Developed by Zero Games Studios and Vision Réelle, era-defying arcade racer Hot Lap Racing has launched. How does it hold up, though? Here's our review.
Interesting content in circuit-based racing games is not always easy to come by. Many titles these days tend to focus on GT3, Hypercars or Formula One - Hot Lap Racing goes a bit further than that, however. The arcade racer by Zero Games Studios and Vision Réelle is published by Maximum Entertainment, and its biggest strength is its interesting content, both in regards to cars and tracks.
Of course, good content alone does not make a great game. So let's take a closer look at Hot Lap Racing to see what the French title that boasts partnerships with the likes of Alpine, Ligier, Jacques Villeneuve's FEED Racing France and others is all about.
Sunsets can look quite nice on the other hand, as different times of day are implemented - no night-time racing, however. Weather, meanwhile, does not vary at all, but for an arcade racer, it does not really have to, in my opinion.
In the audio department, engine sounds are vaguely recognizable in some instances, and not so much in others. There are some environmental sounds, as in cheering spectators here and there, but otherwise, squealing tires and dirt being kicked up when running wide are about it. It is relatively rudimentary, but not terrible, either.
You get 1990s DTM and BTCC cars as well as F1 entries from Brabham and AGS, a modern-day Hypercar in the (wingless) Peugeot 9X8, and even a 1980s Formula 3 car. If you are into the more obscure side of historic racing cars, this selection should be right up your alley. You can find the full car lineup here.
It is obvious that the developers poured admirable passion not only into the selection of cars, but also their liveries. There are some with authentic designs, but also more which are clearly supposed to be well-known liveries - like the iconic Player's colors on the Lola B02/00 Champ Car, only with fantasy sponsors that almost look like the real thing.
As for tracks, you will not find the usual suspects in Hot Lap Racing either. The most well-known circuits included are arguably Oschersleben, the Salzburgring and Zolder. A few fictional tracks like the Mygale Test Track (which is essentially Magny-Cours but with a few changes and many more layouts) or the Circuit du France (Paul Ricard) may seem familiar, but could fool you with a few alterations. Either way, most of the circuits come with different layouts as well, so there is plenty to race.
Different cars do have different characteristics, and if you switch off traction control, simply flooring the throttle on corner exit can at least result in a considerable slide. Naturally, some cars like the Mygale F4 are much easier to drive than the higher-tier Formula cars, for instance.
Tire wear, fuel usage and damage are not a thing in Hot Lap Racing, however, and as a result, you will find that every pit lane is closed off from the actual circuit. Considering the quick-fire nature of the races, this is not really needed, either.
The starting point of Hot Lap Racing's Career Mode.
The heart of the game, however, is the Career Mode. This is your way to unlocking all the cars and events in the game, as electric vehicles and the Formula Xtreme are not accessible at the start of the game.
The racing school only goes over some very basic techniques, but for racing game newcomers in particular, having corner apexes and exits clearly marked to make use of the track as much as possible, for instance, can be a good start to grasping how to drive a race car, even an arcade one.
Players have a dynamic racing line as standard, but can switch it off to learn their braking markers and acceleration points better. Similarly, traction control can be switched off, and manual gears are selectable as well.
Once you mastered the racing school or beat the set time, it is time to dive into one of four career paths, those being Single-Seater, GT and Endurance. All of them have the same end goal, namely Formula Xtreme. Switching disciplines along the way is possible, but you will have to start at the bottom of the new category if you haven't raced in it before.
Each series you compete in awards you a license with a grade. This grade is calculated from your results, the amounts of off-tracks and crashes you accumulated, fastest laps, and more. Note that the S license, the highest possible, is only obtainable if you have a clean record - even a single off-track means that the maximum license you can achieve for that series is A+.
Completing a series makes you level up and unlock other, higher-tier series. If you fulfilled certain goals, you also receive a car part for your Formula Xtreme racer as you move up the ladder. The races themselves are usually rather short, so there is lots of variety in the game.
However, the career mode also shows where Hot Lap Racing unfortunately falls short.
Running away from them within a few corners after the start is extremely easy if you have played semi-serious racing games before. The AI drivers, many of whom are named after real-life drivers like Tiago Monteiro or Patrick Lemarié, tend to be very erratic and have a bit of a problem with going straight, twitching from side to side on the straightaways.
They also have zero awareness of the player car, which does make the AI a challenge if you start last and actually have to pick your way past them. My biggest problem with trying to win races from the back of the grid was getting crashed off the track quite frequently, even though my pace was much faster than that of the AI.
A picture that was all too familiar during our time with the game - hardly one lap in and the gap to even 'expert' AI is already considerable.
As a result, most races become an exercise of either just doing lap after lap on your own, or battling your way to the front in time to see the checkered flag first. And this feels like a missed opportunity - the game, at its core, is fun to play, but at this stage is not exactly something to sink a lot of singleplayer hours into - which this type of game would be predestined for, usually.
