Speed Limit is a brand-new fast-paced action by Chorus Worldwide Games and Gamechuck which is releasing on PC via Steam and consoles. On the paper, Speed Limit is described as an action game but it is more of a speed-running game with a twist because everything in the game is out to kill you and your goal is to reach the end of the game. It requires precision controls and fast reflexes to play it while staying aware of your surroundings. This is our review of Speed Limit in which we end up in a Hollywood-inspired chase during a normal commute.
Speed Limit revolves around a daily commute of a person which turns into an action movie-inspired chase sequence that starts on a train but ends up in fighter jets battling a gigantic stealth fighter. While there is not much to the story of the game but when you reach the end of the game, there is a big twist that really surprised me as well. Since this ending is fairly manageable, I will not be spoiling it here in my review and will keep it spoiler-free. Your main goal in Speed Limit is to survive so you will be doing a lot of shooting. The game follows the single-hit kill method but it is also for you as well so if you get hit once, you are dead and since the game chucks a lot of enemies at you, chances are that you die a lot of times in the game. Like A LOT of times. The game spans over multiple levels that each feature a new perspective for you to try out.
Apart from a new perspective, each new level and vehicle also brings additional challenges with it as well. While on foot, you have to look after everything that might kill you. The cart can manage vehicles going in the same direction but the bike instantly crashes. With the helicopter, you have to watch out for jet fighters and with the jet fighter, you have to watch out for enemy missiles. These all are apart from the normal, manageable hurdles or enemies that appear in every level. Apart from the movement, you have two keys one is for shooting while the other one is interacting. This key is unique for every game perspective such as aiming in car and bike and releasing flares when flying the fighter jet. The two key control really makes it easier to learn the controls however this is where the game perspective-changing comes into play.
When you finally start getting comfortable with a scene, it changes completely. For example, even if you are using the same vehicle, the scene will change, and you will need to adjust to a new camera angle. For example, the initial train chase sequence has hidden detectives and shielded people during the first section. When you understand their patterns, you blow open the roof of the train and are now on the roof itself where you have to avoid minigun enemies, helicopter while also jumping across train cars and above sigh posts that will split you into two pieces.
The same can be said with the second sequence where you are in a car and are first escaping with you driving on the right side in a top-down angle. However, soon it changes, and you are now driving in a completely new perspective with the controls staying the same but this time you are looking at the same chase sequence from a different perspective. This continuous change of scenes and perspectives makes you stay extremely focused and agile on the controls as well as they really test your reflexes. Speed Limit is a game of extremely quick reflexes.
While most scenes are pretty manageable, your test of reflexes really come into play when you arrive on the bike and have to weave past speeding cars while shooting at enemies and other bikes. The level is super-fast and traffic cars appear suddenly in all lanes in a pattern and you have to weave between them. This requires exception focus and good control of your reflexes. Another thing that is different from the demo is that each level now has mid-level checkpoints so if you die during a level, you do not have to restart right from the start of each level. This was really tedious in the demo however now you have mid-level checkpoints which somewhat make the game much more manageable.
There is also an Easy difficulty this time around which is a lot easier when compared to the Normal difficulty. It features fewer enemies for you to fight in the game but the real fun really lies in the Normal difficulty. You can practice the levels and how they work out in the Easy difficulty but if you really want a challenge, you have to try out the game in the Normal difficulty. Completing the game and different levels also unlock different bonus galleries for you. There are a total of 11 levels and depending on your skill with the game, you can easily finish the game in an hour. My best run so far is around 1 hour and 25 minutes in one sitting as I died a lot during the final boss battle as well as the bike level.
Speed Limit is a lot different from most speed running oriented titles. We have seen plenty of speed-running games come out lately however most of them follow the same formula with just harder and harder hurdles and obstacles. Speed Limit on the other hand takes the formula to a whole new level with its continuously changing gameplay styles and perspectives of how you are playing the game. It never lets you get comfortable with just one gameplay style. Every time you say that yes, now I have understood the mechanics, it changes the whole scene and you are back to square one. The gameplay is extremely crisp, and controls are responsive however I will highly recommend that you play it with a controller instead of the keyboard. If you have to play with a keyboard, change the shooting key from its default option to a more comfortable setting.
Final Verdict:
Speed Limit has come a long way since the early access demo that I played back in 2020. It has improved in almost all aspects and is now in its best possible shape. It is a fluid speedrunner with a great twist as each new scene makes you change your focus to a new perspective and then get better at that before finally changing the perspective again. The speedrunner element now part of the game keeps you coming back for more as you try to beat your own times by getting better every time. Speed Limit is a brilliant action speedrunner and I really like the concept of having multiple perspectives for keeping things fresh. If you love action-packed titles and are not afraid of deadly commutes that end up with you fighting bosses in fighter jets, then Speed Limit is going to be right up your alley. Highly recommended!
Final Score: 8.7/10
