Screamer Racing Game Announced for PC

Virgin today announced Screamer, a new racing game from Italian developer Graffiti. it is marketed as an arcade racing title, but obviously it may have a decent physics engine and feel underneath. We will find out in November.

Full press release:

VIRGIN INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT BRINGS THE THRILL OF ARCADE-STYLE RACING TO THE PC WITH SCREAMER

IRVINE, CALIF., September 25, 1995-Virgin Interactive Entertainment (VIE), the entertainment software publisher, delivers all the excitement and fast-paced competition of the arcade racing experience to high-end home computers with SCREAMER. The first arcade-style auto racing title for the PC CD-ROM, SCREAMER will race to store shelves in November, 1995.

In SCREAMER, players put the pedal to the metal in real-time, without the delays and confusion experienced in simulation games. The goal is to push their driving skills to the limit to post the fastest time or beat other racers across the finish line. During the fast-as-lighting race , players can push each other off the track or crash into walls without damage to the car requiring repair to get back into the race.
Racing against the clock in this exhilarating game is enough to get even the most timid driver’s heart pounding, but the real excitement comes with competition. SCREAMER offers the real thing, with an all-out battle with up to six players in network play.

Players race through six difficult 3-D texture-mapped courses filled with amazing detail and objects that don’t lose their integrity as they rapidly draw near. Palm Town provides a high-speed trek in the city, where the overhead clouds and tunnel lights reflect in the driver’s rear window. Lake Valley twists and turns through the snow-capped mountain village while the Lindbergh course is a harrowing drive past working windmills and European landscapes. Most impressive is the night track in which players make their way by the aura of street lights beaming through the fog, flying past the flashing lights of a local carnival.

In this winding 3-D thrill ride, players can select their race cars from six seductive automobiles, modeled after high-performance, high-priced dream cars. Each of these sweet driving machines has the option of manual or automatic transmission. Players choose their vantage point with switchable points of view that vary from behind the wheel, a rear 3/4 chase mode or an alternating front-to-rear overhead helicopter view, all as they jam around to the beat of hard-driving heavy metal music.

“The long lines in front of the racing games at the local arcades are a clear illustration of how much people love the thrill of high-speed competition,” said Rand Bleimeister, senior vice president of marketing, Virgin Interactive Entertainment. “Screamer offers that same experience at home without the tokens.”

Created by Graffiti, the Italy-based developer behind titles such as this year’s IRON ASSAULT, SCREAMER features realistic racing sounds and hard-pounding music tracks to push the adrenaline level into overdrive.