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Trackmania (2020 video game)

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Trackmania
Developer(s)Ubisoft Nadeo
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
SeriesTrackmania
Platform(s)
ReleaseWindows
July 1, 2020
Consoles, Cloud
May 15, 2023
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Trackmania is a racing video game developed by Ubisoft Nadeo and published by Ubisoft, and is part of the TrackMania series. It was released on July 1, 2020, for Windows.[1] A remake of TrackMania Nations, it was given the soft reboot title of Trackmania. The base game is free-to-play, with additional content available with a paid subscription model, including an in-game track editor, online events and car customization.[2] The game was also released for consoles and cloud platforms on May 15, 2023.[3] The game has received mixed to positive reviews, with the gameplay being received positively, and its subscription model being criticized.

Gameplay

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Trackmania is a soft reboot of the Trackmania series, and by extension, a remake of Trackmania Nations. It features gameplay similar to that of previous titles in the series, in which the player must race from start to finish on a selected track in the quickest time possible, with a heavy emphasis on fast-paced stunts and arcade behaviour.

Trackmania features the return of the "Stadium" environment seen in previous entries, however all previously used blocks and track pieces that were seen in previous games have been removed and replaced entirely by a new set of blocks built from scratch. For example, in addition to standard road and dirt surfaces, a new ice surface was introduced, containing flat and bobsleigh-style blocks. The game also features tools that allows players to create their own custom blocks and objects, which in turn can be uploaded and featured in-game for other players to use in their own creations.[4]

Trackmania also features the return of 3 other environments, called "Snow", "Rally" and "Desert", each environment featuring a new car and several new building blocks. These 3 environments were also previously featured in other Trackmania games, such as Trackmania United[5][6]

Previous games in the series featured a permanent campaign of 65 tracks, however Trackmania replaces this with a seasonal campaign of 25 tracks, which rotates every three months, alongside a permanent "Training" campaign of 25 tracks which remains available to all players, and players with "Standard" or "Club" subscription access receive retroactive, permanent access to past campaigns, however, the leaderboards in these campaigns are locked and will not have any effect on global leaderboards should a player improve their personal best time on any track in a past campaign.

In addition, a "Track Of The Day" campaign is available to players with "Standard" or "Club" subscription access, which features a track that has been made by the community, and hand-selected by the developers to be featured in-game. The selected track rotates every 24 hours.

Content and gameplay updates

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Trackmania has received several updates since its initial release which have added gameplay features.

On November 2, 2020, a "Cup Of The Day" gameplay mode was released in beta, which runs alongside every newly released "Track Of The Day".[7] The mode consists of a daily knockout tournament, where players race against each other on the new "Track Of The Day" in a round-based format. The mode begins with a 15 minute seeding phase in time attack, where players must set the best time they can on a global leaderboard. After this phase, players are then matched together in divisions of 64 players each to begin the knockout phase. At the end of every round, players who have finished in the bottom positions, or who have failed to finish, are eliminated. The process repeats until only one player remains, who is crowned as the winner. The gameplay mode has been positively received, with players citing its fun factor and replay value. The "Cup Of The Day" mode was fully released on December 12, 2020.[8]

On 4 February 2021, a matchmaking gameplay mode was released in beta.[9] It features two teams of players racing against each other on a randomly selected track on the current seasonal campaign, with the goal being for each team to finish in as high a position as they possibly can on each round. Each position attributes a certain number of points to a players' team. At the end of each round, the team with the most points wins the round; the first team to win 5 rounds wins the match. The mode also features a ranking ladder, which players can move up or down depending on wins and losses in a match. Matchmaking was positively received by players, although some have criticized the decision for a 1v1 option to have not been implemented. Matchmaking was fully released on 1 June 2021, and was renamed to Ranked.[10]

On 12 June 2021, Nadeo announced the release of the "Royal" gameplay mode, as well as several new blocksets, including plastic blocks, the return of water blocks and fully animated & dynamic blocks.[11]

On 21 November 2023, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the TrackMania franchise, Nadeo announced the release of additional car types and blocksets originally used in the Alpine, Desert, and Rally environments from the TrackMania 2003 game, affectionately referred to as the "original trilogy".[12] The Alpine car, now known as the Snow car, and its associated blockset, released the same day. The new blocks introduced a new surface to the game, wood.[13] The snow car is styled similarly to off-road pickup trucks, and drives very differently from the stadium car, with a smaller turning radius, altered acceleration, and higher center of mass.

