H-Craft Championship

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H-Craft Championship review
William Thompson

Review

Will racing of the future be like this?

Demolition Derby


One feature of HCC that is brought about by the style of racetracks is what I likened to a Demolition Derby. At the sections of the track where you can (and will) fall off, it must be noted that it is not just your H-Craft that can do so. Knowing that the other racers can also fall off, gives you the another racing style to choose from. If you are that way inclined, placing that perfectly timed bump to an opposition vehicle can set them sailing over the edge. Be warned though, opponents can do the same to you (although it seems as it is accidental) and concentrating too much on trying to nudge opponents off the track can cause you to fall off yourself.

What can the spectators expect to see?


Although the vehicles and scenery was clear and easy on the eye, the graphics are quite outdated. H-Craft are quite plain and could use some sort of sporting team logo to spruce them up a little. The tracks themselves are a tad on the boring side. The standard 'road grey' is primarily used with just the line markings making one track different from the next. The backgrounds are nice and do not conflict with the racetracks, but are nothing spectacular and hardly worth mentioning. Besides, when you are concentrating on winning the race, you wouldn’t be paying much attention to the landscapes anyway. It is only prior to, or after, the race that you will even notice them.

Hearing the buzz of the (H-Craft) fans


Audio is HCC, is limited too. Sound effects are fairly plain, with engine buzzing, dull metal sounds when crashes or bumps occur, and the usual beep, beep, beep for the countdown prior to the start of a race. The music is quite good and fits in well with the feel of the game. It blends in so that it is not overbearing, which is what you want from backing music. It can get a touch monotonous after playing for some time, but this is the same for most music.

One of the best features of HCC, are the controls. They are so simple anyone could just load the game and start playing without any worries. The arrow keys are all that are required. Left and Right arrows are used for steering and the Up arrow for acceleration. Couldn’t get any simpler that that. Moving around the menu system is a breeze too. The menus are well laid out and easy to navigate.

Lacking


There are a few things that could have been improved the gameplay of HCC. For one thing, after winning a Championship race the gamer is only given points towards ascending to the next level. It would have been nice to gain some sort of vehicle upgrade or money towards purchasing an upgrade. As it is, you are stuck with your starting H-Craft until Season 2. Even then you are given only one other option until Season 3, when you then have another option to choose from giving you a massive choice of three vehicles to choose from. The lack of vehicle, combined with no vehicle upgrades means that there isn’t much variation in this regard. It would be nice to be able to upgrade the starting H-Craft with 'stabilisers' to enable better turning, or better road gripping, or a temporary 'boost' function.

Back to the drawing board


HCC runs smoothly, and has enough variation in game styles to keep gamers interested for a little while. Having said that, after completing the Championship, there will be little need to keep playing. The graphics and sound, although not top notch, (and probably not the next notch down either) do an adequate job. Simple controls mean that anyone can start playing without any fuss. For a first up effort, Irrgheist has done well enough. With a few adjustments here and there (which I’m sure will come sooner or later) HCC and indeed, the small independent developer can only get better. H-Craft Championship is now available (via digital download) from the Irrgheist website.

5.0

fun score

No Pros and Cons at this time