Slipstream Blue Hour Expansion Review PS4

Retro-inspired games are very popular and there have been quite a few just this year alone. In the 80’s and 90’s there has been some great racing games and perhaps the most popular one was Sega’s Outrun. Below is a racing game that first released on PC back in 2018 and in 2022 it found its way to the console market. The game I am talking about is Slipstream from BlitWorks which has seen a release on the next gen consoles in 2023 and an expansion Blue Hour.

When you load up Slipstream and play it for a while you will see how much inspiration was taken from Outrun, as well as paying its respects to another great Sega game called Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The background has some details from the platformer as well the recognisable blur to show speed. The sky is representing the blue hour, which is the part of the day that is between the sunset and night when the sky has a blue tone, which is also where the name for the expansion comes from.

There are five new tracks available in the expansion which now allows the gamers to drive some real-world locations. The locations are Pompeii, Transylvania, Edinburgh, Marseille and Granada. Due to the nature of sprite scaling the tracks are not necessarily varied with similar climbs, tunnels and curves which leads into narrower sections which can make flipping your opponent’s car or most likely yours. There are new lighting effects which makes the tracks look great.

The feeling you get when your foot is down and you are seeing a field of 2D flowers before making a turn is just great. The custom game engine is able to pull off the silky-smooth gameplay which would not have been possible in the 80’s and 90’s while keeping the retro feel to give a nice nostalgia feeling. If you played the game when it initially released then you know the content was plenty with a few modes, even a 16-car battle royale. Now you have a new trophy to compete for and also the progress is saved.

There are now three new vehicles added to an already great line up and each has some very interesting traits. Now with eight cars available the game is feeling more balanced and even. Even though it is a five-year-old game, it still looks good and the slight tweak to the game engine makes it even more awe inspiring. But don’t fear the game still looks and plays retro and keeps to its core, just some new, updated stuff added to make it better.

Final Thoughts

The Blue Hour expansion to the fun Slipstream is so much fun. It adds to the game and makes a great title even greater. I missed this first time around, but now I am glad I had the chance to give this great retro-inspired racer some game time and I was pleasantly surprised. A worthwhile purchase.