It could be a different story in online multiplayer, but unfortunately, we could not try that yet.
As always with Switch ports, however, the elephant in the room is the performance on the aging hardware. And unfortunately, we do not have positive news in that regard. While Hot Lap Racing runs decently most of the time, it also has frequent framerate drops, which also means that will probably miss your apex by quite a margin because timely turn-in is very difficult under these circumstances.
The fact that all the cars have their interior views present in the Switch version as well is commendable, though. This is far from usual for Switch racing games, and the developers making it a point to include it shows that they are dedicated to the game.
On paper, it is - but the big downside of the game is the AI behavior. Around the player, they are extremel erratic, and once you clear them, they are absolutely nowhere, even on the highest difficulty setting. This can make races feel like a time trial with the added chore of having to first make your way through a horde of cars that are actively trying to end your race and that of everyone around them.
With a basic racing school and Career Mode, Hot Lap Racing could be good fun, particularly for newcomers to the racing game genre. But that means the AI need to be vastly improved first.
Image: Vision Réelle / Zero Games Studios
Remember that the teams of Vision Réelle and Zero Games are small and have stated that they operate on low budgets. Their dedication shines through in many places, particularly in the content selection and the inclusion of detailed interior views even in the Switch version show that the game was made by passionate racing fans.
It needs more to become really enjoyable, however.
What are your impressions of Hot Lap Racing? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
Interesting content in circuit-based racing games is not always easy to come by. Many titles these days tend to focus on GT3, Hypercars or Formula One - Hot Lap Racing goes a bit further than that, however. The arcade racer by Zero Games Studios and Vision Réelle is published by Maximum Entertainment, and its biggest strength is its interesting content, both in regards to cars and tracks.
Of course, good content alone does not make a great game. So let's take a closer look at Hot Lap Racing to see what the French title that boasts partnerships with the likes of Alpine, Ligier, Jacques Villeneuve's FEED Racing France and others is all about.
Visuals & Audio
Naturally, the first thing to leave an impression are a game's visuals. Hot Lap Racing is no different, and it is not a standout title in the graphics department, but rather low-fi insted. The visuals do their job, but do look a bit low-res in places, particularly the skies and foliage. Even on the highest settings, there is some noticeable aliasing present, mostly in catchfences or armco barriers.Sunsets can look quite nice on the other hand, as different times of day are implemented - no night-time racing, however. Weather, meanwhile, does not vary at all, but for an arcade racer, it does not really have to, in my opinion.
In the audio department, engine sounds are vaguely recognizable in some instances, and not so much in others. There are some environmental sounds, as in cheering spectators here and there, but otherwise, squealing tires and dirt being kicked up when running wide are about it. It is relatively rudimentary, but not terrible, either.
Content
As mentioned, Hot Lap Racing's biggest strength is without a doubt its content. The cars available span multiple decades from the 1960s until today and even the future with the fictional Formula Xtreme, which is also the end goal of the career mode - but more on that later.You get 1990s DTM and BTCC cars as well as F1 entries from Brabham and AGS, a modern-day Hypercar in the (wingless) Peugeot 9X8, and even a 1980s Formula 3 car. If you are into the more obscure side of historic racing cars, this selection should be right up your alley. You can find the full car lineup here.
It is obvious that the developers poured admirable passion not only into the selection of cars, but also their liveries. There are some with authentic designs, but also more which are clearly supposed to be well-known liveries - like the iconic Player's colors on the Lola B02/00 Champ Car, only with fantasy sponsors that almost look like the real thing.
As for tracks, you will not find the usual suspects in Hot Lap Racing either. The most well-known circuits included are arguably Oschersleben, the Salzburgring and Zolder. A few fictional tracks like the Mygale Test Track (which is essentially Magny-Cours but with a few changes and many more layouts) or the Circuit du France (Paul Ricard) may seem familiar, but could fool you with a few alterations. Either way, most of the circuits come with different layouts as well, so there is plenty to race.
Hot Lap Racing Track List
- Albi
- Arroyo
- Bourbonnais
- Circuit de France
- Flagstaff
- French Riviera
- Gingerman Raceway
- Jarama
- Kuwait
- Laquais
- Mettet
- Mygale
- Navarra
- Oschersleben
- Salzburgring
- Var
- Zolder
Physics
The game does not try to be a simulator, despite its nicely detailed cockpit views for each car. As a result, the driving physics are on the forgiving and grippy side of things - but not to the extent that you can make any corner using any braking point.Different cars do have different characteristics, and if you switch off traction control, simply flooring the throttle on corner exit can at least result in a considerable slide. Naturally, some cars like the Mygale F4 are much easier to drive than the higher-tier Formula cars, for instance.
Tire wear, fuel usage and damage are not a thing in Hot Lap Racing, however, and as a result, you will find that every pit lane is closed off from the actual circuit. Considering the quick-fire nature of the races, this is not really needed, either.
