Ever since the birth of cryptocurrency, people have been skeptical of its value and the technology behind it. This is also the reason why people have preconceived notions about Play-to-earn gaming, especially pointing out that GameFi games aren’t really fun and are created just so people can dump their cash into them looking for profit. Let’s see if Street Runner, an open-world racing game is one of these projects or if it punches above its weight.
Background
Street Runner is an open-world street racing metaverse built on the Binance Smart Chain that wants to combine racing with social elements and reward players with crypto tokens for playing the game. Inspired by the Fast and the Furious series, Developed by a fully doxed team based in Spain and lists DAO maker, Unanimous Capital, and Gate.io as some of its backers. Players can join races, bet on them, upgrade their vehicles with new parts, and even acquire property on a map that players can explore.
Graphics and Gameplay
Racing games are expected to provide good graphics as players want to simulate the feeling of driving a real car through this game genre. Street Runner delivered on this part somewhat, although the overall feel of the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. Players would often see breaks in the animation and it's not as fluid as some of the more prominent racing games like Need for Speed or Forza.
You can also roam around the map and do quests based on the available gameplay on their YouTube channel. Offering a different type of gameplay besides just cruising down the asphalt. This part of the game reminded me of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and sad to say, the animation on this is not done properly too. Actions like walking and interacting with objects look weird as they are not fluid and the movement of the limbs looks unnatural. The voices used also sound like they are done by AI and sound very artificial which honestly turned me off.
Gameplay-wise, you can expect it to feel like most racing games where you have a third-person view of the car you are driving as you try to pass other cars gunning for 1st place. You can also upgrade parts of your car as you continue to win races and progress the story of the game. There are other race modes available like Street Race, Carbon Race, and Police Escape. Players can also bet on ongoing races if they don’t want to feel the pressure of being on the racetrack.
Earning Potential
Street Runner uses a dual token system with its $SRG and $SRP tokens. $SRG is the governance token and it can be converted to the utility token $SRP which has many uses including: racing and collecting SRP from races, buying and selling NFT cars, car parts and other assets, race betting and as entry fee for participating in tournaments and events with other players. They also implemented a scholarship system where you can let other people rent your cars for a cut of what they will earn. Finally, you can stake your $SRG tokens to farm $SRP which can then be used to upgrade your cars.
Final Thoughts
I believe the idea of a racing game with social elements is good as it can help build a community with similar interests to interact with each other inside a game they like. It also helps to market their NFT cars or other assets in the game if they want to sell. I just think that Street Runner was not executed properly, making it feel like the developers just want to get the game done quickly and start getting their investments back without really caring about the quality of the project they release.
Overall, I think that if you are willing to spend your money on a game, it should be for something you can thoroughly enjoy. In my opinion, Street Runner is an example of why NFT games are frowned upon where they make the game look good on paper to sell but the gameplay itself isn’t really fun like a game should be. If you are looking for a racing game where you can build your own car and have full ownership of it with unique and truly immersive gameplay, then you might have to wait for a better project or search the market for another. While Street Runner may look dazzling, I’m afraid that’s all that it's got.