I had never heard of 1995 PC racing game Screamer before developer Milestone announced a modern revival, but after checking out the teaser trailer at The Game Awards 2024 and the scant bits of info in the first press release for the upcoming reimagining, I'm absolutely obsessed.
The original Screamer was a pretty straightforward arcade racing game, often billed as PC gaming's answer to Ridge Racer. It reviewed well at the time, but it was probably most notable as an early title that required a Pentium processor - a reminder that the PC upgrade arms race was already in full effect back in the '90s. These days, it's a lot easier to play thanks to GOG.
It'll only take about three seconds of viewing the trailer below to recognize that the new Screamer is taking a different, and much more intense direction. There's no gameplay to be seen, but we do get a look at a cyberpunk setting and drifting that looks straight out of Initial D. In a press release, Milestone says it aims to "craft a brand-new experience with standout fighting mechanics destined to leave a lasting impact on the genre, just as the original did in the '90s."
The new game is putting a big emphasis on a wild sci-fi narrative, too. "Combining plot themes of human will, revenge, love, and greed with classic sci-fi imagery, Screamer immerses players in the clash between personal desires and external forces that seek to control them," the press release continues. "This journey unfolds through the eyes of a diverse cast of characters involved in a street racing tournament organized by a mysterious figure." That mysterious figure seems to be portrayed by none other than The Last of Us - and what feels like 80% of all video games released in the past decade - star Troy Baker.
The cutscenes are being produced by Polygon Pictures, a prolific Japanese studio that's had a quiet hand in all kinds of projects over the years. They've worked on episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Love, Death & Robots. They've done movies like the Netflix Godzilla trilogy and the upcoming film for my anime guilty pleasure, Hypnosis Mic. They've also helped produce cutscenes for a wide array of video games, from Fortnite and Street Fighter V to Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 and the ever-controversial Metroid: Other M.
Screamer is such a weird confluence of things that I can't help but be mesmerized by it - even without the connection to an interesting historical note of a racing game, an absurdly prolific voice actor, and a notable animation studio, the promise of a story-driven cyberpunk racing game is more than enough to set my heart aflutter. And Milestone's pedigree with the long-running MotoGP sims and well-regarded Hot Wheels arcade racers suggests the studio hasn't lost its touch.
For now, you can expect Screamer to launch 2026 across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
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