Fans of classic racing games will undoubtedly recognize Screamer – an MS-DOS-era title from the 1990s. With Milestone looking to bring the series back with brand new anime-inspired art and aesthetic styles, we had quite a few questions about how it was going to play out. Thankfully, game director Federico Cardini was kind enough to answer these questions, with subjects ranging from inspirations behind bringing back the classic, to how the Echo System works against multiple opponents, and even its core story.
What inspired the decision to bring back a classic 1990s era franchise like Screamer?
Screamer has been a game that we wanted to bring back since its last installment. A new pitch would come around every few years, but we felt that they weren’t quite landing since we were searching for that very bold ingredient to make the game stand out in the racing game market. This all changed when we decided to power up the original idea of Screamer with our love for Japan animation and fighting games.
One of Screamer’s core mechanics is the Echo system. When did it become a central part of the project, and how did it influence the overall design of the game?
The Echo System was present since the pitch for the game, albeit in a more primordial form. Having taken inspiration from fighting games we knew we wanted an element of vehicular combat in the game and everything else needed to be designed around that, so that the racing part wouldn’t be drowned under these types of mechanics.
"Screamer has been a game that we wanted to bring back since its last installment."
In races with multiple opponents, how does the Echo system work in terms of its tug of war style gameplay?
When racing it’s quite important to engage strategically with the resources offered by the Echo System. A Boost used in the perfect track section, a Shield activated at the right time, a well-positioned Strike against an opponent, a masterfully controlled Overdrive until its end are all things that spice up racing in Screamer and can (and do) make the difference between victory and defeat.
Screamer’s story is said to be inspired by classic racing anime. What were some of the key influences behind its narrative and tone?
We took inspiration from any type of anime, not just racing anime, because we wanted our story to feel different from your standard racing game. Also, as I mentioned before, we are big fans of anime ourselves and we wanted to fully embrace that style of narrative for our game. Expect some big surprises and a plethora of mature themes.
Beyond racing and story, how important is customisation to the overall experience?
We’ve put quite a lot of effort into customization because even if our cars are designed to fit a specific character, we wanted the player to still be able to give them a personal touch. Customisation in this game doesn’t have performance modifiers attached to it, so you can customize any car with a slew of pre-made options without worrying about the handling.
The game features both a pseudo cyberpunk city aesthetic and tracks that run through natural environments like forests. How did you balance these contrasting settings in terms of story and tone?
"We took inspiration from any type of anime, not just racing anime, because we wanted our story to feel different from your standard racing game."
Balancing the variety in our environment hasn’t been easy. First, a lot of work has gone into creating background lore for everything so that our artists had a clearer picture of the mood they should strive for the tracks. Then, since the contrast between the locations wasn’t something avoidable we instead decided to embrace it and we quickly made it a keyword to use throughout the entire game as a guide; you can see this contrast in many things, like the VFX designed to look more anime-like with the realistic lighting, the almost painted skies against the realistic cars, or even the characters and how their contrasting personalities make the narrative unfolds. Quite a lot of work has been done to blend these souls together and we hope that players will appreciate that.
What core multiplayer modes can players expect at launch?
At launch players will be able to bring the competition Online in a playlist of game modes and Private Lobbies, with Ranked Team Race coming shortly after launch.
How does the Echo system function in online races where every player is managing their own Echo gauge?
Online the Echo System brings a whole new level of depth to the competition, since tricking other players into wasting their resources, by faking a Strike for example, becomes essential to come out on top at higher skill levels.
What resolutions and frame rates are you targeting on PS5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PS5 Pro?
The game runs at 60FPS with enhanced frame rates on Series X and PS5 Pro.
