Pacer

About

Pacer is a single player and multiplayer racing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by R8 Games Ltd and was released on October 28, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Pacer (formely known as Formula Fusion) is an anti-gravity racing game which pits your racing pedigree up against the rest of the world. Tackle the single player campaign and become the best pilot against the AI over leagues and championships, or play against the world in multiplayer and compete in a sports league where you can take either yourself or your team to the top step.

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72%

Audience ScoreBased on 594 reviews

graphics92 positive mentions

stability15 negative mentions

Great sense of speed and smooth gameplay capturing the Wipeout spirit
Beautiful tracks and environments with impressive graphics
Ship customization and weapon loadouts offer strategic depth
Sound design and music are fitting and enhance immersion
Controls are tight and optimized for gamepad play
Ongoing developer support with regular updates and improvements

Content is limited with few tracks and crafts at release
Performance issues and frame rate drops on various systems
UI and menu navigation are clunky and unintuitive
AI can be overly difficult or behave unrealistically
Lack of a cockpit or first-person camera view
Weapons feel underpowered or unbalanced, reducing combat impact
Campaign mode is linear and sometimes frustrating
Multiplayer community is very small or dead
Some tracks are too narrow for high-speed classes causing frustration
Confusing upgrade system with unclear stat impacts
Some bugs and glitches remain, requiring patches

