Transformers: Galactic Trialsis a new fast-paced racing game that takes full advantage of the robots’ vehicular prowess. Combining driving and combat, the upcoming title will have players striving to recover powerful Prime Relics that have been stolen by the evil Nemesis Prime. The game comes from developer 3DClouds, which has previously produced several other racing titles for various IPs likePaw PatrolandFast & Furious, andkid-friendly publisher Outright Games, which specializes in releases that are accessible to all ages.

The titular Galactic Trials refer to a series of races players will embark on in order to get back the stolen relics, which have three different difficulty levels that correspond to how many races are involved - either three, five, or seven.Players will need to place third or higher in order to progressin each Trial, as well as make sure their health never reaches a lethally low level.

Diablo character in golden armor with a greenish glow coming off of it standing in a stone room, the Gamescom logo is to the left.

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Screen Rantrecently went hands-on withTransformers: Galactic Trialsin a short session at Gamescom, which gave a bit of a window into what fans can expect from the title. It’s got promise, though I wasn’t able to play for long enough to really dive deep into what it has to offer, so treat these observations more like a first impression of how the game feels early to newcomers.

Bowser and Mario in karts bumping into each other, surrounded by a few other cars from racing games. On the right is a Formula 1 car, and a couple muscle cars are above and to the left of Mario and Bowser.

A Star-Studded Robotic Line Up

Transformers: Galactic Trialsis clearly designed with long-time fans in mind, featuring an impressive line-up of both Autobots and Decepticons. There are11 total playable charactersin the title: Autobots Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Elita-1, Wheeljack, and Arcee, and Decepticons Megatron, Shockwave, Flamewar, Soundwave, Nightbird, and Nemesis Prime.Galactic Trialssets itself apart from manypreviousTransformersgameswith this roster, as most past titles have focused solely on Autobot gameplay, rarely allowing players to explore the dark side with Decepticons.

Players will begin with only a few characters - Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Megatron - available to race with, unlocking more as they progress through the story. Each robot comes with two unique skills they can use during races; Elita-1, for example, can rain down missiles on enemies, while Bumblebee wields shocking plasma stings. During my time with the title, I played as Nightbird, the powerful ninja bot, whose specialties are Toxic Shurikens and Energon Slashes. As time goes on, players will also acquire an increasing amount of ways to customize their loadout before each race.

Transformers Galactic Trials combat sequence showing a Transformer aiming a gun at an enemy firing lasers at them, the screen shows the player’s vitals and says “enemy destroyed."

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Alongside their two skills, each robot can equip a weapon, which aren’t limited to single characters. These are what players will use during the combat portions of each race, with eight total to choose between, which include everything from proton pulse blasters to shotgun-like weapons to a missile launcher. As players continue on in the story and recover the stolen relics,they’ll also be able to apply them as modifiers to their racer, like increasing damage dealt when vehicle health is below a certain level, or increasing shield recovery speed.

Transformers Galactic Trials Optimus Prime and Bumblebee standing next to one another, a stone Transformer structure is behind them.

Balancing Combat & Racing In Transformers: Galactic Trials

Driving inTranformers: Galactic Trialsis incredibly speedy and smooth, with all the standard vehicular handling features players would expect. Players can drift around corners - a move that definitely requires a fair amount of finesse to master - and build up boost to go even faster, all while avoiding occasional track hazards like piles of damaging green goo that both lower a Transformer’s health and slow them down. However, these are only the beginning of dangers players will face on the track.

Thoughgames likeWreckfestand theBurnoutfranchise have given players vehicular combat and destruction,Galactic Trialsoffers a whole new spin on the concept by virtue of Transformers’ dual forms. During each race, there will be sections in which players will transform from car to robot to face an area filled with enemies, against which they can employ a blend of the aforementioned weapons, skills, and relic perks. As if combating waves of enemies wasn’t enough, players will need to strategically plan how long they stay within these sequences.

Transformers Galactic Trials Multiplayer screen showing two players racing on a futuristic looking course in a pickup truck-like vehicle and a tank-like vehicle.

The competition for first place doesn’t stop during these combat sequences, and if players linger too long building up a higher score destroying enemies, they’ll fall far behind. This creates an interesting balancing act - during one of my races, I mistakenly thought I could wipe out an entire area before returning to the driving portion, but it turned out enemies could spawn indefinitely. By the time I realized this and knew I needed to hop back into the race, I had made my way to last place and fruitlessly tried my best to catch up with very poor results.

Even during racing, away from enemy waves, players will still need to be mindful of their competitors.It’s not uncommon for other Transformers to sideswipe into the player and attempt to make them crash, and they can do the same in retaliation. Some of the most fun I had during my hands-on time was trying to strategically time these violent bumps as we approached gaps in the course, ideally making my opponents fall just as they tried to use a ramp. If a Transformer’s health reaches zero, it’s game over, and players will need to begin the Trials again.

Final Thoughts On Transformers: Galactic Trials

I didn’t get to experienceGalactic Trials’ multiplayer firsthand during my hands-on, butthe overall options available for it seem to be perhaps the weakest part of the game’s available features. The story mode is only single-player, meaning friends can’t team up against Nemesis Prime together, and the Arcade Mode is only for two players total, with just local play available. With such a fast-paced game that has such potential for delightful chaos, it feels like a severely missed opportunity to not have expanded further upon what players can do outside single player.

However, ideally, this lack of much multiplayer means developers have put a lot of effort into the overall single player story and experience. It seems likely thatthe title may go deeper into overallTransformerslore in some capacity when compared to previous games, as promotional materials mention a close collaboration with Hasbro on the project. In my time with the game I was only able to glean a cursory idea of the overall narrative, but things like the game’s courses and relics seemed to include lots of small details for long-time fans, like a relic referencing Velocity’s Spark.

I came away from the preview very impressed with the overall car handling in the game, which was very smooth and enjoyably high-octane. Since I only spent about fifteen minutes with the title, I wasn’t able to truly get a clear picture of everythingTransformers: Galactic Trialshas to offer in terms of things like its course lineup or how each character handles. Though it was just a small window into the game, the combat and racing combination is undeniably intriguing, as is the ability to play as a Decepticon, making it a title fans should keep an eye on.

Transformers: Galactic Trialswill release October 11 for PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.