JDM: Ph4ntom Driver Turns Your Drift Car Into a Weapon Against Demons

Gaming Factory, the studio behind JDM: Japanese Drift Master, has announced JDM: Ph4ntom Driver, a standalone arcade racing spin-off for PC where your car is the only weapon and the enemies come straight out of Japanese folklore. The game has a Steam page, and no release date has been announced.

Okay, so here's the setup: an alternate, demon-infested version of the series' fictional Guntama prefecture, conquered by the Demon King Shouten Douji and his Oni armies. The streets are overgrown with moss, the buildings are crumbling under a spreading Corruption, and you're the Hero sent to cleanse it all using Hakai, the supernatural power of destruction.

"No blades, no guns, only you, your driving skills and hundreds of kilograms of fierce automotive machinery!" Gaming Factory said. You ram, crush, and rear-bash youkai with Nitro-Drift, a move that drifts and boosts at the same time, and pushing your nitro builds a Hakai score that chains your combat skills together.

Exploring the open world turns up new cars and parts to power up your ride before heading deeper into demon territory. The story plays out in a single-player campaign told through hand-drawn manga panels, with familiar JDM characters in new roles, though the studio says you don't need to know the original game's story to follow it. Gaming Factory says it's already working on a multiplayer component, and the Steam page lists multiplayer modes as planned for launch.

The details

• Developer/Publisher: Gaming Factory
• Platform: PC (Steam, Windows 10/11)
• Release date: Not announced
• Modes: Single-player campaign, multiplayer planned
• Minimum specs: Intel i7-11700K or Ryzen 5 7600, 16 GB RAM, RTX 3060 Ti / RX 6700 / Arc B580, 18 GB storage

Somewhere between a tune-up and an exorcism, the JDM series just found its haunted side.