Zenith Trace

About

Zenith Trace is a single player action game. It received positive reviews from players.

Zenith Trace is a dark and intense offroad racing game set on an infernal island where the elements have gone wild. Ash-filled air, molten lakes, scorched terrain, and punishing trails become your battleground. Here, the road itself is your enemy. Conquer offroad chaos, fiery sections, and ashen horizons. The game offers three modes: * Campaign — complete a chain of challenges and earn the title…

Genres & Tags

Indie

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,100 reviews

story36 positive mentions

stability17 negative mentions

The game features incredibly realistic and high-quality car physics, especially in crash and drift simulation, making it highly enjoyable for car enthusiasts.
There is a vast selection of cars and customization options, along with extensive mod support which significantly enhances replayability and fun.
The graphics, soundtrack, and overall atmosphere are praised for being immersive and stylish, with a nostalgic vibe appealing to fans of classic arcade and drifting games.

The multiplayer setup can be complicated and the online experience may involve toxic behavior, limiting enjoyment in that mode.
Steering wheel support is inconsistent or problematic for some players, and the game can be difficult to play with controllers or keyboard without tuning.
The game suffers from technical issues including crashes, FPS drops, long loading times, and occasional bugs, along with a lack of certain features like a meaningful career mode or robust AI.

story
203 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
75%
7%
The story is presented uniquely through manga-style visual novel segments and offers a lighthearted, anime-inspired narrative centered on Japanese street and drift racing culture. While some players find the story cheesy, clichéd, and somewhat shallow or rushed, it generally serves as a fun backdrop that complements the gameplay rather than being the main attraction. The story mode is relatively short with limited replayability and can be safely skipped by those more interested in the racing experience, but it is expected to expand with future updates.
- “The aesthetics, the atmosphere, and the unique story and lore of each racer contribute to making it an excellent racing game.”
- “The story is good, and while there are some translation errors here and there, and sometimes you'll be wondering, "what the hell is this game," it really had me hooked to the point that I basically played through all of it in one sitting.”
- “The story is actually pretty interesting in my opinion and the manga style of storytelling at first felt cheesy, but I started to actually really enjoy it.”
- “The storyline is perhaps the weakest part of the game for me.”
- “The story is told through manga panels, which you can skip and get right to the race or read them and get some backstory, but the story mode is very short and feels thin on content.”
- “The story and characters are written as if HR was standing over the writer's desk throughout the game's development. The story is full of clichés, low-quality writing, and the protagonist acts in a dumb, unrelatable way.”
graphics
177 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
37%
4%
The game's graphics are generally praised for their high quality, beautiful art style, and detailed car models, often evoking a nostalgic PS1/PS2 or retro-futuristic aesthetic. While optimization is decent and it runs well even on modest systems, some users note occasional bugs, limited graphics settings, and that performance can suffer on lower-end hardware. Overall, the visuals strongly complement the physics and gameplay, making for an immersive, enjoyable experience despite some minor technical and stylistic criticisms.
- “Extreme high-quality graphics and physics, this game also allows players to pick any car of a great selection and crash it.”
- “Amazing game has great graphics, insanely good car physics and is overall a fun, destructive and chilled out game.”
- “The graphics are well-presented thanks to Unreal Engine 5 (for once an optimized UE5 game at that!) - it's lightweight in size and easy to run the game even on my slightly underspec'd machine.”
- “Poor skyboxes, graphics, and has garbage settings, saying that you have to spend above 10 minutes to even get the basic controls to work.”
- “The graphics options are fairly limited.”
- “A lot of graphic glitches.”
gameplay
128 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
67%
6%
The gameplay is widely praised for its fun, engaging, and innovative drift mechanics, offering a unique twin-stick control scheme that is easy to pick up but challenging to master. While the physics balance arcade-style fun with realistic elements, some find the progression, content variety, and vehicle distinctiveness limited, noting a lack of depth beyond core racing and drifting. Overall, the gameplay delivers an addictive racing experience that appeals to nostalgia but would benefit from more polish, variety, and engaging features.
- “If you are working to be a mechanic or just want to have fun with cars, this is the game for you.”
