"Distance is what we’re calling a survival racing game," says Hemenway. "It takes the intense action of arcade racing and places it in an explorable, atmospheric world. The environments are mysterious and deadly with treacherous obstacles around every corner. Instead of doing laps on a loop, you’ll be trying to survive from point A to point B."
The game will feature a "unique" racing control scheme that will enable you to "boot, jump, rotate, and even fly", releasing you from a traditional racing track and enabling you to explore the game world's "mysterious history".
"Crafting a story within a racing game has been one of the most enjoyable parts of the development so far," adds Hemenway. "Without spoiling too much, we’re incredibly excited to have you discover the dark mysteries of this world."
There'll also be multiplayer, too. Sprint mode - where, predictably, the fastest time wins - sounds straightforward enough, but you'll need to manage your car's core systems in order to avoid overheating. Reverse Tag sees you fighting to remain "it" for a long as possible, whilst Adventure Mode "takes you through a short story where you incrementally earn each of the car’s abilities and use them to survive the increasingly deadly environment."
Distance is currently in a private beta to early Kickstarter backers. We'll bring you more as and when we have it but until then, get your racing fix by checking out our The Crew review-in-progress.Vikki Blake is a games writer and bonafide - albeit slightly jumpy - survival horror survivalist. You can find her twittering over at @_vixx.