DeathSprint 66 preview: Wipeout with legs (and some of them are attached to a body)

A bloody and brilliant bipedal twist on Mario Kart that focuses on skill

DeathSprint 66 / Secret Mode

DeathSprint 66 is stompy. I wasn’t sure whether or not bipedal racing would have the same oomph as revving up a car, but 16 feet slamming into the ground as meat bodies jostle for position on a sci-fi racetrack makes a hell of a noise.

Sumo Digital imagines a future where we “entertain ourselves to death”. Bored of doom-scrolling, checked out of traditional sports, and hungry for something more, we’ve returned to gladiatorial combat where people pilot replaceable clones in high-stakes races. The result is a bloody and brilliant twist on Mario Kart. 

The early build I played showed great potential despite missing some key features. In a briefing before my hands-on, I’m told the clones have “200% more blood than a normal human” because you otherwise might miss the smear of man juice when you’re spriting past at 100mph. However, the gore system wasn’t ready so I had to make do with ragdolls. In the final version, body parts will litter the tracks. 

DeathSprint 66 / Secret Mode

Races start with eight players ready on the grid, all aiming to hit accelerate just before the whistle for a burst of speed. Then the stomping starts and chaos reigns. 

People bump and shove and jostle for position up to the first corner, and then those who have mastered the drift take the lead. Frontrunners are cut down by laser grids, stragglers fire off buzzsaws to slice their opposition in half, while crafty leaders pop shields and plant mines to stop their competitors from catching up. 

There are rails to grind, jump pads to hit, speed boosts to glide over, and walls to run across, all while avoiding various deadly traps – meat grinders, lasers, chasms, and more – on top of incoming missiles from the seven other players. And you have to avoid it all at speeds that would make Wipeout 2048 blush. 

DeathSprint 66 / Secret Mode

Boost is key to victory – building it up with stylish play and chaining it together so you’re essentially boosting around the entire track. When you’re at top speed, careening down a hill and sliding at the last minute to avoid getting a haircut from a spinning laser, it evokes the same kind of instinctive flow state as something like Super Hexagon. 

Where many arcade racers rely too much on RNG, DeathSprint focuses on skill. I didn’t get a sense that there was much – if any – rubberbanding happening to keep races tight. If you’re good, you’ll most likely win. If you’ve got a big lead, you can maintain it. 

There’s also a lot of nuance and freedom to create your own racing lines by utilizing the alternate routes and making use of the jump button. It’s used to hop over obstacles, but a crafty player can certainly cut corners with it. 

DeathSprint 66 / Secret Mode

At one point, I jumped off the track and almost died, but managed to cut an entire corner out and land back on my feet at full speed, just ahead of my closest opponent. These moments, where you only just avoid becoming a red smear on the track, are where DeathSprint sings. I just hope it finds the audience it deserves. 

Sumo Digital is taking a bit of a risk with DeathSprint, forgoing the Battle Pass model and, gasp, treating it like a complete game at launch. All cosmetics and progression exist in the game – you just have to unlock it instead of paying for it. What a concept! Whether players with short attention spans can get on board with that or not remains to be seen. 

It also felt a little strange to be playing and enjoying this game just after Sumo Digital laid off hundreds of its workers. On the one hand, it’s nice to be able to champion their work. On the other, they won’t be around to benefit from the game’s success. I can’t help but feel stung by the irony of playing their game about the human cost of entertainment.