I hope Trackmania does focus strictly on Stadium racing. The other cars and environments could be fun but I always felt they diluted and distracted, while good ol’ Stadium has always been reliable. It’s what I’d always return to when the novelty of others wore off. Back when Nadeo announced the game in February, managing director Florent Castelnerac said some encouraging things on getting back to basics after the series grew across the years. “At first, we had a simple approach. Then we moved toward more rich, beautiful, and complex creations, including map-making, but lost simplicity in the process. Today, I would like to combine depth, beauty, and lightness. I think it is what people expect from modernity: to be powerful yet simple. I hope that’s what we’ll be with Trackmania.” I just wanna spend hours racing around a bustling server of ghosts through all sorts of weird and wonderful player-made tracks in a semi-dazed state. For more serious folks, mind, Castelnerac did say it “will have daily and weekly casual cups, seasonal official campaign rankings, and a Grand League & Open Grand League happening two times a year.” Naw, you’ll find me roaring through three consecutive loop-de-loops and driving on the walls over chasms. Trackmania is coming to Uplay and the Epic Games Store on July 1st.