graphics
219 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
54%
4%
The game's graphics are widely praised for their high quality, detailed environments, and polished art style influenced by the Wipeout series, with many highlighting the striking visuals, lighting, and futuristic aesthetic. Some users find the visuals occasionally dated or inconsistent across tracks, and report performance issues or lack of fine-tuning options, but overall the graphics are considered a major strength that enhances the sense of speed and atmosphere despite some frustrations with sharpness and optimization.
- “Unreal Engine 4 is used to great effect here; graphics are amazing, solid, and detailed with high polygon models.”
- “Graphics are superb and it looks incredible in 1440p at 144hz.”
- “The tracks are gorgeous, the graphic design and soundtrack are solid, the sense of speed is spot on (at the F1000 level, at least), and the controls and most other aspects of the game are greatly improved over the original formula fusion iteration.”
- “Graphics could be a bit sharper and feel unnecessarily dated. I don't mind low poly graphics, but this isn't meant to be a low poly game; this feels like someone struggled to put the game together.”
- “The handling feels boring, the graphics are blurry, and reshade doesn't appear to work with this game.”
- “Frame rate drops make the game barely playable with textures and overall visuals that my 6 year old could rival with crayons.”
music
215 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
61%
8%
The game's music generally receives praise for its extensive, high-quality electronic soundtrack, often compared favorably to the classic Wipeout soundtracks and featuring contributions from notable artists like Cold Storage. However, some players find portions of the music bland, repetitive, or poorly mixed, with occasional issues like low volume during races and a lack of impactful tracks. Despite these criticisms, the soundtrack is considered a strong aspect that complements the fast-paced racing and futuristic aesthetic well.
- “The soundtrack is fantastic, perfectly complementing the high-speed action.”
- “The soundtrack is thumping from start to finish, with a wide range of electronic music styles, including drum 'n' bass & techno.”
- “Especially pleasant to hear are the collection of new tracks from Cold Storage, the act behind the soundtracks of the original Wipeout and Wipeout 2097 (and about half the soundtrack of the North American version, Wipeout XL).”
- “The music is extremely bland too, at least compared to, say, the soundtracks from Wipeout 3 and Fusion.”
- “The original music was, I'm really sorry to say, terrible.”
- “The music isn't there, the design isn't there and the impact just feels weak at best.”
gameplay
141 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
68%
3%
The gameplay is generally described as solid, fast-paced, and engaging, with smooth handling and a good balance of combat and racing mechanics that appeal to fans of anti-gravity racers like Wipeout. However, some critics note a lack of polish, fewer memorable track designs, and less depth compared to classics in the genre, alongside occasional bugs and weak AI in career mode. While the upgrade system and customization add strategic layers, the gameplay can feel overly complicated or underwhelming in content and refinement for some players.
- “The combat mechanics are engaging and add an extra layer of excitement to the races.”
- “Mechanically, it's excellent, the game is silky smooth, and looks beautiful in Unreal.”
- “Gameplay is tight and rewarding, the vehicles and performance/weapon system is diverse yet surprisingly balanced, all tracks feel unique and challenging, and the art direction/soundtrack is stellar and nails the whole Y2K/cyberpunk/tdr aesthetic perfectly.”
- “Pitching (a core part of most antigravity racers) is totally absent as a mechanic here.”
- “The gameplay is passable but lacks the finesse and attention to detail that antigrav racers need to be great.”
- “The downside is that, in order to maintain gameplay balance, basically all of the weapon mods are sidegrades which sacrifice one aspect of the weapon over boosting another, thus you never really feel like your ship is gaining any offensive power.”
optimization
112 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
64%
13%
Optimization in this game is inconsistent, with performance varying significantly across systems and occasional severe stuttering and frame drops, particularly on certain tracks. While recent patches have improved stability for many, issues like unresponsive controls after upgrades, unclear stat effects, and some persistent lag remain problematic. Despite the customization options and solid core gameplay, optimization still requires work to ensure smooth and predictable performance across all hardware.
- “From performance optimization to how and at what pace it dishes out its track content to its absurd difficulty and unclear controls, everything I've had an issue with in this game has been addressed at some point during early access, and with the game as it stands, it's a genuinely fantastic future racer that fills the Wipeout-shaped void in my PC racing games collection.”
- “The game launched with some severe performance issues on my system (i7-4770k, 16 GB, GTX 1080 Ti, Windows 10 Pro v1703 at 2560x1440 epic settings) but the latest patch, as of 3rd June, has significantly improved things such that it now runs 99.9% of the time at 60 fps plus the developers promise more updates to optimize it further.”
- “Performance is amazing on my PC (i7-4790, GTX 1070, 16GB DDR3 2400) and the fluidity and sense of speed when rushing along the tracks is amazing.”
- “Performance issues are a major, serious problem with this game.”
- “The patch made no discernable difference to performance - frame rate frequently falls through the floor on a rig that will comfortably run 2015-2017 AAA titles at high/ultra settings.”
- “Also has performance issues no matter what resolution you set it to, and occur in the same parts of a track every lap.”
story
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
76%
12%
The story mode is generally seen as underdeveloped and lacking depth, often feeling like a series of disconnected challenges rather than a cohesive narrative. Players find the world-building and character/team backgrounds insufficient, leading to a less immersive experience. Some appreciate the effort and potential for growth, but currently, the story and campaign structure need significant improvement.
- “Entertaining story that introduces the mechanics to you.”
- “This title deserves its own recognition since it has a distinct personality and an original story that’s pretty much still a work in progress.”
- “As the self-standing Steam debut of R8 Games Ltd, Formula Fusion’s story has just begun.”
- “Still confused about story mode only consisting of a series of challenges instead of races.”
- “Well here I am stuck at the fifth race on the Garudina quest chain, with no way to back out aside from restarting the whole career, and a race that I am not entirely sure is actually winnable even if you have been playing this sort of game since the first one ever.”
- “If I could single out one main area that needs improvement, it's the story and world-building, or lack thereof.”
stability
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
5%
79%
The game's stability is mixed, with many users reporting frequent bugs, glitches, and occasional performance issues such as audio problems, UI quirks, and minor freezes. Despite running well on various hardware, the game still suffers from optimization challenges and inconsistent frame rendering, impacting the overall smoothness. Early access status means players can expect ongoing improvements, but current versions remain somewhat unstable and glitch-prone.
- “Runs great even on low-end PCs.”
- “I encountered no glitches, crashes, or bugs that interfered with the smoothness of the gameplay in Formula Fusion.”
- “Game runs great on AMD Crossfire or NVIDIA GPUs.”
- “Fun racing, but bug ridden.”
- “So buggy and glitchy, especially when the race ended.”
- “No fun neither (no challenge), but I can progress... it's quite buggy too: the shield is at 100% and all of a sudden, it starts decreasing a few percents per seconds without explanation and without hitting anything.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
62%
The atmosphere is widely praised for its bright, luminous visuals that enhance the dystopian future setting and create an immersive high-speed racing experience. The environment and track designs contribute to a strong sense of variety and zero-gravity sensation, though some feel certain games in the genre may have offered a more compelling overall ambiance.
- “Lighting is bright and luminous, popping from the screen, all adding to the atmosphere in this dystopian future setting.”
- “What initially drew me towards this game was: interesting layout of tracks, environment design and atmosphere, and high speed racing.”
- “The OST added hugely to the experience, and altogether, you had an incredible, atmospheric, futuristic, intense racing game.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional experience is marked by frustration and heartbreak due to unforgiving race mechanics, such as rapidly depleting hit points and stringent objectives requiring flawless performance. The narrow track design and unpredictable vehicle handling further exacerbate player stress, making even skilled attempts feel punishing and discouraging.
- “Heartbreaking, really.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding against walls is a frequent and punitive challenge due to narrow, winding track designs, making clean laps difficult and causing frustrating damage. This results in a tedious learning curve and repetitive race restarts, though some appreciate the harsh penalty as a positive difficulty element.
- “Most tracks just don't feel fun; often there are narrow turns or snaking paths that force you to grind on the rails frequently.”
- “Despite ships handling quite snappy, at those speeds it's impossible to run a clean lap without hitting and grinding walls.”
- “When you're first introduced to those speeds in the campaign, you'll be exploding every other lap due to damage taken from hitting and grinding walls.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
Replayability opinions are mixed, with some users finding it lacking, while others praise the game for its adrenaline-fueled racing and extensive customization that enhance replay value.
- “Pacer is an adrenaline-fuelled racer with tons of replayability, and plenty of customization options to make each win count.”
- “Score attack mode adds great replay value.”
- “The replay value is also lacking.”
- “Score attack for replay value.”
- “Please, do yourself a favor and try something more playable like Ballistic.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game comes across as light and somewhat sarcastic, with players finding amusement in the quirky interface and the contrast to previous titles. Despite some shortcomings, the game's comedic elements add a fun and playful tone to the racing experience.
- “Funny thing is, lowering the settings seemed to make it worse.”
- “On this state, it is now funny playing, with at this moment 3 good racing tracks.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features no intrusive microtransactions for core content, offering free DLC and addons as a smart move appreciated by players. Planned monetization follows a "Rocket League model," providing free gameplay mods while limiting microtransactions to purely aesthetic items.
- “Good job, guys! You worked hard on finishing the game with no microtransactions. Yay, free DLC and addons! That's a smart move, and I will be supporting you in the future!”
- “Plans for a 'Rocket League model' DLC will be implemented to always provide ship, track, and card mods for free, while aesthetic DLC will be microtransactions.”