DLC Review: Mantis Burn Racing: Snowbound & Elite Pass DLC – PS4

I have to admit straight away that before the review code landed in my inbox, I hadn’t really gone back to Mantis Burn Racing after playing through it for my review. It’s not that I don’t like the game (my review speaks for itself!), I just don’t have that much time to spread around across tens of games. Ah, the life of a reviewer…
It was nice, then, to jump back in VooFoo’s Mantis Burn Racing with some fresh content. Or at least that was the idea, but after five minutes of fumbling around a snowy racetrack and completely losing my way, I decided to go back to the earlier stages of the game to re-acclimatise myself with the game’s controls and gameplay. Yeah, it’s been so long that I had to go back to the basics.

Once I’d gotten myself adjusted and had a few decent laps under my belt, off I went to see what the two new DLCs have in store. The first, Snowbound, is a free download for everyone. Not bad. The second is the Elite Pass which will run you a couple of pounds/dollars/euro, and in return for your paper you’ll get access to some futuristic vehicles. Fancy.
My first stop was the Snowbound pack and its new races, events, and snowy location. It looked really quite nice upon loading into the race. I mentioned in my Mantis Burn Racing review that the tracks all seem like diorama-style play sets, and that’s still true with Snowbound. The tracks are wonderfully put together, though still rather challenging. It’s a bit of a shame I’m going a mile-a-minute during races as I can’t really stop and appreciate the little touches. Well, I can – and did – but that normally means I’m going to lose the race and walk away without any of those precious gears. Which brings me to my next point…

If you’ve not got the gears, you’ll need to go back and earn some more before you can really enjoy Snowbound. I’m talking, like, 300+ gears. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, gears are the rewards you get for completing races, eliminations, time trails, and the like. Personally, I was pretty good. I did my time with the game and got myself a ton-load of gears. Humble brag? Definitely.
The second, and paid, DLC is the Elite Pass. This gives you access to new vehicles that aren’t like anything you’ve previously seen in Mantis Burn Racing. No, these are some next-level, sci-fi, futuristic beasts. Wheels? No need. These things hover above the ground, powered by magic. Or just fancy technology. Us dummies can’t really tell the difference…

For your £1.99 you’ll get a handful of these vehicles. You’ll also get a little bit of gamer rage as you struggle to adapt to their characteristics. Remember, these things don’t behave like the regular machines. They don’t have wheels, so there’s no traction. You’ll need to bring you A-game when it comes to taking on corners and mad drifts are the order of the day. A little restraint helps, too, lest you spend your entire race licking the barriers. Yes, this happened to me on my first run, but it didn’t take too long to get used to fancy flying thingys.
What’s pretty neat is that the Snowbound and Elite Pass content can be used for local multiplayer as well as online play. Unfortunately, Mantis Burn Racing’s online isn’t the most active and you may struggle to find a game unless you’re playing at peak-times. It took me a while to be able to show off my new rides online, but this was quickly remedied by sending a WhatsApp to my mates demanding they get online or I’ll be sending pictures of my – you don’t really need to know. Point is, it’s more fun with a few mates than a bunch of randoms who may or may not show up/finish the race/stay for another round.

Mantis Burn Racing DLC PS4 Review

• 8/10
  Overall - Fantastic - 8.0/10

8/10

Summary

For £1.99 you get some fancy new vehicles to whizz around some fancy new tracks and a fancy new campaign. The fact that the best part of the DLC is free makes this a no-brainer. If you’re looking for a reason to revisit Mantis Burn Racing, look no further.