TrackMania Turbo

Nadeo

4/5 stars

Pure adrenaline. That’s the modus operandi for developers trying desperately to jump into the racing-game world these days. A genre that used to alternate between hyper-realistic and intensely arcade has strayed far towards the latter in an attempt to reel players in through sheer ADHD-like obsession. Rocket League, Hardware: Rivals and now Trackmania Turbo.

Available for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One, Turbo is (surprisingly) the 12th in the TrackMania series, although I must admit I’d never played one before, or really heard much about the franchise. But am I glad I’m clued in now. It starts off slow, you should be warned, and at first your amped-up supercar racing through ridiculously convoluted tracks is desperately happy just to cross the finish line.

But then the game grows on you. It keeps you up at night, and you can’t resist switching on the console for just one more hit, one more race around that absurdly impossible course to shave off precious seconds. You hit bronze and a surge of adrenaline hits. But it isn’t enough, and entire days are spent working out the exact layout, the tiny curves, those frustrating walls that seemingly come out of nowhere. And when, after hours and hours of sheer precision, you finally hit gold, a wave of calm washes over you and everything in the world seems right.

OK – that’s a little melodramatic, but it’s damn good fun, and one of the best balances between challenge and achievement in a long time. Or so I thought, before I discovered the online multiplayer and things just haven’t been the same – up to 100 different players from all over the world, all racing ghost-style to get the best track time. It’s wonderful chaos and part of the fun is messing with other players, tricking them off-track and seeing just how far they’ll fall.