Japanese Drift Master (or JDM as it likes to be called) is a sim racer’s dream – especially if you are into street racing rather than track racing. The drifting phenomenon of slamming supercars around tight bends with the aid of jamming on your handbrake is something seasoned fans have been doing in games such as Assetto Corsa for many a year, but JDM attempts to take the experience beyond a ‘simple’ sim racer and inject a little storyline into proceedings.
After a minor delay, the game’s free Prologue content releases on 8th August, and Readwrite Gaming got a sneak peek and the chance to do a lot of car damage ahead of its launch.
The Prologue features specially written content to give you a true taster of what to expect when the full Japanese Drift master releases later in the year. Subtitled Rise of the Scorpion the game will let “Players discover the story of Hatori Hasashi and his way of becoming the titular ‘Scorpion’. An exemplary student and a son of a traditional Japanese family, he brings his pride and arrogance to the racetrack, where various rivals await.
You don’t get any of this stuff in Project Cars. Before you can get racing the story is told to you via a Manga where you even flick through the pages backwards as you do in real life. It’s actually a really nice touch but if you just want to race it might feel a bit odd.
So far I have only played with a controller but will be hooking up a wheel and pedals later for the full experience but even if you aren’t a hardened sim racer and want to play with a controller the car handles tightly and hitting the handbrake to pull off the turns with the A button is satisfying.
The story of JDM: Japanese Drift Master takes place in a fictional Japanese prefecture, Guntama. This area is inspired by the mountainous region of Honshu. Players who are familiar with Japan’s famous drifting routes will find many resemblances to the real world and true to form you will be blasting past Sakura Cherry Blossoms and realistic Japanese landscapes.
The Rise of the Scorpion Prologue goes live on 8th August on Steam and is free. If you have ever played any of the classic Initial D arcade racers, this will be right up your street. Check it out on Steam right here.
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