Preview | Bump & Run Racing

LifeisXbox’s Bump & Run Racing Preview | When it comes to high-speed racing games, you immediately think of games like Need For Speed, Forza Motorsport, and even the Dirt series. Bump & Run Racing however is one of mystery. A game that so far, is suffering from what appears to be an identity crisis, unsure of what it is trying to accomplish. From the very beginning of booting up the game, I was presented with a myriad of issues, confusing UI, and a bunch of legal agreements that I had not anticipated. Not to be confused with the Bump & Run Racing that is featured in NASCAR, this has nothing to do with it, which can leave potential players very confused.

ℹ️ Previewed on Xbox Series X | Preview code provided by PR/publisher, this preview is the personal opinion of the writer and is based on an unfinished game.

Poor Vehicle Customisation

Bump & Run Racing will disappoint enthusiasts with its lackluster car customisation options, a feature that fails to impact the vehicle’s performance. Despite offering a range of cosmetic alterations—from paint jobs to decals and accessories—the absence of meaningful performance upgrades undermines the customisation experience. When I first saw the ability to fine-tune the cars to suit different tracks or playstyles, I was left disappointed by these cosmetic-only changes. If you want to improve the car’s performance, the way you go about this is to unlock the next car in the tier. This is done by playing map after map and beating the challenges that go alongside each career mission.

The Audio

Bump & Run Racing has some good audio overall. This feels like where most of the budget has gone. The sound effects sounded authentic enough, and the music was upbeat. The game features a custom soundtrack that reminded me of the early 2000s, with bands like The Offspring, Greenday & Fallout Boy. But don’t get your hopes up, these aren’t here. Despite this, this continues to be the game’s only strong suit.

The Visuals

Bump & Run Racing isn’t a pretty-looking game. Despite running on next-gen hardware, Bump & Run Racing looks to be something from the Xbox 360 era. Details are lacking on the track and the background, and with cars meant as the focus point of the game, it is sad to see that details are lacking here as well. In some cases, you can see through parts of the car that you shouldn’t be able to. For example, the exhaust system has inverted normals (which means the mesh is inside out) and allows you to see through the material onto the floor. Simply making two-sided materials would have fixed this and looked much better.
Overall the game is void of life. The only real detail comes in the form of traffic that is dotted around the track giving some semblance of life. Ultimately though the game suffers badly in this area.

Confusing UI

In Bump & Run Racing, the UI can be frustratingly cluttered. The main menu gives you access to a career mode, a party mode, and various options. The problem with the career is it looks like one mission which only adds to the confusion. The options menu gets even weirder with the game warning you that PC players need to choose appropriate settings for their hardware, even though this is a console game. It appears to me that the developer hasn’t gone through the process of fully porting it to the console yet, hence the preview. What made this even weirder, was that the game actively allows you to choose PC as a device and then proceeds to let you configure things like force lock frame rates, resolution, FXAA, motion blur, and more. Testing this out froze my game for several minutes before giving me back control. Unsure what this may have done to my Xbox Series X and TV settings, I restarted and chose Xbox Series X from the options which defaults to Ultra quality.

Uninspired Racing

The whole point of Bump & Run Racing is to race cars. But even here, the game lacks any sort of “fun” and instead opts for janky controls with sensitivity through the roof. The drift button sends you skidding into most barriers and oncoming traffic which does damage your car, but ultimately doesn’t look like much damage has been done. The physics for driving is all off, and if you are expecting some tight driving mechanics, you are in for a bad time. The modes available are general racing, hot pursuit, and takedown. All of these modes are recycled over and over again throughout the career mode which can be completed within an hour. The first mission has you racing against some AI drivers with the challenge being you must come in first place. If you don’t, you must retry. Once you get used to the steering, you will breeze through each level. The A button gives you a boost of nos but will run out eventually. The second set of missions has you performing takedowns on your rivals with the challenge being how many you can get in 2 minutes. There wasn’t any special mechanic to perform these takedowns, other than ramming them hard enough when they slow down, or into oncoming traffic. The game also has a mode called Eliminator, which removes the last person from the race if everyone else passes the finish line first. Circuit sees you complete several laps and ends only if you come first place which is essentially the same as the first game mode but just drawn out. The final set of races was in the form of Hot Persuit, something we saw way back during the original Xbox release of Need for Speed Hot Persuit. This is essentially a score-based level where you must drive above 60mph, outrun the police, and score a minimum of 650 points. This would have been a good mode to play, however, the AI is something that needs some serious work for it to be of any challenge.

Conclusion

Bump & Run Racing falls short as a compelling racing game, relying heavily on borrowed concepts from other titles without effectively executing them. While attempting to integrate familiar mechanics, the game struggles to create a cohesive and engaging experience for players. Its derivative nature, coupled with ineffective implementation, ultimately leads to a lackluster gaming experience that fails to innovate or captivate, leaving enthusiasts seeking a more polished and original racing adventure.

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