The reveal of Star Wars: Galactic Racer at The Game Awards last year was one of the annual showcase’s most welcome surprises. Not just another racing game eager to capitalise on a beloved property, but one from an all-new studio made up of veteran developers who helped shape classic properties like Need for Speed and Burnout. That pedigree alone was enough to convince me this game could be something special, and after playing it, I’m even more on board.
Galactic Racer Is Burnout: Star Wars
Burnout’s DNA is plain to see from the moment you start your engines. You’re not just racing against opponents to the finish line – you’re tussling with them and trying to take them out by any means necessary. Your reward for doing so successfully, just like in Burnout, is an epic cinematic that shows your opponent crashing and burning in spectacular fashion.
Such moments look better than they ever did in Burnout, with two decades of technological advancements allowing the destruction of podracers and speeders to both appear and feel incredible. It also helps that this is all unfolding on gorgeous planets like Ando Prime, not boring old cities on Earth. Galactic Racer perfectly replicates that intimate and intense feeling you got when taking down opponents in Burnout all those years ago, something very few have been able to pull off since.
Galactic Racer’s Campaign Being A Roguelike Is A Good Thing, I Promise
The solo campaign is, indeed, a roguelike. This revelation has left some feeling skeptical. I felt the same way at first, even though I’m a big fan of the genre. I wasn’t sure how it could successfully be combined with a racing game like this one. Thankfully, there is no need to worry. As soon as I saw exactly how the roguelike formula had been applied to Galactic Racer’s campaign, all of my fears melted away.
You play as a delivery driver named Shade who has been coaxed into competing in the Galactic League. A token allows you to do that, but once you lose that token, you have to start your journey over again. That’s where the roguelike element comes in. The thing is, you’re not just repeating the same process over. Not only is there a developing story with plenty of stakes and interesting characters, there’s a path that changes every time your progress is reset.
You start by choosing between two races to begin your journey before being presented with additional choices as you move forward, as challenges, time trials, and mystery events are thrown into the mix. Different upgrades, parts, and abilities can be applied to your vehicle, making your build truly unique each time as you try to correct mistakes made during your last unsuccessful run.
When your run comes to an end, all those add-ons are removed. However, the pool of options from which you can choose grows. You’ll also keep the credits you ended your run with. That means you can start upgrading your speeder sooner, hopefully leaving you better prepared and thus able to progress further. It’s a beefy campaign that takes you all across the galaxy, too. I didn’t even come close to reaching the end of act one during my preview.
Arcade Mode Is For The Podracers
If the roguelike nature of Galactic Racer’s campaign doesn’t grab you, or you’re eager for more content besides that, there’s Arcade Mode. Here, you can hone your skills against the finest racers from across the galaxy. You can use every speeder type, and there are various characters with different builds to choose from, allowing you to get a feel for everything the game has to offer without having to grind the campaign.
This is also where the most famous form of Star Wars racing shows its face – podracing. You do not pit speeders and podracers against each other in Galactic Racer; that wouldn’t make sense. Podracing is effectively its own separate mode. The game includes all of the podracing icons you know from Phantom Menace, and while there are multiple tracks to choose from, nothing I did during the preview compared to racing around Mos Espa.
Yes, I did race as Sebulba. Do you even need to ask?
Galactic Racer Is Every Bit The Game You’re Hoping It’s Going To Be
From what I’ve played thus far, Galactic Racer is everything I wanted it to be and more. The roguelike campaign is a stroke of genius that gives you much more content than a standard campaign, while arcade mode is loaded with options that will make every race feel different and unique.
Above all else, the way Galactic Racer feels is what’s really going to hook people in and keep them there. Not only does it feel like a Star Wars-themed evolution of the Burnout series, but everything about it feels exactly the way you’d want to feel. The perfect balance of wide open tracks and bottleneck moments that up the intensity. Breakneck speeds combined with near misses that will make your heart race. High-speed collisions that lead to everything-or-nothing moments. Galactic Racer’s campaign and arcade modes are everything you want them to be.
- Released
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October 6, 2026
- Developer(s)
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Fuse Games
- Publisher(s)
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Secret Mode
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
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Full
