STAR WARS: Galactic Racer is one of the best racing games, let alone Star Wars games, I’ve played in a long time (ago in a galaxy far away).
Fantastic gameplay mechanics, super-polished, beautiful worlds and… there’s a photo mode. And we all know how much I love a photo mode.
Developed by Fuse Games, made up of the creators of Burnout, and published by Secret Mode, STAR WARS: Galactic Racer takes the iconic racing side of the galaxy far, far away and turns it into a full-blown racing adventure.
Rather than simply throwing you into a series of races, the game combines its racing with a roguelike progression system, a story-driven campaign and explorable race pits across the galaxy.
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Earning Your Ride
One of the things I enjoyed most about Galactic Racer was its progression. The campaign doesn’t simply hand you the keys to a pod racer from the opening moments — you need to earn it. Like… Really earn it. This game is hard in the beginning!
There’s three main vehicles to choose from: Landspeeders, Speeder Bikes and Skim Speeders. I went with the classic Landspeeder for my campaign playthrough, slowly upgrading it with each run.
You can explore the race pits on each planet, walking around in third person and speaking with the occasional NPC. I used this time to snap pics in the game’s photo mode, of course.
The further you progress through the campaign, the more you unlock in the pits. From new stores selling upgrade parts to a direct line to various syndicates who sponsor your races, there’s always something new waiting for you.
There’s a real sense of progression here, and it makes each new unlock feel meaningful.
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Galactic Racer is also a roguelike, so failing a tournament run will send you all the way back to the start. That might sound frustrating, but you can earn upgrade points to refine your vehicle and change how each run plays out.
Slowly improving your vehicle, learning the tracks and finally making it through a tournament you’ve struggled with is a surreal feeling. There’s a genuine sense of accomplishment when you pull it off.
Now THIS is podracing!
Eventually, all that progression leads to the thing I really wanted from Galactic Racer — podracing.
The campaign teases it through the appearance of the legendary Sebulba, the Dug who featured heavily in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.
After meeting him, you can talk to him around the racing pits and, over time, he slowly reveals his favourite podracing memories to you.
I was in awe the first time I jumped into Sebulba’s pod and took on that classic Boonta Evea race.
The detail on this track is phenomenal.
But it’s not just this track — every single race track is incredible. Across all of the planets, Galactic Racer delivers some seriously beautiful environments.
I did experience some very minor texture issues on the PlayStation 5 Pro, but nothing game-breaking. Otherwise, this is an extremely polished video game.
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More Than Just Racing
The campaign had no right to be this good. I never expected a racing game to draw me into its story quite so much.
You play as Shade, someone full of mystery whose history is slowly revealed as you progress through the campaign. You also have a quiet history with your main rival, Kestar Bool, adding another layer to the story as their relationship unfolds.
The entire campaign is fully voice acted, and while the environments often reminded me of Star Wars Outlaws, Galactic Racer has a personality and visual identity of its own.
There’s a surprising amount of depth to the campaign, too. Between upgrading your vehicles, unlocking new areas of the pits, meeting characters and working your way towards the ultimate prize of podracing, there’s always something pushing you forward.
And that’s ultimately what makes Galactic Racer work so well.
Its not simply a collection of Star Wars vehicles racing around pretty planets. There’s a genuine sense of progression and purpose behind every run, and the game gives you plenty of reasons to keep coming back — which I plan on doing daily for the foreseeable future.
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Should you buy STAR WARS: Galactic Racer?
STAR WARS: Galactic Racer is an absolute blast. It looks fantastic, feels great to play and its progression system kept me coming back for one more run. The podracing is everything I hoped it would be, but it’s the depth of the campaign and sheer variety of tracks that really impressed me.
A few minor texture issues aside, this is an incredibly polished Star Wars racing experience — and one I can see myself returning to for a long time. Get this game.
Quest Daily scores STAR WARS: Galactic Racer:
9/10
STAR WARS: Galactic Racer is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Access to STAR WARS: Galactic Racer was supplied to QD by the publisher.
