Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Clutch throws players into a sprawling post-apocalyptic playground where speed and carnage go hand in hand. You’re free to cruise through the radioactive ruins of Atom City, picking up missions at hotspots scattered throughout the map. Races range from classic circuit battles to demolition derbies, and there are specialized hunts where you must clear swarms of shambling zombies from the streets. The variety of mission types keeps the core gameplay loop fresh, whether you’re gunning for gold, defending an ally, or simply sowing chaos behind the wheel.

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The customization system is at the heart of Clutch’s addictive appeal. Earnings from missions and takedowns can be spent on new vehicles or upgrades that transform your ride into a true death machine. Swap out body kits outfitted with spinning blades, reinforce front guards for zombie-smashing glory, or boost under-the-hood parts for blistering acceleration. Unlockable skins let you wear your victories on your car’s chassis, and the thrill of ram-running rival racers or herds of undead never gets old.

Beyond the core races, anomalies spawned by the White Ring collider deliver wild emergent moments. Drive into a rippling energy field and you might find yourself rocketing across rooftops or hurtling through the sky. Environmental destruction is remarkably satisfying, too: nearly every object in Atom City is breakable or pushable, so smashing street signs, flipping abandoned buses, or sending makeshift barricades flying becomes just as integral to the experience as lap times and kill counts.

Graphics

Clutch’s visual style leans into gritty, industrial decay, giving Atom City a lived-in, haunted feel. Rusted skyscrapers loom over broken highways, while the neon glow of flickering signs offers stark contrast to the pervasive gray dust. The lighting is especially effective during night races, when headlamps carve bright streaks through smog and each explosion lights up the surrounding ruins in a satisfying flourish.

While the textures occasionally show their age—some building facades can look flat at close range—the game’s particle effects more than make up for it. Smoke trails from turbo boosts, fiery debris after collisions, and the radioactive haze around anomalous zones all combine to create a visceral sensory impact. When you plow through a cluster of zombies and watch gore pixels scatter across the windshield, you’ll feel every crash in your gut.

Performance remains stable even when the action is at its most chaotic. Whether you’re barreling through a demolition derby with a dozen vehicles or navigating a tight street shootout against undead hordes, frame rates hold up nicely. The optional support for the RUCAP UM-5 head-tracking device adds another layer of immersion, letting you glance around your cockpit naturally as you weave through debris and dodge flying wrecks.

Story

Clutch offers more narrative weight than your average arcade racer. The White Ring accident has turned Atom City into a quarantined purgatory, and you play as a shadowy mercenary contracted by the UN to infiltrate its irradiated streets. From the opening moments, the game is equal parts adrenaline rush and moral quandary: you’ll be hunting zombies one moment and forging uneasy alliances with cutthroat outlaws the next.

The campaign unfolds in three distinct episodes, each punctuated by diary entries that peel back the layers of your protagonist’s psyche. These brief journal pages reveal his growing disillusionment with the mission, his fascination with Atom City’s underground cults, and the ethical lines he’s forced to cross. Though none of these side stories play out in cutscenes, the written glimpses provide a surprisingly compelling through-line that sets Clutch apart from standard button-mashing racers.

Despite its focus on high-speed carnage, Clutch never shies away from the human cost of survival. As you progress, you’ll witness how factions within Atom City manipulate the chaos for their own gain—religious zealots preaching deliverance through violence, smugglers exploiting the quarantined populace, and bounty hunters jockeying for supremacy. The revelation that most escapees didn’t survive the Collider incident adds a poignant undertone, making every engine roar feel like a fight for scraps of hope in a world gone mad.

Overall Experience

Clutch strikes an impressive balance between arcade action and world-building depth. The responsive handling, explosive physics, and diverse mission roster deliver instant thrills, while the darkly atmospheric setting and episodic diary entries give you reason to keep pushing forward. Whether you’re a fan of open-world racers, zombie shooters, or post-apocalyptic storytelling, there’s plenty here to satisfy your need for speed and spectacle.

The inclusion of subtle touches—like custom music support, head-tracking camera control via the WideGlance tech, and a wealth of collectible power-ups—shows a developer committed to enhancing player agency. You’re never forced down a single path; if today you feel like chasing zombies, go for it. Tomorrow you might test your drifting skills in a demolition derby. The freedom to carve your own narrative through mayhem makes each play session feel unique.

In the end, Clutch is a love letter to fans of Mad Max–style chaos and classic arcade racers, wrapped in a zombie-infested, radiation-soaked metropolis. It isn’t perfect—the story is told more in scraps than cinematically, and some textures have seen better days—but the sheer joy of smashing through hordes of undead at 200 miles per hour makes it a memorable ride. Strap in, rev your engine, and prepare to race for your life in the heart of Atom City’s darkest hour.

Retro Replay Score

6/10