History VideoGame / Distance

''Distance'' is a survival racing platformer set in a Tron-like world, which blends together arcade-style racing with parkour and a touch of horror, forcing players to drive through deadly Sectors by making good use of the car's abilities to jump, rotate and even fly. It was created by Refract Studios and released on September 18th 2018 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], with a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 version announced for some later date.

* Foreshadowing: Throughout the first three levels, you notice hints that something's wrong with Sector 11. The 4th and 5th levels seemingly forget this, but then at the end of the latter, the path to the intended stage-end teleporter has been wrecked by the untimely presence of another path, which the road management system forces you to go down. The entire section of road, including the teleporter, is completely dark save for a flickering red light coming from a cluster of spikes just in front of the threshold. The sector number above it? 11. When you get there, Sector 11 hasn't just been damaged, it's been ''destroyed''. The rest of the levels are still functional, but heavy infection makes traversing them much harder than the Array's designers intended.

* GenreShift: Sector 11, titled Abyss, is where Distance turns from a simple Platforming Survival Racing game, into a Platforming Horror Survival Racing game, as this is where you first get to see the real influence of the Anomaly. This is exemplified by the Tunnel interactive cutscreen.

* SequenceBreaking: If you're skilled enough, you can complete some stages by going off-road. You can fly, drive on the scenery or float with your thrusters, allowing you to skip entire portions of a track (hell, the developers even [[DevelopersForesight hid teleporters in some stages]]) and avoid triggers for some cutscreens.

* AmbiguousEnding: The Adventure Campaign [[spoiler:ends with your car, apparently, having defeated the anomaly and returning to the base. Upon crossing the final door, however, the game suddenly freezes for a brief period of time, showing a log on-screen. Then, a mechanical arm with a laser and a buzzsaw comes out from the ceiling as the car levitates towards it, apparently to be dismantled, but the door shuts before we can actually see what happens next. Considering the events occurred during the course of the campaign, this ending is open to several interpretations]].

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Buzzsaws, lasers, obstacles suddenly appearing and impossible roads that only a car like yours can traverse. The environment ''really'' doesn't like you.
* FlyingCar: Your car can spread wings in the form of their front doors and fly for a short period of time before the core overheats. Some levels however either disable this entirely or have areas which corrupt your ability to fly, forcing you to platform through the level. All of this unless you [[DifficultButAwesome mastered the use of thrusters]].
* GenreShift: Sector 11, titled Abyss, is where Distance turned from a simple Platforming Survival Racing game, into a Platforming Horror Survival Racing game, as this is where you first get to see the real influence of the Anomaly. This is exemplified by the Tunnel interactive cutscreen.

** You can unlock [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/NitronicRush the Interceptor]]]] if you find its components hidden in the Lost to Echoes stages of the Campaign. Problem is, that's no easy task unless you know where to look. Hint: [[spoiler:try looking for roads that are not part of the main track.]]

*** Think that's enough secrets? [[spoiler:"The Other Side" secret campaign also has a ''[[SerialEscalation secret objective]]'' itself you can complete!]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/NitronicRush''.
* TimedMission: PlayedWith. In the Adventure Mode, there is a 4-hour time limit before a teleporter would try to teleport the Archaic to Earth, and said time limit is shown on the car and on certain holographic billboards. However, the timer is automatically set to a predetermined time at the start of each stage, and Adventure Mode can be cleared in less than an hour, so it is more there for story-related reasons. You do get a NonStandardGameOver if you let it run out, though.

* DifficultySpike: Lost to Echoes is considerably harder than the Adventure Mode. Most notably, for the entirety of Lost to Echoes, you are not allowed to use the flight ability, which could otherwise be used to recover from falling off of the track or to skip certain sections of the map.

* NitroBoost: As an ability - but mustn't be overused, otherwise your car will overheat and explode.

* UnusualChapterNumbers: You start off in Sector 17, the Transport Sector, and have to make your way to Sector 01, the Teleportation Chamber. And yet, Sector 01 is split into three different sectors itself. Not only that, but OneTwoSkipAFew is also in effect - as the sectors you visit are, as follows: 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 09, 06, 05, 04, 03, 02, 01c, 01b and 01a, in that order.

* TitleDrop: During the Adventure Campaign, the intercom voice will reveal that the teleporting system is known as "Project ''Distance''".

* AllThereInTheManual: In the artbook released to Kickstarter backers, the 'boss' of Adventure Mode is called "The Archaic", while the main antagonist of Lost to Echoes is referred to as the "Echo Engine".
* AlwaysClose: [[spoiler:Regardless of how fast you are through the sectors, you will always start Enemy, the final sector of Adventure Mode outside the credits, with at most three minutes on the clock, and when you complete the third and final phase of the 'boss fight', on return to the Array, there are about 3 seconds left on the clock - enough time to see the 'boss' explode before the portal to Earth opens.]]

* TimedMission: PlayedWith. In the Adventure Mode, there is a 4-hour time limit before a teleporter would try to teleport an anomaly/virus to Earth, and said time limit is shown on the car and on certain holographic billboards. However, the timer is automatically set to a predetermined time at the start of each stage, and Adventure Mode can be cleared in less than an hour, so it is more there for story-related reasons. You do get a NonStandardGameOver if you let it run out, though.

** [[spoiler: The Encryptor, a skeletal frame of a car, unlocked by smashing up all of the pumpkins in the Spooky Town stunt map.]]

* LargeHam: The announcer from ''VideoGame/NitronicRush'' is back, and he's just as much of a large ham here as he was back then.

* MoodWhiplash: There are moments where the Adventure Campaign goes from tense ultra-fast platforming segments to a creepy and/or atmospheric stroll.

''Distance'' has three complete campaigns which players can go through. The first, simply known as the Adventure Mode, tasks players to race through The Array to stop a mysterious threat. The second, Lost to Echoes, harkens back to a game which the members of Refract Studios made before they became Refract: VideoGame/NitronicRush - allowing players to return to the setting and face a new threat to Nitronic City. The third one, Nexus, was released with the V1.1 update and is a short mini-campaign which is less story-heavy than the prior two.

* LargeHam: The announcer from VideoGame/NitronicRush is back, and he's just as much of a large ham here as he was back then.

* NostalgiaLevel: The Lost to Echoes campaign is this to VideoGame/NitronicRush.

** One of the achievements is called [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Still Alive]]

* WhamEpisode: Sector 11, Abyss. Up until then, the game is a simple Platform Survival Racing Game. [[spoiler:Then we end up in a sector that's been completely wrecked by TheVirus and get to see just what the Archaic is capable of...]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To VideoGame/NitronicRush

%%* VariableMix

* DiegeticInterface: The entirety of the HUD is projected on the car's rear window[[note]]with the exception of the Interceptor and Encryptor, as both lack rear windows. The Halcyon does have one, even though it's obscured by the gold finish[[/note]] or the dashboard if you change view. The only exception is the speedrun timer.

* DiegeticInterface: The entirety of the HUD is projected on the car's rear window[[note]]with the exception of the Interceptor and Encryptor, as both lack rear windows. The Halcyon does have on, even though it's obscured by the gold finish[[/note]] or the dashboard if you change view. The only exception is the speedrun timer.