Screamride
Producer: Microsoft Studios
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Platform: Xbox One, Xbox 360
Rating: E10
Genre: Action/Simulation
Build It & Burn It
Written by Josh Schilling
Rollercoaster simulations have been around for a long time, but they have mostly consisted of Tycoon sandboxes that require you to manage admissions, queue lines, hotdog prices, and goofy souvenirs. Building the rides was fun and being able to actually try out your creations was surely one of the highlights of the past games. Screamride takes out the minutiae of park management and focusses on the building and riding of super extreme rollercoasters while adding in the tantalizing aspect of destroying it all at your leisure. Flinging thrill-seekers around to the point of near-death is the name of this game, and you are given a plethora of proper tools and activities to try and put the poop in your patrons’ pants.
You are tasked with providing designs that will test the limits of your customers’ stress levels, and Screamride offers four distinct variations on the overall theme of building and perfecting a futuristic extreme park. The company you work for in this game doesn’t necessarily want to make attractions that are safe, they just want to make ones that are barely survivable. You discover that fact quickly when taking on the first task called “Screamriders” that is a timed racing game where you race a rollercoaster. You are able to boost your speed in this race while being careful not to go so fast as to toss the occupants from the car, but not too safe as you get bonus points for extreme actions like pulling off turns on only two wheels. Reminiscent of Trials HD, it’s a fun balance to try and maintain speed along with survivability, while laughing at your screw-ups as the victims ragdoll their way to a painful end.
The next variation is a demolition mode, and you get to fling a ball of customers into buildings and watch them fall. There is some strategy involved as you aim a twirling “ride” that launches the enclosed occupants at the proper moment to cause the greatest destruction, and some of the areas feature explosives and such that create domino effects that further the chaos. There are a variety of rides that the patrons are strapped into that can do different things in the air or on the ground, and properly choosing which one to fling can greatly enhance your score. Much like Angry Birds, destroying stuff in this type of manner can be a lot of fun, and watching your thrill-seekers emerge from the rubble is pretty hilarious as well.
From there, you move onto the engineering portion of this game where you tackle the different puzzles of trying to complete different segments of rides. The key is making them non-lethal, as it will surely hurt the business if you make the drops too sudden or the turns too hairy. This part of the game gives you a feel of how to build a rollercoaster to maximize the fun and excitement while minimizing the suffering and dismemberment. You might lose a few test subjects, but it’s all for the greater good.
These first three game modes give you a chance to unlock a bunch of scenic variations and coaster types that you can use in the final game mode, the simulator game staple: the sandbox. Here you get to utilize your skills and creativity to build some pretty fantastic rollercoasters. Share your creations with your friends or check out the absolutely stunning, meticulously created rides done by people with entirely too much time on their hands. Either way, you get to strap in, ride, and enjoy the fruits of your actions.
This game offers a good bit of variety, with the fast-action appeal of the game modes, and the long term focus of the sandbox. The graphics were a bit rudimentary in this next-gen age, and the buildings that you get to destroy fall a little bit too easily and seem to defy the laws of physics. Overall Screamride is fun, although it’s not a title that will go down into the annals of video game history, although it is certainly a nice change of pace from all the typical stuff on store shelves.