Absolute Drift

Absolute Drift is a minimalist indie racing game that focuses on the pure joy of drifting. The game is all about mastering the art of drifting, and it's clear that a lot of love and care went into crafting this experience.

One of the standout elements of Absolute Drift is its visual design. The game features a beautiful low-poly art style that is both charming and elegant. The environments are simple yet detailed and the overall aesthetic of the game is pleasing to the eye.

The gameplay in Absolute Drift is also excellent. The controls are tight and responsive, and mastering the art of drifting takes both skill and practice. The game is challenging but never feels unfair, and the sense of satisfaction that comes from nailing a perfect drift is incredibly rewarding. There is also a good amount of content to explore considering the low price point, with multiple tracks and challenges to complete.

While Absolute Drift is not without its flaws (such as occasional difficulty spikes and lack of content for some players), it's a great indie racing game that offers a unique and rewarding experience. If you're a fan of drifting, racing games, or just looking for a fun and relaxing game to play, then Absolute Drift is definitely worth checking out.

Absolute Drift is a simple driving game focusing on drifting. I have no idea what the “Zen edition” refers to because it can be quite stressful if you don’t drift successfully.

The graphics are bold in a “Prototype” style; simple primitives of mainly white/grey. Your car leaves trailing skid marks which is a great visual effect.

Free roam mode has objectives around the areas. “Doughnut object x”, “spin here”, “drift between object x and object y”, collect icons, make jumps. You need to complete all these to move to the next area. It’s mainly busy-work rather than taking skill to accomplish.

There are also a few events in each area. These take you to a course where you do laps while drifting around the corners; or an arena where you gain points for doughnuts, spin, and drifting in the appropriate areas. You can also select these events via a menu rather than having to drive.

It has one of those scoring systems where you will gain exponential points when you are doing well. So if you perform successful drifts, then your combo multiplier will increase and your score sky-rockets.

If you crash, then on the next corner, you will find that you might not have enough speed or don’t have the appropriate racing line to perform a good drift - therefore poor performance leads to more poor performance.

I felt there were some inconsistencies of what is recognised as a successful drift. Sometimes I performed a decent drift but it didn’t register, but I considered that maybe I was driving “too slow”. But then there will be occasions where I drift slower and it does register. It’s as if it seems more lenient if you already have a combo going.

In the free roam sections, sometimes I noticed I had to drive away from the doughnut areas then return because the percentage completion had stopped increasing.

The drifting mechanics do feel good, and it is quite challenging to do correctly without your car spinning out. I imagine there are pros out there that can navigate these tracks without crashing, or losing their combo.

It’s a simple game that will give you around 3 hours of entertainment. It’s fine, but nothing special.

I wish I enjoyed Absolute Drift more than I did. It's polished enough -- I've never seen a bug, which isn't surprising given the game's simple premise -- but it doesn't feel like a full game.

Don't get me wrong: the game has charm. I recommend it to others when it goes on sale for a price I think is worth it. Playing the game is a relaxing experience, but when I found myself thinking about it the other day I was wondering why I never felt compelled to play it anymore.

In truth, it's because game's simple premise of drifting a car around objects is the entirety of the game. I don't mean that in the same way that you would say "Assassin's Creed games are only about killing people". I mean that Absolute Drift spawns you in the world with no additional context and tells you to drift a whole bunch before moving to the next area where you can drift some more. If you're satisfied by the drifting in the game, you can do plenty of it. If you're looking for interesting challenges to add something to the experience, well, you're left hanging.

That's why I started this the way I did: "I wish I enjoyed it more than I do". I haven't had a negative experience playing the game. No bugs, nothing I felt was unfair, nothing to make me upset. But there's nothing truly engaging either. It relies entirely on your enjoyment of a single mechanic to draw you in, and I have to admit that while it's interesting for a single playthrough, I wouldn't have returned to it if I felt I clearly remembered my previous time with the game.

If you're in for a rare experience with a relaxing racing game that can be completed in two hours, check this out. It's a neat little game -- I don't regret buying it. But if you're looking for that game that does its best to draw you in and keep you interested for hours? You might want to pass on this one.