You might remember Anki if you happened to catch Apple’s WWDC conference back in 2013. The company showed off its Anki Drive racing setup then, which pitted slot car-like machines against one another on a special track, controlled by an iOS app. Anki Drive blew the socks off the attendees with its unprecedented and original take on the old game of track racing.
And now, the makers are preparing to up the ante with Anki Overdrive, the second generation of the game that fuses together the world of video games with the thrills of real world racing.
While the core mechanics remain the same, almost everything is new in Overdrive. Unlike the original system where the cars raced on what is essentially a massive mat, Overdrive features individual track sections similar to the slot car tracks of old. This system allows for endless track layouts and even more fun than the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU_3AaTYXQM
Then there are the cars. The starter kit comes with six new cars named Nuke, Guardian, Skull, Ground Shock, Thermo and Big Bang. They are all hugely improved and come armed with new weapons, some of them offensive and some designed to fend off attacks from other racers. With Anki Drive, lasers or missiles could cause other cars to spin out, in Overdrive you’ll be able to slow your opponents, knock them out one by one, or tackle a whole pack of racers at once. The cars are customizable with hundreds of new virtual weapons, upgrades and special items for all-out vehicular mayhem.
Overdrive features a rich, in-depth campaign where players challenge a diverse cast of 25+ elite commanders to become champion of the Anki Overdrive Tournament. New game modes such as Time Trial and King of the Hill expand on the popular Battle and Race modes returning from Anki Drive. In Time Trial, players find the perfect path to beat the clock, and King of the Hill is chaotic fun as players battle for the crown to see who rules the road by holding the lead position the longest. Team Play and Balance Cars settings add even more variety and fun for match-ups of experienced and novice players.
However, advanced robotics isn’t cheap, and neither is the Anki Overdrive. The Starter Kit will retail at £149.99 and will come with two supercars and 10 separate modular FlexTrack pieces, allowing gamers to build eight different battle courses. Players will also be able to expand their battlefield by adding expansion pieces to the starter kit to build massive megatracks with endless variations and new gameplay possibilities. Expansion track packs and accessories vary between £9.99 – £29.99 per pack and expansion robotic supercars retail at £49.99.
If that hasn’t disheartened you yet, the Anki Overdrive goes on sale 20th September.
