Too much all at once: Screamer is brilliant and overwhelming

Rainer Etzweiler

23/3/2026

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

After a three-decade hiatus, Italian studio Milestone is reviving the Screamer franchise. Sports an anime aesthetic, twin-stick controls and a brutal difficulty level.

I chose to play Screamer based on one simple point: it has a Burnout vibe. Maybe a little more Split/Second action – and ideally with the accessibility of Forza Motorsport. In short, a simple arcade game.

Oh boy, was I wrong! Screamer is a highly complex, relentlessly challenging racing game that both thrills and overwhelms. With its new release, developer Milestone is serving up a complex web of mechanics featuring an unconventional control scheme and an inconsistent learning curve that had me rage-quitting more often than a 12-year-old Fortnite player.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Thirty years at full throttle

For three decades, Milestone has been a reliable provider of solid to impressive racing games. Above all, Ride, MotoGP and WRC stand out in the Italian company’s catalogue. In addition, the studio’s also ventured into games that are less simulation-heavy. The Hot Wheels Unleashed series offers a fun take on those toy cars, and Monster Jam Showdown is a blast for gamers whose favourite car design is flames on the hood.

Milestone, then still known as Graffiti, developed its first racing game in 1995. It was called Screamer, though German-speaking MS-DOS veterans are more likely to know the game by its localisation, «Bleifuss» (= leadfoot). Now the reboot is here. The thing is, apart from the four-wheeled gameplay and challenging difficulty, it has little in common with its predecessor. Nothing conveys this more quickly than the graphics.

Anime on four wheels

The racer features a sleek, anime-inspired design. Japanese studio Polygon Pictures handled the visuals; the company has made a name for itself with media such as Ghost in the Shell 2, Knights of Sidonia and the Netflix anthology Love, Death & Robots.

In addition, they produced a new TV show in 2017 featuring Switzerland’s greatest national hero: Pingu. All hail Pingu!

For Screamer, the Japanese developers created about 40 minutes of top-notch animations featured in Story Mode. Officially called Tournament, it tells the story of five different racing teams competing for a cash prize of 100 billion dollars. The teams include an idol pop band, a group of mercenaries, and – for reasons only the devs know – three astronauts. Oh, and there’s a corgi, too. 5/5, best game ever.

There’s no main character. Instead, the story alternates between the perspectives of 15 riders.

15 riders, zero heroes

Screamer makes an effort to give each character a fair amount of screen time. It does a pretty good job of this, but it just can’t hide the fact that the storytelling’s mediocre at best.

Ninety per cent of it takes place in largely static scenes where characters explain why they have beef with each other face-to-face. Some of the dialogue goes on and on without really saying anything. And when awkward flashbacks and dream sequences join in later on, it throws the plot completely off-course.

In addition, the quality of the dubbing varies wildly. Troy Baker (Joel from The Last of Us) does a flawless job, while others sound more like participants in an improv session at the local anime club.

Can the gameplay make up for the story’s shortcomings?

Twin stick, Echo, boost and more

Screamer couldn’t care less about what you thought you knew about the racing genre until now. The control scheme uses two joysticks: the left one steers, the right one controls the drift angle and intensity. The harder you press, the sharper the turn and the more speed you lose. This radical departure from classic vehicle controls is by no means the only thing that sets Screamer apart from the competition.

The Echo system is truly unique, a feature Screamer borrowed from beat ’em ups like Street Fighter. Your Echo energy bar at the top of the screen is divided into two sections: Sync and Entropy.

Sync is achieved through smooth driving, well-timed gear changes and positioning in the slipstream of opponents. Once the sync bar is full, you can use the power to activate a speed boost or convert it into a shield. Both, in turn, generate entropy, the game’s in-game currency. You can use it to shoot down enemy vehicles with Strike, or you can save it up for Overdrive, the game’s special move.

In Overdrive, your car turns into a rolling inferno mowing down everything in its path. Sometimes even yourself, if you happen to smash into a barrier.