On February 27, 2024, the Rally car was released. The Rally car has a tighter turning radius than the stadium car, but much lower grip in most circumstances. This update also fixed the snow car's "landing bugs", which would cause the car to jump and lose speed after some landings.[14] The car and blockset from Desert is set to be released at some point in the future. Cars were released with training maps available to players with "Standard" or "Club" access, called "Snow Discovery" and "Rally Discovery".

In addition to official updates, the game features tools that allows players and content creators to create and organize community events and tournaments in-game. Some of the most popular events include the ZrT TrackMania Cup,[15] TrackMania Formula League,[16] and the TrackMania Grand League,[17] an official tournament organised and endorsed by Ubisoft Nadeo, the developers of the game.[18]

Reception

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Trackmania received an aggregate score of 74/100 on Metacritic.[1]

Benjamin Schmädig of 4Players rated the game 85/100, praising its time trials and track editor.[20]

Alex Santa Maria of IGN rated the game 7/10, saying that it was "addictive" and had a robust amount of content, but criticized its menus as looking "cobbled-together". He also criticized the idea of "gating off access" through a subscription model, saying that it risked hindering the game's long-term community support.[19]

Gianluca Musso of Eurogamer Italia also rated the game 7/10, saying that while it was beautiful and fun, he criticized the fact that it was aimed solely at the hardcore audience.[21]

The game was initially criticized by players due to unstable servers and unoptimized netcode; however, these issues have been resolved over time via patches and updates.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Trackmania". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  2. ^ Vega, Sin (July 2020). "Trackmania is out now". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  3. ^ Pereira, Chris (September 10, 2022). "Trackmania Is Finally Coming To Consoles, Including PS5 And Xbox Series X/S". GameSpot. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  4. ^ "Update: Club items are available!". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. 2021-03-18. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  5. ^ Nadeo, Ubisoft (2024-02-23). "THE RALLY CAR IS ARRIVING IN TRACKMANIA ON FEBRUARY 27TH!". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  6. ^ Nadeo, Ubisoft (2023-11-21). "20 years of Trackmania: Update and changelog". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  7. ^ "Cup of the Day arrives in Trackmania". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. 2020-11-02. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  8. ^ "Earn trophies with the Cup of the Day mode !". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. 2021-01-27. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  9. ^ "The Matchmaking 3v3 Beta is open! Test it for Free". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. 2021-02-04. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  10. ^ "Ranked 3V3 point system update". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. 2021-06-01. Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  11. ^ "The new Royal mode is out!". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. 2021-06-12. Archived from the original on 2021-06-12. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  12. ^ "LET'S CELEBRATE TRACKMANIA'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY TODAY WITH NEW CONTENT AND LIVE ACTIVITIES!". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. Ubisoft Nadeo. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  13. ^ Nadeo, Ubisoft (2023-11-21). "20 years of Trackmania: Update and changelog". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  14. ^ "RALLY UPDATE: UPDATE AND CHANGELOG". Trackmania - The ultimate track racing game. Ubisoft Nadeo. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  15. ^ "ZeratoR". zerator.com. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  16. ^ "Home • Trackmania Formula League". www.trackmania-formula-league.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  17. ^ "Homepage". Trackmania Grand League. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  18. ^ "Trackmania Grand League". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  19. ^ a b Santa Maria, Alex (2020-11-05). "Trackmania Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  20. ^ Schmädig, Benjamin (2020-01-07). "Trackmania - Test, Rennspiel". 4Players (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  21. ^ Musso, Gianluca (2020-06-30). "Trackmania - recensione". Eurogamer.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  22. ^ "new update & changelogs!". Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
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