[STEAM] If you like unusual genre mixes, this horror racing game might be just for you

[Steam 0]

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There still isn’t anything quite like Distance out there. Normally classified as a “racing platformer” in most baseline discussions, including on its store page, it combines boost-based trick jumps with some genuinely chilling horror stuff and some interesting atmospheric sci-fi storytelling.

Imagine you’re playing Rocket League in space, but there are no ****** and no opponents, just a frantic rush through a collapsing station. A genuinely challenging platformer combined with great level design and a deep, precise control scheme, Distance works great as a speedrun game and a fun challenge of your abilities – perhaps not as much as a racer but as a platformer.

But then there’s the sci-fi and the horror part, which can also give you pause.

“Melding the intensity of arcade racing with the agility of parkour, Distance catapults you into a neon-soaked world shrouded in mystery. Adapt quickly using your car’s abilities to jump, flip, and fly to overcome deadly hazards and survive” – this is how they describe the game in their PlayStation release announcement just two years ago, which should tell you everything you need to know about the title. Because, yes, I can confirm: this description is surprisingly accurate.

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It takes a bit of time to suss out the complicated controls and the platforming challenges offered by Distance, but once you do, and hop and skip around at high speed in this uniquely clean, colorful and metallic environment, it is still an incredible experience today. Comms system announcements and loading screen snippets give you almost FromSoft-like lore drips, setting you up for the distortions and surprises to come.

Because there are genuine disruptions in your racing (or, rather, platforming) experience) and the loss of control really works well for this sort of genre vibe.

We can go back a little further here, too. The origins of Distance can be traced back to a student project called Nitronic Rush, itself one of the first notable results of the Digipen Institute of Technology, and one of the first signs that the video game industry is shifting to a more rigid, academic pathway compared to maverick garage projects. That version was more colorful, and while it’s a lesser game, I think I enjoyed it a little more.

What does this mean for you? Well, even if the tense and horror-adjacent tone of Distance feels a bit too much, the same folks made a different game for you to also check out and try. It’s a good idea to go the distance.

Refract hasn’t done much new since, but the game launched on PS4 and PS5 in 2024, so I’m holding out hope they will give us another unique, special experience.

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