Screamer also does things its own way when it comes to win conditions. While there are classic races where you have to cross the finish line first, you’ll often encounter additional challenges as well. Sometimes it takes a team victory, requiring your two AI teammates to do just as good a job as you do. Other times, you’re tasked with taking out a specific opponent.

Sound like a lot? It is, and we’re not even done yet.

Change vehicles

Screamer is a tough game that demands a precise understanding of every mechanic and the reflexes of a jet fighter pilot on speed. That’d be fine in itself, if the story didn’t force you to use a different car for every race. No sooner have you got used to the handling of one than you’re put behind the wheel of the next car.

Each character’s handling varies drastically in some cases, and you have to constantly adjust your gear-shift timing, adapt your drifts to the changing rear-end slip and recalculate your braking distances. It’s frustrating, and I lose motivation because it doesn’t feel like I’m making steady progress.

This is also due to the uneven difficulty. I need a good two dozen attempts to win individual races. Skill issue? Sure, maybe a bit – the racing game I’ve played the most over the past five years is Mario Kart 8. But when it comes to deep sim mechanics, I’m about as well prepared as my mum is for a dissertation on the 6-7 meme.

But as I find myself regularly bouncing between «beat it on the first try» and «my controller’s flying across the room» even in the final third of the game, I can’t help but feel that there’s a lack of fine-tuning.

Update: Milestone is aware of the difficulty issue. They’ve promised a patch designed to improve the game’s balance and make Tournament Mode fairer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t yet available at the time of publication.

Admittedly, the game does provide plenty of options to adjust the difficulty to my skill level. But it never really felt right.

Retro package

While the story and gameplay have clear shortcomings, Milestone doesn’t hold back when it comes to content. Arcade Mode features a wide variety of challenges: checkpoint races, time trials, overdrive chases and more.

Every race you complete rewards you with unlocked characters, new (cosmetic) items for your vehicles and additional tracks. In an era dominated by microtransactions and DLCs, it’s a nice reminder of how things used to be. A four-player split-screen mode rounds out the retro package.

Who was this made for?

Milestone had a clear vision, and the Italian studio carried it out without compromise. Kudos to that. Just one thing: who was this game made for? Screamer positions itself as an arcade racer, but it packs in so many mechanics that the arcade crowd will likely be just as lost as I was. Simulator enthusiasts, on the other hand, will struggle wading through the anime-style drama and action game elements just to get behind the wheel.

I have no doubt that there are racers out there who’ll love Screamer for being their perfect game. I’m just afraid there’ll be far fewer of them out there than the developer hopes.

If you’re still curious, though, here are my tips: arm yourself with patience, hold on tight to your controller – and if frustration gets the better of you, don’t throw it on the ground. Instead, follow the advice of iconic German band Tokio Hotel:

(By the way, I’d still love to get a new Burnout.)

Screamer will be released on 27 March for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. I tested the PS5 version, which Milestone provided to me.

In a nutshell

Too much of a good thing

Screamer is a labour of love. There’s hardly an interview with the developers where you don’t immediately sense just how excited everyone involved is. And this euphoria is reflected in the game.

The Echo system’s smart, the design is sleek, and the range of features is impressive. On the other hand, there are mandatory vehicles, an inconsistent difficulty curve and a story mode that systematically wears down your patience. Many of its ideas are exciting, they just don’t seem fully thought through. What remains is an anime racing game that’s lost sight of its potential amid all its grand ambitions.

Pro

• Visuals
• Echo system
• Endless stuff to unlock
• Four-player split screen
• A few bangers on the soundtrack
• A wide range of controls for gamers with disabilities

Contra

• Mandatory vehicle changes in Tournament Mode
• Wonky difficulty curve
• The story: too much dialogue, not enough substance
• Tidal wave of mechanics lacking a gentle introduction

Video games

−11%

New

EUR63,72 was EUR71,44

Milestone Screamer

PS5, DE

1

Rainer Etzweiler

Freelance Editor

rainer@rockstar.ch

In the early 90s, my older brother gave me his NES with The Legend of Zelda on it. It was the start of an obsession that continues to this day.

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