Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 28/Jan 04:30

LANESPLIT – Review

LANESPLIT caught our eye a while ago with its simple yet alluring trailer, where you weave through traffic with a motorcycle at high speeds. This is all that the trailer initially showed, and it seems that this is actually all the game is about. You’ll be lanesplitting during the entirety of the game, where you play endless levels, trying to get as high a score as possible, unlocking new motorcycles. We were lucky enough to put the game to the test some time before the actual release, and while we liked the overall concept, there is still a lot of work to be done. Story There is absolutely no story present in LANESPLIT, which is something we expected. As the name already implies, the game is all about driving at high speeds, switching lanes, and navigating through traffic. It’s a simple concept, but it’s interesting. We don’t see any way that a story would have made this experience better. Graphics LANESPLIT left us with mixed feelings. Some graphical aspects looked great, such as the motorcycle models, the blur that comes with driving fast, and the overall impressions of the different maps. Upon closer inspection, however, things look a bit cheap, unpolished, and the maps are a bit lifeless when you look further than the cars in front of you. Even so, the game does have the right vibe and atmosphere, which matters a lot here. Sound While the music and sound design in general aren’t too bad for LANESPLIT, we did have so many issues with the actual volume controls. We were only able to adjust the master volume, as the other menu sliders didn’t work at all. The loading screen music was also deafening, which is very much a turn-off. Then again, the game is being developed by one person, which is not an easy task. The music itself might be a bit generic at times, but it’s suitable for the experience, and we found ourselves enjoying the soundscape when we were actually riding our motorcycle. Gameplay LANESPLIT is a more meditative racing game in which you drive around on different maps, weaving through traffic at high speeds. If you crash or come to a stop, your score multiplier goes back to zero. It’s your goal to just get high scores, unlocking new motorcycles, which you can mildly customize by adjusting their color schemes. The need for speed is properly emulated here, and you really get an adrenaline rush when narrowly avoiding other vehicles. There are also different options per map, where you can regulate the amount of traffic, as well as the weather conditions, creating some variety in the process. There’s honestly not that much more to the experience than this, and that’s honestly also okay for what the game wants to be: relaxing yet engaging enough to keep coming back. Truth be told, everything there is to this game has already pretty much been explained. You can unlock new motorcycles, there are also rider outfits, and that’s basically it. It’s a simple high score beater and a relaxation game in one. It’s fairly entertaining, once you get going, but LANESPLIT is still riddled with bugs, ranging from collision issues to clipping problems and key binds not being recognized when racing around the different maps. Outside of the maps, color schemes reset regularly, rider outfits don’t load, and so on. It currently feels very rough around the edges, which is not uncommon for one-man projects. We do hope that the kinks are ironed out soon and that some additional content is added, as LANESPLIT does have quite a bit of potential. Conclusion LANESPLIT is interesting on paper, but as it currently stands, the game is a bit of a buggy mess in some areas. Color schemes kept resetting on us, the audio bugs were rather annoying, and the current maps on offer are a bit limited. Nonetheless, the actual gameplay is entertaining, simple yet engaging, and getting high scores is extremely satisfying. With a few additional layers of polish and a few new maps, we could see ourselves coming back often for more in the future.