'Distance' Is The New Tron-Like PC Racing Game You'll Love

Shifting tracks, black holes, portals, jumps and lasers that can cut your car in half are enough to keep you at the edge of your racing seat as you try to level up in Distance, the new racing game from Refract Studios.

Refract Studios is a small indie gaming company based out of Seattle, Washington. It released the PC game Nitronic Rush in 2011 and now, with a small crew of just seven people, it’s made Distance. The spiritual successor to Nitronic Rush, Distance is visually unique with neon lights surrounding dark twisting, turning city streets. It’s been likened to Tron, and the object of the race is simple: survive. You race at high speeds with dozens of different obstacles populating the track, but to help navigate the dangerous roads, the vehicles can jump, rotate, boost and fly.

Players are currently using the Distance Steam Workshop to share some amazing levels they’ve created. There are well over 100 levels available, with more to come. The level editor in this game is a clever way to provide new content through user creations and a look at it shows you just how simple it is to get started. From there you can make your creation as simple or as incredibly complex as you wish.

Refract Studios was able to help fund Distance through its Kickstarter campaign in 2012. Contributors have already been given access to the private beta release, and no more early access is available at this time. However, you can still pre-order the game at a low cost and gain access during the next release. In an interview with us recently, developer Jordan Hemenway said:

The official public beta (Steam Early Access) target is fall 2014. We’re still deciding on what month makes the most sense for launch but it’s looking more like late fall at the moment, so it could honestly be anytime from late October to mid December depending on how we feel about the build.

Hemenway also shared never-before-seen screenshots with us from a few of the new Challenge mode levels that will soon be released in a beta patch. You can see that the cars travel through many different environments, and are not always grounded. Hemenway describes these levels as “short, intense levels with no checkpoints.” Check out the video below to get a feel for just how intense this game can get.

Although Distance is not a typical car game with cars modelled after real brands racing on real tracks, its fictitious spin on racing certainly quenches our thirst for action.

Tell us what you love or don’t love about the concept, and join our Steam Group to connect with other CT gamers.