally really enjoyed playing through Screamer so let's have a look into it. 

I've always preferred arcade style racing games over realistic ones. And Screamer definitely falls under that category. The gameplay has some unique ideas that take some getting used to. But once you've got it all figured out, it feels really satisfying. This game has a boosting and attacking mechanic which isn't anything too crazy on its own. But the way the game goes about it I find very satisfying. When you succesfully attack a driver, the car basically explodes and they get a little reset animation which would often happen if you get stuck in an arcade racer for example. So essentially this is your way of slowing down your opponents. Certain characters will have their own spins on this mechanic but I won't go too much into those as that technically gets into spoiler territory.
As you would expect from an arcade racer you have all the classic modes. Time trials, score challenges, team races and all that sort of malarkey. But where this game really shines for me is the Tournament mode. Which is essentially the story campaign mode.
I've heard a lot of people say that they didn't like the story in this game. I personally had a blast playing through it though. Essentially you have a sort of anime plot where a bunch of teams are pitted against each other to win a huge tournament. Most of this mode consists of a loop of dialogue, then a random racing challenge, then another bit of dialogue, repeat. I know that sounds a little boring but in execution it ended up being really fun to me. I felt really invested in the story that this game told for the most part. I especially appreciate that each character is voiced in their native language. For example there is a Belgian character who speaks Dutch the entire game. I will admit some of the storytelling can feel a little shallow at times but I still enjoyed it overall. There are some really interesting twists and turns throughout it.
Back to the gameplay itself, I will admit it isn't anything super special. But it's still really fun and if you enjoy classic arcade racer gameplay, you are bound to have a good time with this as well. It's a very high risk high reward type of playstyle which I enjoy a lot. There is also an online multiplayer mode, though I didn't play much of it myself as I'm more of a single player person.
The artstyle is very vibrant. The animated cutscenes are just straight up anime cutscenes but the game itself also has a very anime adjacent visual presentation. I think it fits the arcade racing genre very well.
However, the next point where this game really shines to me is the soundtrack. The soundtrack features a lot of different styles, going from bubblegum pop to hard rock depending on each setting. My favourite track in this game is the song "Survive" by the Japanese group Wagamama Rakia, which is the song that plays during the opening cinematic. It has become a main stay in my regular playlist as of late.

Some final overall thoughts, I really enjoyed this game. I think it's one of my favourite games of the year so far. Great soundtrack, engaging story (for me at least) and very fun gameplay. I do understand why this game has seemingly flown under the radar a little bit. I feel like arcade racing has become a bit more niche over the years and outside of the Game Awards trailer I don't think it was marketed very heavily. Add Forza Horizon 6 releasing at around the same time to the mix and it's not hard to see what has happened there.
But regardless, I had a great time with this game and if you enjoy arcade racing I would definately recommend checking it out! 

With that I'm going to call it a post. I should honestly play more arcade racers. There are a lot of classics that I haven't tried yet.

Bring 'em to the pit!