Galactic Racer already looks like the perfect successor to Burnout

Previews for Stakes Wars: Galactic Racer has begun circulating online, and it seems this arcade racer has quite a few genre-defying tricks up its sleeve. That said, the detail that has stuck with me the most actually comes from another racing series, one deeply connected to developer Fuse Games' past. What I'm worried about, the single most exciting thing about Star Wars: Galactic Racer is that it is resurrected Burnouts Takedowns and Eliminator races—and drags the gritty genius of that franchise into a galaxy far, far away with it.

Several stores recently got a hands-on preview of Galactic Racerand each brought a number of new and exciting features, especially for what had until now looked like a simple (but admittedly wonderful) Star Wars licensed arcade racer. The game seems to draw inspiration from all over, and as a certified fan of the genre, certain roguelite elements stood out to me as a surprisingly high note. After sitting with the details though, I want to go over why the tacking of Takedowns and Eliminators to that system is what sold me the hardest, as a player and as a die-hard Star Wars Guy.

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Fuse Games brings Burnout 3 to Star Wars: Galactic Racer

For those who may not know, Eliminators are multi-lap races that see whoever sits in last place at the end of each lap cut out of the race entirely, lap after lap, until one driver is left standing, and they originally came about in Burnout franchise, especially Burnout 3: Takedown. According to IGN's preview, these races seem to define the shape of Galactic Racers run-based campaign, because just like your traditional roguelite, there's only one thing standing between you and continuing through the branching tournament of races scattered across different planets. The one thing is the League Token, and it's required for every event in the campaign.

Players can lose their token and wipe the entire race by earning anything but a solid first place finish in the Eliminator races scattered throughout the campaign tournament, saving only the cosmetic unlocks and ability upgrades they had already earned along the way. And the most common way to slip into that fateful last spot? To be driven into a wall, via Burnouts very own Takedowns. Hitting a rival's repulsorcraft hard enough to destroy it (or get smacked, for that matter) even triggers a slow-motion crash shot at a camera angle almost identical to the Criterion popularized two decades ago, and just seeing that detail made me a little giddy.

All-or-nothing Racing is Fuse Games' comfort zone

Of course, none of this pedigree is a coincidence: Fuse Games was founded in 2023 by senior developers straight from Criterion, the studio that built Burnout primarily. Fuse CEO Matt Webster even served as executive producer on Burnout 3: Takedownthe 2004 entry that turned both Eliminator and Takedown into cornerstones of the franchise and catapulted the series into the mainstream. That background makes it much clearer why Galactic Racer seems to shoot it out of the gate against the genre's meanest ideas.

Racing in Star Wars should be terrifying

Although I had seen plenty of footage of speeder bikes crashing from previous games, and was expecting some car combat, I never expected this kind of licensed racing game to even make it to Elimination matches. But even now I can tell it will work well; compete in Star Wars has always been a deadly business — podrace in The Phantom Menace killing multiple competitors on screen, letting Sebulba cheat with open flame gout, and turning a single bad line into a junkyard in the canyon wall. Alongside a deeper roguelite system, with multiple unique abilities and vehicle-specific race types, and difficulty curves throughout, a mode that can vaporize an hour's progress over an ugly lap is the closest a fan can get to actually being Anakin in that race.

It's also good that the Eliminator doesn't shoulder all the tension due to the mode itself. Tracks on different planets will obviously overlay hazards designed to shut you down instantly – Lantana's magma blobs will boil your vehicle if you linger, Ando Prime's ice will freeze you stiff if you don't thread its heating tunnels, and while universal, the Ramjet ability boost will simply explode past your redline. Alongside the pros and cons of Galactic Racers confirmed vehicles or vehicle types, each of these offers another way to lose a place at exactly the wrong moment, and in an Eliminator, the entire race qualifies as a wrong moment.

Full circles and further additions to Galactic Racer

There's a full-circle factor to all of this, too, as, according to Traxion's preview, Webster cited the podracer crashes from The Phantom Menace as a direct reference point for Burnouts spectacular wrecks back in the day, describing them as “a good reference point for how to do nice, exciting crashes.” Star Wars effectively taught Burnout how to make a wreck feel cinematic, and now Burnouts own architects bring that aesthetic back to the scene that sparked it.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s)

And practically, the amount of other new information from these previews seems to round out this central element quite well. Before a race even begins, you can nail down a fire sequence prompt to start with your afterburner primed or your shield precharged, then spring a Mario Kart-style gas gauge to get off the starting line. Aside from just providing extra things to do, these seem like a perfect fit for a campaign format that's so unforgiving, as these micro-decisions can be the difference between advancing in a run and starting over.

My only lingering hope

All in all, the various previews of Star Wars: Galactic Racer have done exactly what they were intended to do, and I can confidently say that I'm hyped for this game's release on October 6th. My only real concern is where pod racing fits into all of this. That vehicle type will be the fastest and most fragile on offer, making it the racing type Galactic Racers top challenge.

Developers at Fuse have said that pod racing (and racers like Sebulba himself) is introduced to the campaign “in an interesting way”, but in my opinion it should work as a campaign's final test rather than a bonus on the side. I want pod racing to be the endgame of the roguelite campaign, where I really have everything to lose. After all in the first Star Wars racing game of two decades, one built thereafter on terror and consequence, the Boonta Eve Classic is the only fitting place for a run to finish in victory, or crash in defeat.