General Information
The racers, mockingly called clone jockeys, can happily kill each other's clones without any real consequences. Getting killed just means waiting a few seconds to pop back onto the track. It's a cool concept at its core, mixing parkour, precise platforming, and a Super Meat Boy-like approach to reckless death. However, it struggles to balance all these elements effectively.
The game offers several different modes. I first tried the PvE challenges, called Episodes, which combine tough racing with strict goals like finishing with fewer than five deaths, beating a target score, or checkpoint racing. These are fun but also extremely hard, much tougher than a regular race. If you're new to the game, hold off on the Episodes until you're more confident in your death sprinting skills. There's also Rehearsals, basically a practice mode. You pick a track, decide whether to race against AI or not, and just run. Lastly, there's Showtime mode, an eight-player PvP race, which is where the game really shines.
The AI clone jockeys are incredibly consistent in a way that human players can't match. They use power-ups amazingly (and annoyingly) well, leading to frustration that you don't feel when racing real people. Jump online and you'll compete against players who make mistakes just like you do. It's both easier and more rewarding to finish in the top three, without being constantly beaten by the AI. While the game calls its PvE races Rehearsals, don't be fooled – the best and most enjoyable way to learn is by competing against other humans.
One issue stands out – the game's small player base. While not the developer's fault, and you can usually find a match, you'll likely see the same racers often. At the time of this review, Steam showed only 17 players in the last 24 hours. The game is PC-only for now, so unless there's a sudden surge in interest (maybe after this review by yours truly), you might end up racing against bots in PvP mode too, which isn't much fun.
Though there's no concrete evidence, the game feels like it's gearing up to go free-to-play. It already offers a good range of cosmetic options. Your clone will always look like someone in a full-body suit, but you can pick different suits for some style, plus other cosmetics like player info backgrounds, similar to Call of Duty's calling cards.
Besides the tough AI, some technical hiccups hold the game back. Even with a solid rig (i7-12700F, Nvidia Geforce RTX 4070, 32GB RAM), I experienced occasional frame drops. These are particularly annoying given Deathsprint's precise movement requirements. Hitbox issues also popped up – sometimes my clone seemed to phase through lasers unharmed, while other times they'd get zapped to bits by a laser that clearly missed. This might be more of a netcode problem, but it's frustrating either way.
Lastly, there's a frustrating issue: the game penalizes poor performance. As mentioned earlier, I struggled a lot, especially against bots. While struggling isn't inherently bad – I've been terrible at many games before and will be again – dying too often forces you to wear a "suit of shame" that makes your clone look like a crash test dummy. This feels like the chicken hat from Metal Gear Solid V, forced on you for not meeting the game's standards. It's incredibly annoying – I'm already aware I'm not doing well when I'm repeating the same race for the fifth time. The game doesn't need to mock me for it. Judging by how often I saw other players die online, most of us ended up wearing it by the match's end. It's disheartening and seems like an invitation for toxic players to ridicule others.
Despite these issues and the low player count, Deathsprint 66 can be genuinely fun when you hit your stride and everything clicks. It manages to balance the feel of Mario Kart with its dystopian "Running Man" setting surprisingly well. If you're okay with joining a small community of clone racers, you'll likely enjoy yourself. However, for future updates, please let us play poorly without punishment.
