Screaming onto the scene fresh from the Warhammer 40,000 lineup comes Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks. Brought to you by Caged Element Inc. and PLAION, this adrenaline-fueled, high-Orktane mob are ready to unleash mayhem and carnage on any foe that stands in their way or even looks at them funny. ‘Ere we go! Join MKAU as we go full-speed into this brutal yet fun speed war to the death, blowing things up along the way.

Kicking things off with a bang, Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks is simply an adrenaline-fueled race to the death. There are various run-down vehicles for you to drive and unlock, all fully equipped with enough ammunition and explosives to delight an Ork’s heart. Crush the opposing team as you race across six different maps, either racing to capture checkpoints or racing Stompas down a track while raining bombs down on one another.

Let me cut to the chase, there is no campaign or story mode. Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks is all multiplayer only. There are eight dilapidated vehicles at your disposal, such as Megatrakk Scrapjet, Kustom Boosta Blasta, and my favourite, the Boomdakka Snazzwagon, all with individual abilities and attributes.

Playing this on mouse and keyboard felt pretty smooth as the controls are your generic WASD to drive around, LMB to shoot, RMB for a secondary ability such as grenades, F for a quick shunt or boost in a certain direction, SHIFT to boost, and E being your two special abilities, whether it be firing healing darts, land mines, or even dropping a smoke screen. You’ll have multiple ways to rain fire down on the other team or heal your teammates as they tank all the damage.

Earlier, I mentioned two different game modes. They’re Deff Rally and Kill Konvoy. Deff Rally is essentially a death race between two teams, racing through multiple checkpoints and fighting for a high score, with the finish line appearing after the final checkpoint.

Kill Konvoy, however, entails two teams racing their giant Stompas down a hostile track while simultaneously trying to destroy the enemy’s vehicles by hurling bombs at one another; the more kills and bombs delivered means the opposing team’s Stompa slows down, giving your team a chance to get to the finish first.

While it is still early days, I am excited to see more maps released for Kill Konvoy, this mode only has two maps while Deff Rally has four. This doesn’t take anything away from the sheer fun and chaos of the game, it’s more of a little side note.

A few neat additions that are also worth mentioning are the daily and vehicle challenges, customizability, the Mek shop, and last, but certainly not least, the Loot Pass. Caged Element Inc. has thought of everything.

Instead of stopping at adrenaline-fueled Orks hell-bent on chaos and explosions, they gave us daily and vehicle challenges to level up and unlock some items to customize our vehicles, further adding to that replayability. There’s even a Loot Pass where you can spend some Teef, the Ork’s version of money, to unlock even more items to bling out your wasteland grenade-hurling death racer.

Heading back to the start, I found this game a treat, the controls were easy to learn and jump right into the action. Once you find your preferred vehicle I’m sure you will have as great a time as I did.

Speeding into our next topic: graphics. Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks showcases ramshackle vehicles and dilapidated environments, yet it expertly contrasts bright and dark colours across all the maps. Each explosion is a burst of vibrant colours against the wasteland-style environment, not to mention the fully sick paint jobs of the vehicles, but as the sold saying goes, “Red wunz go fasta!”

The sounds of the vehicles and weapons are also another notable mention, with each vehicle having a unique deep or raspy sound, the guns with their loud booms, and the metal-crushing crashes, all aiding the experience, and as any fan of Warhammer 40,000 knows, the louder the shoota, the more shooty it is.

One more thing, I loved the soundtrack. I mean yes, I did love this game overall, but the soundtrack reminded me of all the ‘MW2’ and ‘BO2’ days, because, to me, that is precisely what it sounded like. The soundtrack was quiet when it needed to be, but as you dive into the action, it picks back up to have you on the edge of your seat, grenades exploding to the beat of the drums crashing; music perfect for war and chaos.

Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks was an amazing time across the board. I spent countless hours grinding away to customize my ride and stand out on the battlefield, screaming “Hey look at me! Shoot me!” While it’s only multiplayer with no campaign, there is enough content to keep you coming back for more. From challenges to the customizability, and even the downright chaos of the game itself, it kept me invested, unlike some other games within similar genres. Not to forget the soundtrack and weapons; I absolutely loved those, and I’m sure you will too. See you on the track, you little Speed Freeks!

Written by: Larry