- “I got this game from a dear friend, and it's a game that I've always dreamt of since I was a little kid. It has great mechanics, I love the realism, and there are so many cars even without mods. The maps and fire effects are excellent. I download maps all the time, and it's pure peak gameplay.”
- “The drifting mechanic is super engaging and is something really innovative and enjoyable, lifting the gameplay experience so that it can be accessible but with a high skill ceiling.”
- “The only negative is that it lacks gameplay and things to do with the vehicles; I mean there is no character in the cars, they drive themselves!”
- “It’s a lazy-design game with each race tailored to a specific car and with each "more difficult" car having less handling but more speed; the faked arcade-style car mechanics are getting less and less logical and intuitive to a point where the third car feels unfinished because braking instantly straightens it from the drift, and pressing accelerator when drifting will either make you fall out of the curve or pull inside depending on too many factors to be able to reliably control the car.”
- “Effectively the game doesn't really have an actual race mode; it's always a time attack, trying to figure out the best time on the track against the time set by developers that seems to be set in order to teach you mechanics, but then you jump onto the next car and everything you've just learned playing previous car doesn't apply to this one.”
music
120 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
49%
7%
The game's music is generally praised for its energetic synth, techno, and eurobeat-inspired soundtrack that enhances the drifting and racing experience, evoking nostalgia for classic racing games. However, some users find the base soundtrack repetitive, limited in variety, and less impactful compared to iconic racing game soundtracks, often recommending using personal music playlists or mods to improve the audio experience. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a strong point that complements the game's atmosphere, despite some calls for more tracks and better thematic cohesion.
- “This game has made me appreciate driving in cockpit view and deal with more realistic driving. 10/10 would drift around the beautiful map to the epic music again and again.”
- “The soundtrack is mostly excellent, and the tracks are a blast to race on.”
- “Lastly OST is glorious, eurobeats is so good it feels like I'm in Initial D.”
- “The soundtrack isn't anything to write home about (a minor tragedy for a racing game), but neither was the original game.”
- “The music is weak and repetitive but that was never a strong suit of this series.”
- “Music was extremely bland to the point that I muted it to put my own on.”
optimization
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
58%
17%
Optimization feedback for the game is mixed, with many praising its overall smooth performance on high-end setups and good tuning options, while others report frequent stuttering, crashes, and poor performance on mid- to low-tier hardware and devices like the Steam Deck. The use of a demanding engine (UE5) results in inconsistent optimization, causing issues such as frame drops and slowdowns, though ongoing patches and updates have improved stability to some extent. Overall, while the game runs well on powerful systems, it requires further optimization for broader hardware compatibility.
- “The game is extremely well optimized and looks great too.”
- “Very nice graphics and well optimized.”
- “The racing itself and the graphics are very nice, optimized well.”
- “At this point, even Unreal Engine would have run better with Chaos (the worst optimized) physics.”
- “Way more bugs and the performance is worse than before.”
- “Needs a lot more performance optimization.”
stability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
81%
The game generally runs well with solid physics and graphics, but stability issues such as occasional crashes, buggy missions, map glitches, and UI problems are common, especially during races and settings menus. While some bugs can be mitigated through troubleshooting or community fixes, the game still feels like an early access title with ongoing development and notable glitches.
- “It runs great, looks great, and has all of the charm and more from before.”
- “The guys at Tryp FPV found the fix and now it runs great again.”
- “Runs at 90fps on Steam Deck OLED, and runs great when limited to 60fps and a 5-watt TDP to extend battery life.”
- “While it currently has some bugs and glitches, including unexpected crashes and unusual map interactions, it's important to note that the game is still in development.”
- “Only thing I don't like so far was when playing versus, if you don't win, the game just suddenly freezes and says 'failed' and only shows the finishing driver's time.”
- “I like the physics are pretty good but the race mode is kinda buggy as it won't register I went through a gate/portal and so I have to restart the race every time.”
grinding
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
11%
72%
Grinding in this game is moderate to heavy, primarily impacting players aiming for 100% completion, leaderboards, or full upgrades, with some requiring extensive repetitive play that can feel tedious. While not strictly necessary to progress through the story, the grind may feel monotonous and time-consuming, especially when unlocking certain features or facing AI quirks. Overall, grinding adds longevity for dedicated players but may detract from enjoyment for those seeking a more streamlined experience.
