BOOST VECTOR EX Review Summary

Fun, solid gameplay with great art and a praised sense of speed is undermined by frustrating unreadable maps, a poor tutorial, hidden mechanics, and short content.

Fun and solid gameplay: The core gameplay is consistently described as fun, satisfying, and well-designed. Players appreciate the solid foundation and overall enjoyment.

Great art style and visuals: The vibrant visuals, beautiful art direction, and stylish character designs are highly appreciated. The aesthetic is often described as appealing and well-crafted.

Highly praised speed sensation: Many players highlight the intense and rewarding sense of speed, especially when boosting. This creates a thrilling and immersive racing experience.

Easy to learn, hard to master: The game features simple controls and accessible mechanics, but offers depth that rewards mastery. This balance appeals to both casual and competitive players.

Excellent soundtrack and music: The soundtrack is frequently praised as excellent, fitting the neon-punk aesthetic and enhancing the overall experience. Many consider it a standout feature.

Frustrating and unreadable maps: Many maps lack clear direction and readability, leading to unfair falls and the need for memorization. At high speeds, it's often unclear where to go, causing frustration.

Poor tutorial and hidden mechanics: The tutorial fails to explain many mechanics, including perfect jumps and movement tech, with critical information tucked away in a separate menu. This leaves players confused and unprepared.

Insufficient and short content: Several reviewers note the game has a small amount of content and is too short, especially for its price. The story mode ends abruptly and lacks depth.

Unclear UI and readability: The UI is too flashy and hard to read, with some information attached to characters being difficult to see. The quit button text is also hard to read.

Stiff controls and learning curve: Controls feel funky and take time to learn, with issues like losing momentum when steering and iffy wall climbing. This adds to the initial difficulty.

Story mode available: The game includes a story mode with chapters, some presented in a visual novel style. Story outcomes can depend on race results.

Boost and drift mechanics: Boosting and drifting are core movement mechanics. Drifting at the right moment and using map boosts combined with your own speed boost are important.

Parkour racing on foot: Characters race on foot using parkour moves like wall running and leaping, combining racing with parkour. This differs from traditional racing games.

Core racing gameplay: The game is fundamentally a racing game with maps, tracks, and Grand Prix events. It also includes racing with boosting mechanics and an optional story mode.

High-speed racing focus: The game emphasizes high-speed racing, with intense speed and fast-paced action. It is described as a racing game focused on high-speed movement.

Linux build lacks Steam features: The native Linux build is missing Steam Cloud save sync, achievements, and connectivity. Multiplayer is also not working on that build.

Smooth performance on capable hardware: Multiple reviewers report the game runs smoothly at default or maximum settings on decent PCs. This suggests good optimization.

Flexible settings for broad compatibility: The game offers many settings options, which should allow it to run on a wide range of PCs. This is a positive point for accessibility.

Stability issue on low-end PC: One reviewer experiences Unity crashes every 2x3 even at minimum settings, but attributes it to their weak PC. This indicates a potential stability concern for underpowered hardware.

Appeals to specific fan bases: The game is recommended for fans of high-speed movement, parkour, racing, skate games, or specific titles like Neon Knights and Boost Vector. It may not satisfy those outside these niches.

Buy on sale or discount: Several reviewers recommend waiting for a sale before purchasing, stating it is not worth full price in its current state. Others suggest considering it after content updates or at a good discount.

Overall positive recommendation: Many reviewers simply recommend the game, enjoying it a lot and finding it great for the price. Some highly recommend it for racing enthusiasts.

Challenging but rewarding learning curve: Players mention that the first few races are tricky, but learning the mechanics and tracks is worth the time. Difficulty is noted but does not deter recommendation.

Try demo first: Reviewers suggest playing the demo to test the waters before buying, as the full game is not much different from the demo. This helps set expectations.

Community fair range: $9.99 - $14.99.

Session length: 3.0h.

Endgame: 24.0h.

Reports point to early friction from an inadequate tutorial, especially around movement mechanics, with fun arriving after players learn the mechanics and tracks through trial. Some players still find it fun despite the weak tutorial, while one reports boredom.

Friction: Tutorial lacks explanation; Tutorial and story do not cover movement; Players must figure out mechanics themselves; Unclear mechanics such as "perfect jump"; Learning tracks requires trial.

Unlock drivers: Learning the mechanics and tracks; Self-guided figuring out of unexplained systems.

High-Speed Parkour Movement Fan: Plays fast parkour races with an execution-heavy focus on maintaining speed and chaining map boosts with character boosts. Motivation: Chasing the thrill of fast, momentum-driven movement and executing drifts, boosts, and precise turns. Stance: buy.

Character and Playstyle Experimenter: Experiments across characters, bands, and playstyles in quick races, PvP, and story content. Motivation: Finding a character and band whose playstyle fits them and enjoying a casual-friendly roster. Stance: buy.

Newcomer Map-Mastery Struggler: Learns maps through trial and error, struggling with turns, jumps, and falls. Motivation: Wanting to enjoy the fast racing but needing to overcome map memorization and unfair-feeling obstacles. Stance: no buy.

Steam Deck: The dataset shows a playable game with strong controller support, but Linux/Steam Deck users face notable friction: the native Linux build reportedly lacks achievements and Steam Cloud sync, cross-platform saves do not sync, and Steam connectivity is described as broken. The repeated workaround is to switch to the Windows build via Proton before playing. No significant battery-drain, small-text, or crash reports appear in the provided reviews.

Linux and Proton: Linux users report that the native build launches and runs smoothly on default options, but Steam achievements and cloud saves are broken, including cross-platform save sync. The common workaround is switching to the Windows build via Proton for full Steam features. This is a minor-to-moderate Linux-specific integration issue rather than a core gameplay blocker.

Game has complete story mode: The game includes a substantial story mode with content that connects to the Neon Knights universe, though it is optional and can be skipped.

Spiritual successor to Boost Vector: This game is considered a spiritual successor to the Roblox game Boost Vector, featuring returning bands and similar musical vibes but with its own mechanics.

Sequel to NeonKnights: It is a sequel set after the Roblox title NeonKnights, expanding its universe and retaining characters and locations like Diamond City Hospital.

Supports mods: The game has full mod support, including modded lobbies, and a native modloader with custom models is planned. A community track maker could further expand the game.

Solo developer project: The game is a unique racing game made mostly by a single developer, Blockage (with asmanworks), and has higher completion quality than recent AI-generated games.