Ben 10: Galactic Racing E3 Preview

Kart racers are something which have been essentially dominated by Nintendo and Mario for the past few years as the glut of racing games have fallen off.  D3 Publisher has chosen now to return to that genre with the first racing game from the popular Ben 10 series, Ben 10: Galactic Racing .   Taking placing during the most recent series Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Ben and fourteen other drivers compete in the Galvin, a race which has been going for a thousand years.

Each driver has the option of having either a light racer or a heavy one.  Light racers are more maneuverable and can thus handle the corners much easier.  The heavy racers have more armor and are more durable, but are more difficult to control.  That said, they are faster than the light racer due to momentum.

The game consists  of five planets with over twenty-five tracks with various circuits as well.  The game play is very similar to many other kart racers.  You have eight karts on the track with each race consisting of a number of laps (three in the demo).  As you drive there are a variety of powerups to pick up on the track.  Also, you have offensive and defensive meters which have a direct impact upon your performance.

The offensive meters are raised by performing tricks during jumps, and the defensive meter is raised by drifting and taking damage.  Once the meter is full on either side, you either change forms and can unleash more powerful attacks with the powerups you collect.  The defensive meter being filled allows you to create a shield to protect you for a short time.  To make sure that things are never static, each track has its own quirks and shortcuts, requiring different strategies to beat them.

Multiplayer is in the game with four-player split-screen action.  Given that the game is aimed at younger players, the developers decided to keep the game away from Xbox Live and PSN so that there wouldn’t be any issues there either.  Ben 10: Galactic Racing will be out this fall and we’ll see how it holds up then.

 

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: