LANESPLIT Review

Driving a motorcycle is, statistically, just about the most dangerous thing an average person can do. It’s also one of the most fun. Whether you’re going top speed on a track, taking it slow on a cross-country tour, or just using a moped to get to work, it’s more satisfying than using a 4-wheeled vehicle. It can also be more adrenaline inducing. There’s a reason why motorcycle accidents are so common, and why no sane person should push a bike to its limits in the real world. Nothing bad’ll happen if you weave through traffic while going over 200 kilometres per hour in a video game, though. If anything, it’s a strangely calming experience whether you’re doing it in Grand Theft Auto or The Crew 2. LANESPLIT doesn’t have the frills of those games, and it’s just as good because it nails its one and only core gameplay mechanic. LANESPLIT is about splitting between lanes, and that’s all it needs to be fantastic.

Made by a single developer, LANESPLIT keeps it simple. Your only goal while playing is to weave your bike between other vehicles in traffic at high speeds. You can do so on three different maps, either solo or with up to six of your mates, choose how many AI cars are on the roads, and whether or not the roads are wet. There’s an in-game scoring system that lets you rack up points by driving dangerously, and reaching certain thresholds gradually unlocks the game’s 14 different bikes. You’re able to visually customise them, too. And that’s literally all the game’s features. There’s no storyline, store, or huge open world. Just you and your bike, which you use to drive fast and not hit anything.

But even though LANESPLIT is straightforward, it’s not a stupid game. Like any good racing title, it’s meant to be enjoyed by both people who are playing it to unwind and those who want to master its mechanics. As such, all of its bikes have substantially different handling, especially when it’s raining in-game. The ones you start the title with are easy enough to use, but the ones you unlock by racking up high scores require substantially more skill. You can freely swap between using automatic controls, which automatically shifts their gearboxes up or down, or do that manually, which further complicates things. And if you decide to play in third person, it’s a lot harder to keep your bike on the road. The choice is always up to you, and regardless of which ones you make, it’s always fun to speed around in LANESPLIT. It’s not exactly relaxing, but it is somewhat calming. When you’re in the zone, you’ll be completely oblivious to the world around you. And if you’re traveling at 30 kilometres per hour on a Vespa, you can zone out and enjoy yourself.

Regardless of how you play LANESPLIT, though, it’s hard not to appreciate its visuals and music. The game’s graphics are unsurprisingly solid. All three of its maps are gorgeous to explore, and you can even hop off your bike if you want to appreciate their lighting and architecture while standing still. However, LANESPLIT’s music is the real star of its audiovisual show. The game’s tracks themselves aren’t anything to write home about. They’re relatively generic pop/techno which are perfectly fine if unnoteworthy. However, the faster you drive in the game, the louder they become. As the world around you becomes a blur, the music helps keep you in a zen-like state until you hit something and the music stops.

Needless to say, LANESPLIT isn’t a complicated game. It’s one where you drive motorcycles at ridiculous speeds, while dodging traffic and trying to avoid the side barricades on roads. It has a decent amount of depth because of how its different bikes handle, and because you’re encouraged to drive dangerously to rack up a high score. It has multiplayer, the ability to tinker around with your motorcycles, and a few different gameplay settings. However, the beauty of the title is that you don’t have to worry about any of that if you don’t want to. You can just boot the game up and lock in while doing stunts that would probably kill you if you attempted them outside a virtual environment. Playing LANESPLIT isn’t quite as enjoyable as the adrenaline you get from being a moron in the real world, but it’s safer and still fun.