Tahitian Driftin' Demo Impressions

I love Wipeout. There is something genuinely magical about rocketing around the curves of a raceway at a bajillion miles per hour while chasing after an elusive opponent. Even more so when played on a small handheld with the power to make it all seem effortless.

Tahitian Driftin's sun soaked raceway and punchy menus had already caught my eye before I even had the chance to read "anti-gravity racing". Those words were all it took for me to immediately download it, itching to feel that Wipeout magic once more.

Impressions

The following are my impressions after playing the demo. Presented as a rough bulleted list:

Positives

• vibes are immaculate
• rally style callouts were a great addition. I could see them being even more helpful at higher difficulties
• slipstream boost regeneration is a neat catch up mechanic
• art, sound, and gameplay all felt nicely balanced in their levels of polish leading to a very cohesive experience
• no performance issues
• i love wipeout

Critiques

• more fun when there's a car ahead of you
  • not much to do when you're in the lead
• UI diegesis occasionally limited the ability to convey information. I had to guess what things meant
  • gamemode select screen
  • tutorial button mappings
• My (lightweight) car could get seriously knocked around by even small taps or collisions
  • this is a bigger deal during boosts where the camera can misbehave
• The boost camera and limited steering often made boosting an unwieldy gamble rather than a strategic action
• I worry that the fun is found in the higher difficulty, many-car races. Unfortunately the setup of the Demo skews that gamemode to be played last.
• tutorial images were a little confusing, but I was still able to figure everything out
• For a game called "driftin", I didn't drift ever. This might be because I chose a car with high steering ability
• I was never able to figure out the drifting mechanic. Although the map and car I used never required it of me
• 4 car grid battle swings wildly between near-infinite boost uptime and extremely sparse boosting depending on if you're in first or not

Gameplay VOD

Additional Information

Device: Steam Deck LCD 512GB
Steam OS: 3.6.24
Date Played: May 20, 2025
Demo Build ID: 18464662

This demo was played in Game Mode on an external display. It was played with a DualShock 4 controller.