By Jordan Campbell After a year out in the wild on PC, it’s the turn of console players for Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks. For me, the Warhammer name slapped onto video games is hit and miss; there are some fantastic games, some average and some not so great. After playing the incredible Space Marine 2, the bar is almighty high, but then again, experiences differ massively. When I saw the console trailer for this one, I was instantly interested. It reminded me of the good old days of a certain game called Vigilante 8 back on the original Playstation where vehicles were intent on destroying each other. This appears to be a mixture of that with racing thrown into the blend, and I’m all for it.
Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks isn’t your typical circuit racer and whilst its super competitive, it achieves this in several ways. There are elements of being first to the finish line, but the focus is very much more on smashing, shooting and outsmarting the opposing team to victory. If you’re here for a storyline or any kind of Warhammer narrative, then unfortunately you won’t see anything in that respect. If you’re a fan of Warhammer though, then its very much ticked off that setting in every single way. I was slightly disappointed to not see a tutorial and you’re left to figure out how the game works by yourself. It doesn’t take long to suss out though and you’re thrust straight into the action from the get-go.
For the entirety of my review I unfortunately had to play against AI bots, I did see servers popping up online but presumably they were PC players. With me playing earlier than release I’d imagine the cross-play functionality wasn’t implemented prior to launch. That said, I still found it pretty competitive going it solo in the good old fashioned way offline. Matches support up to sixteen players, so with eight racers on either side it doesn’t take long to become absolute carnage. Even though I didn’t get to play online, I have read that matches are reliant on peer to peer connection rather than dedicated servers, this may cause issues in the long run if the host disconnects or has a poor connection. Don’t let that put you off though, as I can imagine a full lobby of real world players will be total blast.
As you can imagine, there are various classes each with their own unique weapons, attacks and style. From close range damage to long range shots, you’ll eventually find what works best for you. What surprised me is there are various free battle passes that can be worked through to unlock lots of cosmetic content. Vehicles can be customised and you’ll be glad to hear its all from a cosmetic perspective angle only, there are no gameplay advantages in tinkering with your rides. Three modes are available to mix up the gameplay, with a hybrid race and combat mode that fuses the two together so that you can score points from either was my personal favourite. If everything on offer isn’t enough for you, you can create your own playgrounds with the level editor which features over 400 assets which can be shared and downloaded by the rest of the community.
Visually, Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks has a Mad Max aura when it comes to the environment design and aesthetic. Arenas are vast enough to give you space to escape attacks and adapt your approach if you’re someone who wants to get stuck in. Terrain is varied enough to allow you to gain high ground and also dip under the radar. As you’d expect, the maps have that Warhammer vibe with flames, scrap metal and a mish-mash of debris that stand alone as permanent obstacles. I particularly enjoyed seeing the chaos of gunfire raining down amongst the barrage of cars as everyone is intent on blowing each other up. Bring with it some impressive explosions, and it brings a consistent dopamine hit, especially if you go on a decent kill streak.
Audio design isn’t anything spectaculur, but what it does, it does well. The roar of engines, the sound of constant gunfire and vehicles being blown to bits rings through loud and clear. There is some voicing throughout which adds to the atmosphere. Overall though, a great job by the team at Caged Element with a budget that certainly won’t have been as large as the Space Marine games. On Xbox Series X performance was buttery smooth with no visual hiccups throughout my time with the game, even in the midst of several vehicles getting stuck into each other.
I’ve had a lot of fun playing Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, but I do have some slight concerns about its longevity. Unfortunately, during my review time, I had to stick to playing against AI opponents as there were next to no servers available online. The ones I did try to join threw me an error, and I presume that’s because I’m playing the console version pre-release. That said, this game genuinely deserves attention, especially if you love games such as Twisted Metal, Vigilante 8 or even Mario Kart. If this can amass a decent player base, it will have some serious legs, as there is nothing quite like it out there at the moment.
With cross-platform online multiplayer and Xbox Play Anywhere functionality, it is a no-brainer if you’re into competitive games with a twist. If you fancy securing your copy for Xbox Series X/S, you can do so HERE, and also play it anywhere else you can access your Xbox game library.
Score – 7.5/10
Pros
- Intensely fun, chaotic vehicular combat
- Xbox Play Anywhere functionality is a big plus
- Great performance on Xbox Series X/S
- Fantastic map design with a map builder to boot!
- Free battle passes
Cons
- Longevity very much depends on whether servers remain busy
- Some may find it repetitive over long sessions
- There may be some unfair balancing between some classes
- Lack of a tutorial
Fletcher Wilkinson