Gravel

[Paul Jeffrey]

Milestone S.r.l have revealed a brand new racing IP in the form of semi arcade racer 'Gravel', a new off road title aimed at keeping fun at the forefront of the driving experience.

We already knew Milestone were scheduled to reveal a new IP at the San Francisco Game Developers Conference as mentioned in our preview article back on the 15th February, and now the prolific Italian game developers have fully revealed their plans. The new game, Gravel, is scheduled to release cross platform on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC during 2017 and already appears to be at an advanced state of development, even going as far as having a playable version of the title available to interested games at the conference.

It is proposed that Gravel will "offer an experience unique to its kind" with a "variety of powerful vehicles, from trophy trucks to rally legends, will offer many different approaches to the driving experience, and the wide offer of environments will have you strapped in for an unforgettable world tour".

So basically it looks like the new title will be Forza Horizon 3 on dirt, with some different categories of cars and trucks added into the mix. Whereas the latest Horizon offering bases itself in the wilds of Australia it looks like Gravel will be taking the open map format to another level, with deserts, jungles, snow mountains (sound familiar?) due to feature in the game, alongside Cross Country style racing and narrow track Speed Cross locations also forming a big part of the experience.

"Gravel celebrates off-road racing by taking you to exotic locations around the world with some of the most exciting vehicles ever created. Become the Master in four exciting disciplines and be part of the greatest off-road competition ever seen, Offroad Masters" Say Milestone in the official announcement.

Of interesting note should be the decision by Milestone to use the often talked about Unreal Engine 4 to bring to the title "photorealistic graphics, dynamic time of day and weather system, accessible physics that can be enjoyed by everybody, breath-taking locations where the player can race at full speed rushing through forests, snowy mountains, dunes, deserts, impressive lighting and particle effects", which all sounds very nice and should make for a very interesting and visually impressive package.

Check out the announcement trailer below:

It does look like Milestone have aimed the new title more towards an arcade audience, although the developers are keen to stress Gravel will have physics "grounded in reality". Exactly what this means is obviously open to debate, it could mean you will have simplified physics with real world inspiration or it could simply acknowledge the fact that the game simulates cars with four wheels touching the floor, nobody really knows at this stage.

One thing that can be said for the reveal details, Milestone have gone to great lengths to ensure potential players know the game has a strong focus of speed, visuals and a fun experience. It might not be something for the hard core simulation enthusiasts to get overly excited about, but it could prove to be an entertaining distraction for those of us already tiring of the offerings from the latest Forza Horizon release.

Game Modes:

Wildrush Game Mode
The wildest locations around the world make for a perfect theatre to host the Offroad Masters show. Tracks made to show yourself and crush your opponents, without holding anything back.

Cross Country
Wide, open maps perfect to race with opponents in checkpoint competitions or to explore freely. Drive without boundaries, and steal the show.

Speed Cross
Take the fight into real tracks, and show your true skills as an offroad driver.

Stadium Circuit
Arenas filled with spectacular jumps: feel the roar of the crowd and launch your vehicle in extreme acrobatics!

Gravel Channel
Everything you do in Gravel is for the show: Offroad Masters, hosted by Gravel Channel, is the wildest offroad show on earth, and you are entitled to beat the Masters and take the top spot in the competition. Will you be up to the task?


Gravel is a new off road racing game in development by Milestone Games. Release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC is due around July 2017.

You can stay abreast of the latest news for this game and a number of others at our Other Racing Games forum here at RaceDepartment.



Do you like the sound of this new game? Will in be something you have an interest in trying for yourself? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Nick Gregory]

Looks cool, but I have very little hope for it being any good.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

Yeah sadly I think I agree.

I would love to see a serious Dakar style full on sim released one day. Always fancied a 12 hour Dakar esq duel in the desert online race... that would be sweet

 

[Deleted member 217114]

Milestone never learn? Pooping out game after game after game, but never fix them.

 

[GTAce]

This looks really bad and the trailer felt like one of these '90's toy commercials. Milestone's games always have so much potential, but they never put enough time in them.

"photorealistic graphics"
What are they smoking?

 

[TheReaper GT]

Silly name... I'll launch a game called Rocks...

 

[Deleted member 130869]

Expect performance issues on pc version and future flurry of dlc. Their "grounded in reality" probably means it will be just like their current titles, especially MXGP and the dirt stuff in VR46, so nobody will be caught off-guard by it.

 

[BattleOvce]

Dont wanna be rude, but you know ... it is ... you know ... Milestone .. you know .. run away from that.

 

[Eugene Abramoff]

Trophy Trucks? I'm sold. Overall this game reminds me of good old days when these were popular. I know its Milestone, but I wont deny that I enjoyed some of their WRC games, don't remember which ones. Hopefully this one will have realistic physics, because that was best thing about their WRC titles.

 

[Cote Dazur]

If their is a demo and it is available in VR I will gladly give a try, if only to check an unreal engine 4 SIM game in VR.

 

[James Cook]

Milestone. 'Nuff said.

 

[@apocapollo]

The developers were replying to comments on the YouTube trailer page about how they're making it arcadey. At least they know it's going to be arcadey. So at least there's that.

 

[Dave R]

What's the difference between a bag of crap and Milestone Games?


The bag

 

[randMracer]

Well you know when they list consoles first in their description, then its going to be an arcade title. Simplistic business tactics by preying on the uneducated.

 

[thatmotorfreak]

I was pretty tempted by the fact that it's got Trophy Trucks and arcadey off-road racing...but after hearing about Milestone's other games I'm not so sure if they can nail this one. (I bet they plan DLC packs during pre-production already)

I'll stick with cross-country racing in Horizon 3...

 

[Maximiliano]

Well you know when they list consoles first in their description, then its going to be an arcade title. Simplistic business tactics by preying on the uneducated.

Arcade games can be fun...when done correctly. And that's where Milestone fails to deliver. Their games can be fun for a couple of seconds, until you start finding bug after bug. They don't care for small details at all, bugs are carried over to the next game and new ones are added every year. It's a freaking nightmare. And they won't listen to their customers, it's like we don't even exist. I sometimes wonder if they really care about what they do.

 

[holihon2012]

To be honest, I have no hope for Milestone :-(

 

[shimon.ifraimov]

if you own FH3, you don't need this game really...

 

[TzZyO]

It's really annoying how AMS has Stadium Super Trucks, dirt (of is that, ahem, gravel?), but no Trophy Trucks. And now Milestone adding insult to injury. Though if this thing will be anywhere close to SLRE, I might consider trying it out.

Ditto on the Dakar style sim.

 

[someur]

I love realistic sim racing, but I am still waiting for a game like MotorStorm on pc to play with a controller.