Hello there, everyone. Today, we are absolutely stoked to announce that the Orkiest game of all time is coming to PlayStation 5!
Speed Freeks is a high-orktane combat racer – set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, featuring chaotic, brutal races, in-depth customisation options, and a totally ‘live’ creation mode where you can load into a blank canvas with your friends and play your creations in real time as you build them.
I’m here with Jon Doughty, Lead Designer and Level Designer at Caged Element Inc, to answer a few questions about our PlayStation heritage, about the game itself, and of course, what it’s like working with the Warhammer license.
What made you want to bring Speed Freeks to PlayStation?
Chris: Well, it’s obviously a great system, but it’s also got a strong pedigree for driving games in, especially combat racers in the past. Our first game, Grip, was a spiritual successor to Rollcage. We hope Speed Freeks can usher in a new era of combat racing games, as it’s an awesome genre that doesn’t get a lot of love these days. But it’s much more than a traditional combat racer, with the types of modes we’ve made, including the aforementioned Creation Mode. There’s lots of chaotic fun to be had – we hope the PlayStation players will dig it.
What do you think sets Speed Freeks apart from other vehicular combat and PvP games?
Jon: Speed Freeks is a true vehicle shooter, which, unfortunately, is rare. We tried to incorporate all the vehicle combat elements we love, from acrobatic stunt cars shooting at you while halfway through a backflip, to armored tanks perched on hilltops. And then we threw some crazy stuff in: a roaming assassin trike, a Grot Mega Tank with a flipper straight out of a robot combat show, helicopters, etc. I think Speed Freeks meshes a lot of diverse vehicle combat gameplay into one very fun and surprisingly balanced game.
The vehicles in this game are very agile, and their abilities make them very versatile. What made you lean into such a versatile movement?
Jon: We’ve always been big on movement in games – Rocket League, Apex Legends, even the Tony Hawk series – but a lot of Speed Freeks’ movement tech was actually discovered accidentally by players, and we decided to leave it in. Vehicles give you lots of options for different movement abilities, and I think we pushed it really far with Speed Freeks, and different moves ended up synergizing, and it just went wild. Allowing most vehicles to completely redirect their momentum on a dime whenever they’re touching the ground (or a wall) basically exploded the skill ceiling, and the way that the Dash ability interacts with handbrake and some of the propulsion abilities is addicting to master – and something we’re really proud of.
The main mode in the game, Kill Konvoy, is a mashup of traditional modes, but with a fun spin – plus a massive Stompa mech in the middle. How did you come to design this unique mode?
Jon: We workshopped this mode a lot and ended up with this reverse Capture The Flag (CTF) mode where you pick up flags in the mid-field and take them to the enemy’s base – except the flags are bombs, of course. And their base is a walking mech. The moving base aspect really meshes well with the high speeds, and all these different roles came about naturally: there are the high-flying bomb runners, roaming defenders, suppressors that clear out those defenders, and even goalies that guard at the foot of the Stompa.
If you’ve ever played the high-speed CTF mode from the Tribes franchise, you’ll know how fun this kind of gameplay can be. This game mode rules. If I had to pick the best thing we’ve done in Speed Freeks, it’s the design of this game mode and its maps, and I think our core players agree.
Speed Freeks has a multiplayer level editor. Was this something planned from the beginning?
Chris: Definitely not. Our core community is really passionate, constantly throwing out wild ideas for Orky environments, so we figured: let’s just give them some tools.
How the editor worked really lent itself to quick iteration, and we also discovered we could have players drop in and drop out, like in any other mode. It’s actually my favourite part of the game, seeing a level being constructed in real-time with players driving around on a level while it’s being built, sometimes getting smacked by assets in the middle of being placed. It’s hilarious and a really fun, creative way to play – especially over voice chat.
We also have an in-game workshop where players can upload their custom maps to the cloud for others to play, either solo or online. The team and I are really happy with how the Creation Workshop turned out. It’s kind of crazy how well and how quickly it all came together.
How’s it been working with the Warhammer IP?
Chris: Warhammer 40,000 is a badass property with so much lore and top-tier aesthetic to go with it. It’s intimidating, especially when you’re making something really new to the IP like our combat racing game.
It’s also quite challenging since there are restrictions on how we’re able to handle the vehicles, Orks, environments – everything. I think we smashed it proppa though, as the community (and Games Workshop) really like how faithful Speed Freeks is to the Orks faction. We like to think our game is the purest expression of Orkiness around.
Chris: Thank you all for taking the time to check out Speed Freeks – we’ll have more news to share very soon about the release date – until then, if you like what you see, please share the trailer with any Gitz that would cause chaos with you, and wishlist the game on your PlayStation!
