Exo Rally Championship

Exo Rally Championship is an original racing game about rover races on alien planets. It was developed by an indie studio Exbleative, also responsible for the warmly received and just as unique game Exo One.

Mechanics

Exo Rally Championship has us playing as a rover, participating in off-road rally races on various planets. The tracks are procedurally generated, while the player must deal with the terrain topography and the planet's atmospheric conditions during the race. The former tests out skills, as depending on the planet, we'll need to maneuver between trees, rocks or avoid pits. On the other hand, high temperatures, thudnerstorms and intense winds test out rover's capabilities.

Our vehicles only vaguely resemble the machines actually sent to Mars. They can accelerate to extremely high speeds and jump very far. They're also equipped with maneuvering engines like spacecraft, letting us control them in the air and increasing their maneuverability on the ground; this lets us quickly overcome right turns or avoid obstacles just in time.

Though it all sounds rather arcadey, the driving system is rather realistic; our rover's suspension behaves according to the laws of physics, the tires properly stick to the ground, while its components suffer realistic damage. From inside the vehicle we can make repairs, upgrade and mofify it.

Game modes

The main attraction of Exo Rally Championship is the career mode, having us participate in races on various planets. We can join a team and climb the galactic rankings alongside it. Though there's no multiplayer, procedurally generated tracks can be shared with other players to compete on in time trials.

Technical aspects

Exo Rally Championship features decent visuals and retains the atmospheric artstyle of Exo One. Alien planets look... well, alien, and rather inhospitable at that.