FutureGrind

We sit down and review FutureGrind. A new stunt-platformer that adds a twist to light cycles. Here is our review of FutureGrind

As the sea of shooters and RPGs seem to be starting up soon, it is time to take in something a bit less traditional and independent with FutureGrind. A new stun-platforming title that has launched from Milkbag Games to give us all another trial and tribulation on our PS4, Switch, and PC. All while keeping a future and cyberpunk style look about it with the other challenges. This, of course, leads to the question of how good FutureGrind actually is. This is why we are back yet again with our review of this title that has just launched.

Story

Get ready for the new extreme sport of the future as we have light cycles piloted around multicolored neon tracks. All for our entertainment as well as for the rider to score some sweet sponsorship deals. The better you perform, the new and cooler bikes you are offered. At least that is how it all looks on their surface. Something else could be going on, but you need to look past the distractions of the fancy lights, crazy tracks, and killer music to be able to spot just what that could be. You could just keep focusing on the sweet moves though…

Hated

I have to start off that the UI of FutureGrind does not feel like it was implemented all too well. A weird thing to focus on at first, but when a simple slip up could keep you playing the same track over and over again without knowing how to move on, I would say there is an issue. It is not set up in a fully traditional way or progresses in the functional way it looks like it should. You almost have to keep a close on eye on all of it to make sure you are not just repeating things over and over without actually progressing in the game. Not the worst thing, for sure, but it can get quite frustrating when all you want to do is move on to the next challenge.

Challenge is now the next on my list as well as the thing I found enjoyable in FutureGrind. It is a weird double edge as the part I could not stand had to be the physics of the game and how they seemed to change in the game. Not due to location or any real reason, but like they still had some issues that needed to be worked out before launch. Learning how to manage certain jumps and moves on one level of FutureGrind did not always mean it worked on other levels or the same one you were just on. This led to quite a few explosions from the wrong color wheel hitting the wrong color track. Something I would have been fine to deal with if it was always user error and not the game overcompensating one time and under the next even with the same degree on input.

Loved

While the basic challenge of FutureGrind had its issues, when it worked just right it kept me striving to be better and perfect my runs. It had me wanting to learn how to figure out the timing and motions to try to get the smoothest flow for the level while mastering the new bikes. When something failed out on my end, FutureGrind had me back wanting to get better and see just what I could pull off. Even when the difficulty ramped up with the inclusion of new colors, tracks that changed the colors, and all of the other twists that could be thrown in. This would all be a loved section thing had it not been for the physic glitching out at random times instead of always working.

Even though at times it was hard to take in, the art style of FutureGrind was also quite impressive. Just as impressive as the audio and soundtrack mixed in. They all blended together extremely well and put forth a game world that felt more planned out than just cobbling together some tracks and basic platforming. There was room to improve upon it all, sure, but the basics that Milkbag Games presented here showed that there was more thought in FutureGrind than just that. I can see some out there easily getting lost in listening to the soundtrack or going through the various assets outside of enjoying them in real-time during the game. Even if you do not normally enjoy those kinds of things in your video games.

Overview

FutureGrind has some faults that need to be taken in when starting things up, but once you know them and see how to circumvent as much as possible, it is a fun game to lose yourself in. It may not be the longest title out there, but the varying difficulties and challenges each bike and track offer up can have you wanting to go back and do better. Just make sure you do not get stuck in a loop of the same track and challenges as I did during my time with FutureGrind. It could be frustrating, even with the great visuals and sound to cam you back down.

I give FutureGrind a 720° Flashy Flip on the Flashy Flip scale.

FutureGrind was developed and published by Milkbag Games for the PS4, Switch, and PC on January 22^nd, 2019. A PS4 copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes.