Survival racer Distance available now on Early Access, also coming to PS4

Refract’s take on the racing genre has left me impressed

Distance, the neon-soaked spiritual successor to the popular freeware racing title Nitronic Rush is now available to test drive on Steam Early Access. For those interested, you can pick it up for a limited time at a 15% discount.

Unlike more straightforward racing titles, survival-focused Distance puts you in the driver’s seat of a slick-looking futuristic racer barreling down the streets of a city intent on your destruction. Your car’s abilities allow you to boost, jump, rotate and even fly as you attempt to navigate through the city’s gorgeous but treacherous tracks. Have a look at the launch trailer to see it in action.

Key features available in the Early Access build include:

• Abilities: The cars can perform many unique actions such as boosting, jumping, flying, and rotating to navigate along and around the track.
• Obstacles: There are many dangerous obstacles waiting to challenge the player along the way.
• Adventure: A single player experience to learn how to play the game as well as unveil a short story about the world’s mysterious past.
• Multiplayer: LAN, Online, and Split-Screen play in several modes, such as Sprint as well as Reverse Tag, Stunt, and many others.
• Level editor: Includes a powerful level editor that can be used to create levels from inside the game and share them with players around the world using Steam Workshop.

I had a chance to check it out briefly last night and was impressed with the current build. For an Early Access title, Distance looks and feels extremely polished. I plan on getting in some more time with it today if I get the chance, as I’m really curious to see what the ever-creative Steam community have come up with using the included level editor.

Also of note to PS4 owners, Refract recently announced on the PlayStation Blog that the survival racing title will be making an appearance on your console of choice sometime in 2015. As we learn more, we’ll be sure to keep you posted!

Update: We’ve got one Steam code for Distance Early Access to give away to a lucky commenter.  Check your Destructoid PMs later to see if you’re the winner!