Zero Gear Beta Impressions

Zero Gear is a new PC only multiplayer kart racing game brought to you by NimbleBit (a team of about three guys).  While Currently in beta Zero Gear does show some promise.  The game has you hopping into races or mini games of up to eight players (with or without bots).  However before doing that you might want to customize your racer.  The garage allows you to customize anything and everything.  There's a good size of different karts, drivers, accessories and colors to choose from.  

While not super deep the customization is perfect for this type of game and adds to the personality of the game.  As you can see I took a liking to the Turtle racer, but there's plenty more to choose from and most likely something to anyones liking. 

 

Zero Gear has a multitude of game modes ranging from a two lap race to a soccer arena where you'll have to score the most goals in the allotted time.  My personal favorite is the mini game that puts you on an over sized ski-ball machine and you have to launch yourself into the highest possible point basket.  None the less there's enough variety within each mode that you'll stay interested in the game.  However, there are a few glaring bugs that Zero Gear will need to address before it reaches a full release.

 

First and foremost while the controls get the job done they feel wrong.  I'm a huge kart/arcade racing fan.  I love my Mario Kart, WipEout, etc.  Which really made the controls in Zero Gear stick out like a sore thumb.  The turning feels wonky and there's no real sense of speed.  The powerups with the exception of a couple are your typical powerups that you come to expect and while the game has a really great graphical styling the controls hold it back tremendously.  I did notice a few instances where the game lagged a bit but as mentioned this is a beta and hopefully these things will be fixed. 

For what it's worth, Zero Gear has potential.  If the controls are reworked and the game runs as well as it does most of the time in beta then it'll be great fun to play.  The game offers up some unique and fun mini games and really is something that could potentially spark a nice following.  While playing in the beta I found about 20 or so people online at a time.  I'd imagine however that has grown and will grow.  If the controls get tweaked, more original power ups are added and if the game can gather a good multiplayer crowd Zero Gear looks like it could be yet another game to look forward to.  However, being a kart racer, it does have some very stiff competition.

 

For more info on Zero Gear and to sign up for beta access go to http://myzerogear.com/