The starting point of Hot Lap Racing's Career Mode.
Game Modes
Hot Lap Racing features all the game modes you would expect. Players can set up single races and custom championships, either limited to one of the car classes or in a free-for-all fashion. There is a time trial mode - of course called Hot Lap - in which they can hunt for the best leaderboard times, and there are local and online multiplayer modes.The heart of the game, however, is the Career Mode. This is your way to unlocking all the cars and events in the game, as electric vehicles and the Formula Xtreme are not accessible at the start of the game.
Hot Lap Racing Career Mode
Hot Lap Racing's Career Mode starts with a nice surprise - it has a racing school. While this is skippable by simply beating a time set by one of the game's drivers (which is easy enough), this is actually a nice feature in my opinion.The racing school only goes over some very basic techniques, but for racing game newcomers in particular, having corner apexes and exits clearly marked to make use of the track as much as possible, for instance, can be a good start to grasping how to drive a race car, even an arcade one.
Players have a dynamic racing line as standard, but can switch it off to learn their braking markers and acceleration points better. Similarly, traction control can be switched off, and manual gears are selectable as well.
Once you mastered the racing school or beat the set time, it is time to dive into one of four career paths, those being Single-Seater, GT and Endurance. All of them have the same end goal, namely Formula Xtreme. Switching disciplines along the way is possible, but you will have to start at the bottom of the new category if you haven't raced in it before.
Each series you compete in awards you a license with a grade. This grade is calculated from your results, the amounts of off-tracks and crashes you accumulated, fastest laps, and more. Note that the S license, the highest possible, is only obtainable if you have a clean record - even a single off-track means that the maximum license you can achieve for that series is A+.
Completing a series makes you level up and unlock other, higher-tier series. If you fulfilled certain goals, you also receive a car part for your Formula Xtreme racer as you move up the ladder. The races themselves are usually rather short, so there is lots of variety in the game.
However, the career mode also shows where Hot Lap Racing unfortunately falls short.
AI
Being an arcade racer with a career mode, the AI is an integral part of the gameplay. And it is - but unfortunately not in the way it should be. The big problem it has is that it is just way too easy, even on the 'expert' setting.Running away from them within a few corners after the start is extremely easy if you have played semi-serious racing games before. The AI drivers, many of whom are named after real-life drivers like Tiago Monteiro or Patrick Lemarié, tend to be very erratic and have a bit of a problem with going straight, twitching from side to side on the straightaways.
They also have zero awareness of the player car, which does make the AI a challenge if you start last and actually have to pick your way past them. My biggest problem with trying to win races from the back of the grid was getting crashed off the track quite frequently, even though my pace was much faster than that of the AI.
A picture that was all too familiar during our time with the game - hardly one lap in and the gap to even 'expert' AI is already considerable.
As a result, most races become an exercise of either just doing lap after lap on your own, or battling your way to the front in time to see the checkered flag first. And this feels like a missed opportunity - the game, at its core, is fun to play, but at this stage is not exactly something to sink a lot of singleplayer hours into - which this type of game would be predestined for, usually.
It could be a different story in online multiplayer, but unfortunately, we could not try that yet.
Hot Lap Racing on Nintendo Switch
As Hot Lap Racing is not just available on PC, we also looked into the Nintendo Switch version. It is very positive that the hybrid console's version of the game is the same as the PC version, meaning it has the same features and content.As always with Switch ports, however, the elephant in the room is the performance on the aging hardware. And unfortunately, we do not have positive news in that regard. While Hot Lap Racing runs decently most of the time, it also has frequent framerate drops, which also means that will probably miss your apex by quite a margin because timely turn-in is very difficult under these circumstances.
The fact that all the cars have their interior views present in the Switch version as well is commendable, though. This is far from usual for Switch racing games, and the developers making it a point to include it shows that they are dedicated to the game.
Verdict
The premise of Hot Lap Racing is really good in my opinion. Having a bunch of well-known but also obscure cars from multiple decades of motorsport in one game alongside some lesser-known but fun tracks should be a recipe for a great arcade racer.On paper, it is - but the big downside of the game is the AI behavior. Around the player, they are extremel erratic, and once you clear them, they are absolutely nowhere, even on the highest difficulty setting. This can make races feel like a time trial with the added chore of having to first make your way through a horde of cars that are actively trying to end your race and that of everyone around them.
With a basic racing school and Career Mode, Hot Lap Racing could be good fun, particularly for newcomers to the racing game genre. But that means the AI need to be vastly improved first.
Image: Vision Réelle / Zero Games Studios
Remember that the teams of Vision Réelle and Zero Games are small and have stated that they operate on low budgets. Their dedication shines through in many places, particularly in the content selection and the inclusion of detailed interior views even in the Switch version show that the game was made by passionate racing fans.
It needs more to become really enjoyable, however.
What are your impressions of Hot Lap Racing? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
