Disney Speedstorm Review (Dwok)
Overall
Do you really like combat racers like Mario Kart? Are you really, really good at them? Then this is a hard "Maybe".
The gameplay is absolutely solid. Driving feels mechanically responsive and the controls are good. The music features several catching remixes of the Disney library. The graphics are crisp and clean.
The Problems:
The game is clearly paving the way to be a traditional Gameloft coin-operated game experience. Multiple currencies, a needless upgrade system with it's own currency system that ensures any progression you may is diluted across all the possible racer combinations that you might not even have yet.
Regulated Multiplayer is an excellent experience. All players are on the same footing. It's a real show of what the game could be. It rewards only cosmetics.
Ranked Multiplayer contains the main progression methods outside of Single-Player content. It is a show of what the game WILL be. Item power efficacy, and even just accessibility to items powers to begin with are governed by an inane Racer Level system that can only be raised by casino rolls. A level 1 racer doesn't have their full kit. A level 5 racer has abilities that last longer, hit harder or faster, and are simply more effective. This could be accepted as a modern progression system if the progression was equally accessible, however the ranking system to date confuses the community and is largely unapproachable; not even having a basic MMR setup. As a result, for most players, the only way to realistically progress your imaginary stats and unlocks is through...
Single-player isn't even good or bad. It's just straight deceptive. Each single player race has a "Recommended Level". When you begin a single-player race, the game assigns a finishing pole position to the player and bots. The bots will do whatever is necessary to maintain that position. This means if you do not meet the Recommended level, you will be assigned a position under first place. The bot(s) assigned to 'beat' you will simply increase their base speed infinitely until they are ahead of you, and often even become invulnerable to items.
The inverse is true. If you are at the Recommended level, the bots will intentionally sabotage themselves if they are going to win. You will witness wonderful comedy in the last 20 seconds of every race as the formerly flawless 1st place bot irrecoverably slams his face into a wall and stays there until you pass him. Or as every other racer on the map sudden has their top speed cut in half on the last lap.
This would just add up to being a comical checkbox exercise except that you constantly hit walls in progression where if you can't hit the magic number required to play; there is no actual way to win the race to unlock the next steps because the bots can and actually will just teleport in front of you if they have to to ensure your unworthy upgrade number is punished.
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Ultimately, the base game is solid and could become something legitimately fun; however it's clear by some very core design choices that that is likely not the direction that this is going.