Racing games have long been a staple of gaming and ‘Screamer’ is one that dates back to 1995. Released for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, the game has been made available in subsequent years through GOG.com and it’s earned its place in gaming history. ‘Screamer’ was a success so inevitably a sequel, ‘Screamer 2’, followed in 1996 and the series continued in 1997 with ‘Screamer Rally’ and 2000 with ‘Scream 4×4’, which saw the franchise developed by Clever’s Games instead of Milestone. Now ‘Screamer’ is getting a reboot with Milestone back in the driving seat (all puns intended) and has just launched on the latest batch of consoles.
‘Screamer’ looks significantly different from any previous incarnations, and this new experience is a mixture of anime and racing. In a bid to create something truly different, Milestone has doubled down on giving the game some depth and ‘The Tournament’ mode is the main attraction here. Introducing a colourful cast of characters – Gabriel Mertens of Anaconda Corp, Hiroshi Jackson of the Green Reapers, Ritsuko Imai of Strike Force Romanda, Aisha Waghmare of the Jupiter Storms and Noboru Sato of Kagawa-Kai – the game features several languages and striking visuals. The story revolves around the mysterious Mr. A, and his dog, and as you progress through the episodes (as they’re referred to here), you start to understand what’s going on.
The main gist is a series of illegal races between five different teams, and you get to take the position of one of them. While the anime is visually impressive and the voiceover work is solid, the story part of the game holds up a lot of the action. The episodes whizz by quickly but they are laden with too much dialogue. I found myself skipping through a lot of the dialogue just to get to the races. With a variety of tracks and locations, the races are the best part of the game, but they also come with quite the learning curve. This isn’t the kind of game you can just jump into and wing it, you really must knuckle down and master the controls.
Using both of the analog sticks on the PS5 game controller, you can manoeuvre your car around and drift around the many curves on the track. The ECHO system enables you to use Sync, which is achieved by switching up gears using the L1 button and unlocking much-needed speed boosts. Later on in the game you can access Entropy, which is the game’s combat system that you harness to gain a competitive edge.
Throughout the early episodes, you’re given tasks to complete to show you the ropes but honestly, these aren’t always super clear. There are multiple times where the race switches to an animated cut scene too, which completely takes you out of the game. There’s no warning that you’re about to be thrusted back in and I didn’t like this element. For most gamers, the difficulty level here will be too hard.
Alongside The Tournament there are other modes that you can dip into. If you fancy just racing around you can head over to ‘Arcade’ or you can go online to play against your friends. There’s also the ‘Team Race’ mode that enables you to race as part of a team where you have to earn points to win. For the speed demons among you, try out ‘Time Attack’ or ‘Checkpoints’, and you’ll be able to work on getting round the tracks as quickly as possible.
‘Screamer’ is without a doubt an ambitious game but in trying to do too much, it detracts from the core of the game. Visually it’s a stunning game and I’m sure some people will love the anime cut scenes, but for me it held up the gameplay too much. Add to this a control system that’s anything but easy to master, and the game left me feeling like I probably wouldn’t come back to play again too often. ‘Screamer’ is a case of style over substance, which is frustrating as it could have been a classic racing game.
Publisher: Milestone Developer: Milestone Reviewed on: PS5 Also available on: Xbox Series X|S and PC Release date: 26th March 2026