- “Average grind level that fits well into the gameplay without being too overwhelming.”
- “Grinding is only necessary if you care about leaderboards, ranks, or unlocking and upgrading everything.”
- “The grind is manageable and not required to progress, making for a balanced experience.”
- “If you like endless grinding and googling cryptic things in what should be a fun arcade racer, play this.”
- “I like this game but it gets pretty boring after a few rallys and to be honest if you are trying to 100% this game like I did, then know that the last two achievements are so tedious... it took me just over 25 hours of non-stop playing to get the last one which is to drive 1000km in game (each track is on average about 3km) so if you do the maths you find out that I had to do about 300 individual tracks.”
- “Now, if you want to beat them legitimately, enjoy using one of only two viable endgame cars and grinding for hours to get enough skill points to buy basically the entire skill tree before being able to do so.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor shines through its funny AI behaviors, amusing physics-based crashes, and playful modes like the cone-hitting challenge. While some jokes may miss the mark, the comedic elements, especially in multiplayer, add a lighthearted and entertaining layer to the experience.
- “The mods and different mass make crashing different, yet hilarious.”
- “The gameplay loop is good, the AI is as funny as I remember it being, and the car selection is decent enough for a 1.0 release.”
- “Good visuals, good gameplay, good music, funny in split screen with a friend.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its immersive environmental details, authentic Japanese street vibes, and nostalgic music remixes, contributing to a strong overall aesthetic. However, some users find the atmosphere weaker compared to older racing games and feel character depth is lacking, resulting in a mixed but mostly positive reception.
- “The aesthetics, the atmosphere, and the unique story and lore of each racer contribute to making it an excellent racing game.”
- “Atmosphere and environmental details are spot-on.”
- “I highly recommend this game; it is fun, with a great concept and an immersive atmosphere of Japan's streets.”
- “It's an arcade racer with a weak atmosphere (weaker than older NFS titles, for example), no multiplayer element, and an outdated and basic handling model.”
- “Not much in terms of atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere is okay.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The game offers strong replayability through its wanderer system, perk tree, and tuning options, as well as engaging car unlocking and story chapter replays. However, some find the overall content thin, with replay value diminishing after completing the main story until new updates arrive. Overall, the mechanics and customization provide enjoyable and addictive replay potential.
- “It's addictive, content-packed, and has a ton of replayability through its wanderer system, perk tree, and in-depth tuning system.”
- “Unlocking and learning all of the cars is pretty fun and ultimately gives the game most of its replay value.”
- “Fun, replayable, engaging and physics is okay, once you get to know how tuning works, with all physics options.”
- “Replayability exists through story chapter replays, but overall content feels thin.”
- “Once you get the story complete it has pretty much zero replayability value until they drop the story additions in the next few months.”
- “Many games have used this mechanic, and it would add significant replay value.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game features a straightforward monetization approach with no DLC, season passes, ads, or microtransactions, offering a complete experience right from the start. It runs fully offline and is praised for focusing on quality and player enjoyment rather than aggressive monetization tactics.
- “There are no fractures in this game - no DLC, no season pass, no storefront, no ads relegating 'start' to the footer like 'shopping for curtains' drops down a to-do list.”
- “Runs fully offline, comes fully packed right out of the box without any microtransactions, and is a simple yet addictive hop-in hop-out game.”
- “The game is so good that I'm hopeful it will bring an era of racing games made with love and care and not with the sole goal of meeting investor expectations and pumping it with microtransactions and weekly challenge content for the sake of player retention.”
- “The game is so good that I'm hopeful it will bring an era of racing games made with love and care and not with the sole goal of meeting investor expectations and pumping it with microtransactions and weekly challenge slop for the sake of player retention.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game evokes strong emotional responses, with players describing it as deeply moving and capable of bringing them to tears.
- “Number one bottom fragger, this game makes me want to cry!”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The character development received some criticism, with users specifically pointing out dissatisfaction with the character design.