In terms of gaming, the racing genre is easily one of the most competitive. Gran Turismo and Forza compete head-to-head on their respective consoles, whilst F1 games have been ever-present on the market too. Going into sub-genres, there’s an incredible level of innovation and diversity in gaming experiences. Enter Phantom Spark: an intense experience that promises high speeds and a requirement for precision. This description is spot on, and despite some room for improvement, Ghost’s latest release is a hit.
Phantom Spark consists of three domains, each different in aesthetics and gimmicks. For example, one domain contains water streams that can increase your speed, whereas another incorporates dirt tracks. Each domain includes a series of “Pathways” (essentially time trials). Also appearing in each domain are a couple of other trials to improve specific skills alongside a final challenge. All of these are point-to-point, which helps to create course complexity. Each domain introduces a new character, who’ll help to guide you through their challenges. While not particularly memorable, their designs are vibrant with some dialogue purposed to push the player.
Upon completion of a Pathway, players can earn a bronze, silver or gold award depending on the completion time; these are tiered (i.e. tier one is bronze). I found some of the gold awards on some Pathways easier to earn than bronze or silver on others. As such, the difficulty felt inconsistent, and this comes down to the timings for specific awards. Every award time in the Pathways is a flat second rather, making some awards much more attainable than others. Timings for Pathways should’ve been more meticulous to balance difficulty better. Ghosts of the domain heads have more specific Pathway times, so I’m not sure why the tiers lack the same.
Getting into the actual racing now, and Phantom Spark’s gameplay is often fantastic. Every Pathway is an exhilarating, speedy journey full of plenty of risks alongside high-speed corners. The satisfaction of sweeping around a corner as close to the inside wall as possible is a feeling like no other. Now, being able to do this for several corners in a row is a rewarding feeling…until you hit a wall. It can take countless attempts to complete Pathways in good time because the Pathways present an array of challenging moments. Luckily, most are short (between 30 and 60 seconds), with only the final challenges usually lasting longer than a minute. This is great because it encourages players to experiment with trial and error rather than feeling disheartened by making mistakes.
I’m quite impressed with the physics model in this futuristic racing title. Sparks – as the levitating vehicles are called – feel responsive to drive, with control and precision despite the high speeds. Conversely, hitting walls is punishing as you lose a significant chunk of time from doing so. Testing the limits of Pathways will make this happen often, further emphasising the enticing high-risk, high-reward mentality that Phantom Spark requires. It’s not simply luck to create the perfect lap: it’s precision, practice and hard work.
Initially, I felt as though the scenery complemented each domain alongside the high-speed gameplay well. Buildings sometimes become dynamic to create immersion. Mostly though, architecture acts as vibrant scenery as you speed through levels. I appreciate this empty yet post-apocalyptic world presented, with some world-building subtly added in pieces of dialogue from our domain hosts.
Something I found slightly disappointing in my experience with Phantom Spark was scenery and gimmick repetition. Once you’ve seen a particular domain on a couple of Pathways, the aesthetic can begin to wear thin. Aside from domain-to-domain aesthetics changing very little and with only three domains, there isn’t a significant amount of variety. I found two domains to contain similar aesthetics, which left me slightly disappointed. Phantom Spark does receive credit from me for being a title that has a unique visual identity at least.
I also felt a hint of disappointment when – understanding how long a domain took to traverse through – that only three were available. When titles like the TrackMania games can offer hundreds of courses (alongside custom tracks), there’s this feeling that there should be more. In some ways, this is a compliment, emphasising the fun I had with what Phantom Spark currently is.
Phantom Spark is well and truly about trial and error. Experimentation is encouraged through the swift restarts to races, so you’re back in the action straightaway. Through watching CPU ghosts – following an initial run – I found myself interpreting corners and breaking points very differently. As such, I found the game actively encouraging me to sharpen my skills throughout.
Something that enhanced my motivation for continuing to play and achieve faster times was the PlayStation leaderboard. Assuming the same applies to other consoles, seeing better times above me in Pathway leaderboards pushed me further and further. Being able to also challenge player around you or at the top of leaderboards is great for adding competition within the community.
Something that could add further replayability for Phantom Spark is being more multiplayer-friendly. I believe there’s a great opportunity here to have custom tracks which could add significant competition and replayability to Phantom Spark. A further note on this: aside from local multiplayer, there’s no way to play with friends. It would strengthen the Phantom Spark community to allow for more multiplayer options.
Despite some minor, admittedly nit-picky quarrels with the title, Phantom Spark is a solid experience for any racing game fanatic. There is potential here for Ghosts – the developer – to make Phantom Spark greater. However, lovers of F-Zero and Wipeout will have a great time with this just as I have. My only request from Ghosts would be to add more Pathways or additional online features.
Developer: Ghosts
Publisher: Coatsink
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S, Mac operating systems
Release Date: 15th August 2024
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Phantom Spark was provided by the publisher.
