Cyber Clutch: Hot Import Nights Review (PS5) – Wiped Out
There was a time in the early-to-mid 2000’s when racing games were, dare I say it, the most creative. In one camp, we had the high speed likes of F-Zero GX and Extreme G3, and the battle-racers in Split/Second and Blur. The other had the stylish types, your Need For Speed Underground’s, Auto Modellista’s and the like. So, when both combined and out popped Cyber Clutch: Hot Import Nights, I was intrigued.
A battle-racer with customisable rides, Cyber Clutch is a game based on speed. Well, and weaponry, and sick customisation with all the neon bells and whistles the future will allow, as players hoon around vibrant cityscapes.
Does it fill that need for speed, in a market lacking high octane racers, or is it too slow to keep up with the times? Let’s find out.
Neon Opulence
I’d love to give Cyber Clutch a grandiose section on story, to set the scene. Is it decadent billionaires on the next adrenaline rush? Or is it the neon apocalypse, with high society cowering in high rises whilst the dregs of lower classes zoom around in souped-up Corsas?
No idea, as the game tells us absolutely nothing from the offset. The general gist is one picks a cup to take part in, then they pick a car they like.
…and then they race in that required amount of races, taking medals based on their performance. Pretty much like any racing game back in the days before stories became shoehorned in.
In a way, I kind of respect it. Cyber Clutch seems to be harking back to the days of old, when racing games were just that. Still, a little bit of fluff text to set the scene wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Pushing It
So, if you haven’t twigged by the previous text, Cyber Clutch is a racer based on the more over-the-top style than Gran Turismo seriousness. What that entails, if you’ve never played a Mario Kart, a Blur, maybe even Street Racer back in the SNES days, is boosts and explosions.
Set against seven other racers, the goal is to come first, as always. Strewn throughout these elaborate courses, through sewers to skyscrapers, are weapons and boost strips to ensure that edge over the others.
It is very much in the kart racer category, with rockets and mines, machine guns and orbital death lasers in place of mushrooms and shells.
Oh sure, all the competitors are named edgy things like Viper and Esper, but a rose by any other handle and all that…
Kitted Out
The Need for Speed comparison that comes with Cyber Clutch may seem obvious, but it’s still worth a mention. Where Cyber Clutch differs from other kart racers is that it has a sense of style, albeit a shallow one.
The cars are a set template, as are the signature weapons that each one varies with. What can be changed, however, are the various spoilers and bumpers, rims and trims you mostly see before you.
It’s as thin a concept as customisation goes, but it does add a little variation and individuality. Not that it really matters, as you’ll be spending the majority of the time playing against bots.
The Fast And Lonely Road
I would love to say that I had a blast dabbling in the multiplayer of Cyber Clutch, but in the last few weeks of owning the game, guess how many online races I got into?
Two.
And of those two races, take a stab at the races that either raced to completion, or at least got one full lap done before either kicking me out or just losing connection?
Neither.
Which brings me to the biggest issue going with this game: it’s pretty much dead in the water. I may as well turn this section into the negatives part, so let’s just wrap this up. The biggest issue is the lack of polish in the actual racing itself.
When it works, it has that Rollcage level of fun that leaping over ramps and wallriding pipes at high speed can bring. When it doesn’t, it’s very good at randomly bouncing your car on the spot when it lands, killing all speed and momentum. Some landings are safe and protected by invisible walls to keep the flow going, whereas some barriers may as well have been figments of my imagination.
And lastly, don’t even consider this just for the easy trophies (on PlayStation). They pop, but good luck actually seeing them in your trophy library, or added to your overall level/percentage.
I Don’t Feel That Need For Speed
If it seems like I’m rushing through this review, despite sitting on the game for longer than necessary a while, it’s because my enthusiasm ran out pretty shortly after it started. I wanted to enjoy this. As I said at the start, we’re really lacking in proper high speed, arcade-style racers. So when Cyber Clutch dropped into FGHQ, I was excited.
But sadly, there’s just no substance to it. A handful of cups to do, only to unlock the “extreme” versions of it, a non-existent multiplayer element and a thin veneer of customisation just make this a style-over-substance racer.
If you want some fun multiplayer, give F-Zero 99 a go on the Switch, it’s free. If you want WipeOut, pick up the PlayStation 4 remasters. But if you’re looking for that spiritual successor/hybrid evolution to Need For Speed Underground, this isn’t it.
Cyber Clutch: Hot Import Nights is available now on PlayStation 5 (review platform), Xbox Series S|X and PC via Steam.
Developer: Gunpowder Games
Publisher: Current Games
