What do you get when you take 20 popular YouTube gamers and throw them into a fast and furious digital road race? Sheer madness … and the premise of Space Ape Games’ latest mobile offering, Fastlane: Road to Revenge. The game, which on the surface looks like your classic arcade shooter, brings with it an interesting new twist we’ve never quite seen in a mobile video game before.
It’s no secret that YouTube influencers can make a profound and lasting mark on the reputation of a product, which makes gaining the eye of popular YouTubers like PewDiePie, Chief Pat and other influencers a integral part of many game developers’ marketing plan.
With Fastlane: Road to Revenge, however, Space Ape Games is taking the YouTube influencer game and turning it on its head. Joining forces with 20 of gaming’s most popular YouTube personalities, including Kwebbelkop, Jelly, Slogoman, The Alvaro845, Chief Pat, Team Epihany Jake, Galadon and more, Space Ape brings a new kind of arcade game that’s not only tons of fun to play, it also offers unique new ways for players to engage with their favorite YouTubers.
In the game, players drive through a city, swerving around barriers, dodging bullets and gunning down everything that moves, all the while completing missions and facing down rivals to gain more rep, level up and take back their city.
As players level up they unlock new vehicles weapons, special abilities and UAVs which can be added to their rides to help them drive faster and further while taking out more enemy vehicles and blowing past rivals in their path.
Once players reach level 22, things kick into high gear as YouTubers’ alter-egos begin crawling out of the woodwork. The characters bring with them all the personality their fans have come to know and love on their YouTube channels as they implore players to aid them in exclusive quests that reflect the YouTubers’ unique brand.
In addition to the personalized YouTuber events, there are also daily and weekly quests available for players to complete, earning them cash, gems, rep and other valuable resources in the game.
Besides being a fast-paced, crazy ride through the city, Fastlane: Road to Revenge brings with it a pretty awesome song list that plays in your virtual mp3 player at the bottom of the game screen. If you aren’t a fan of the songs chosen,, you can actually make up your own gameplay song lists based off the music stored on your device or through Apple Music. Though many popular rhythm games offer a personalized playlist option, this is the first time we’ve seen it offered in a mobile shooter game.
While Fastlane: Road to Revenge doesn’t bring anything new in terms of arcade shooters, the implementation is excellent and as much fun as I’ve had with a shooter since Sky Force Reloaded. The main downside to the game is the slow rate at which your “gas” refills so you can play again.
Fastlane: Road to Revenge works off the free-to-play model so players can expect at some point they’ll probably need to invest in premium currency (gems) if they want to progress more quickly. The launch store has some decent deals to offer though and there is an option of a $1.99 a month subscriptions that speeds up refueling tremendously.
To kick off the game’s release, Fastlane: Road to Revenge is featuring a week-long event with quests from every YouTuber. In the weeks following the launch, special four-day events starring one or two specific YouTubers will be added in order to keep player engaged and interest fresh.
“If we do it right and the in-game integrations are interesting,” said Simon Hade, Space Ape COO and co-founder,“there’s massive re-engagement potential to become a staple of [the YouTube gamers’] weekly playlist.”
Fastlane: Road to Revenge is available for free on Apple App and Google Play store starting Thursday, May 25. Be sure to check it out.
