There are a lot of decent racing games for Meta Quest, but there’s always room for more. The latest to join this roster as an Early Access title is Horizon Speedway Racing from Lucid Forge Studios. However, as our colleagues at 131XR found in their review, while Horizon Speedway Racing may look promising initially, it needs a lot more work before it can be recommended.
Three, Two, One…stall
Horizon Speedway Racing aims to provide a classic racing simulation experience in VR. You have some flashy cars and some decent-looking tracks, and away you go. Grab the steering wheel, stick your foot (hypothetically) to the floor, and enjoy action-packed, single-player racing.
Unfortunately, that’s mostly where any positive feedback ends. While this is an Early Access game much like RACECLUB, offering only three tracks and two cars, Horizon Speedway Racing lacks RACECLUB’s polish.
Horizon Speedway Racing Review
A lack of content can be forgiven in Early Access games so long as what’s there is reasonably polished and enjoyable. Alas, 131XR’s review of Horizon Speedway Racing uncovers a litany of issues ranging from the gameplay and AI, to the visual design.
In any racing game, you’d be expecting the actual driving element to be the most honed part of the experience. Yet here 131XR encounters issues with the steering whereby even the mildest of turns would jerk the car into a 180. So until you learn the intricacies of the steering mechanics, it’s almost impossible to win. Winning is further complicated by the fact that should a crash put your car on its roof, there’s no way to reorient – unless another car hits you.
As for the visual design, while Horizon Speedway Racing looks decent in screenshots, watch the review, and you’ll notice horrendous pop-up. Environment details either appear out of nowhere or fade in so late they’re pointless.
All of which makes Horizon Speedway Racing one of the rare times 131XR recommends avoiding a game.
Time for a Pit Stop
Realistically, Horizon Speedway Racing needs a lot of work doing to it before it’s worth purchasing. It might be super cheap, but even then, it’s worth spending your money on all the better games available for Meta Quest.
Normally at this point in an Early Access review, XRSource would recommend stuff like more content, fleshing out the experience so you get more than an hour of gameplay. But in this instance, more tracks and cars aren’t the crucial addition here; it’s polish and refinement.
So what’s your favourite racing game on Meta Quest? Let us know in the comments.
