Off-road racer Gravel has a new trailer focusing on the challenges of career mode. Milestone is looking to keep players’ interest with a more character-driven approach compared to other titles in the genre.
Gravel’s latest trailer expands upon the career mode as discussed in a previously released developer update. Milestone tends to focus on officially licensed titles, but Gravel looks to buck that trend with a more prominent story.
Players will compete in various off-road events hosted on the Gravel Channel, a fictional TV station that broadcasts the tournament. Each category has an associated ‘master’ which must be beaten to progress in the career mode. Doing so will then unlock a fifth competitor, the overall champion of the Gravel series.
Milestone is expanding upon this concept by using real actors to represent each rival. The gimmick was popularized in the late 2000s but was quickly ditched, barring 2015’s average Need For Speed reboot. Its use is difficult to get right and more often than not comes off incredibly cheesy. Gravel seems to be falling right into this camp.
We’ll have to wait until release to pass judgement but this trailer is setting a crony backdrop for the off-road racing. That’s without even mentioning the over-the-top announcer, either.
The actual racing we’re seeing for Gravel does look fun. A tidy car roster and track list will accompany the four disciplines to compete in, which hopefully makes the game a worthwhile package. There’s quite a lot of choice for fans of the off-road genre, so Gravel will have to nail the driving experience to stand apart from the rest.
Gravel is set to release February 27, 2018 on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
