Running through a collapsing universe
Haste is a third-person running game where speed is the whole point. You play as Zoe, moving through worlds that are falling apart around you, and every landing matters. Hit the ground running and you build speed; fumble a landing and you lose it. The levels are procedurally generated, so the route and surroundings change between attempts, and you have to read the terrain while it shifts under your feet. The setting is a universe in collapse, and the game frames your runs as an attempt to escape what is coming, with characters you meet along the way offering wisdom, encouragement, or items.
The structure is built around ten Shards. Each Shard holds a collection of procedurally generated levels that you have to complete without fail to unlock the next one, and you advance only while you still have lives left. Four biomes with several variations keep the scenery changing, and there are four abilities to master and four bosses to find. Between runs you collect Sparks, which you spend in shop levels to manifest items. There are over 90 items affecting speed, damage, luck, health and other variables, so each attempt at clearing a Shard can be built differently. An unlockable endless mode sits outside the main progression once you reach it.
Playing it with friends
The entire game can be played in online co-op with other Zoes. You work together to progress through the levels, which matters because you share the push to get through each Shard before it collapses. On top of that, the game keeps track of player times within levels, so the cooperative run doubles as a friendly contest between the people in your session. Unlockable skins let you tell each other apart once you are all moving at speed through the same crowded space.
Before you start
Expect a game about movement first: thinking fast, tracking an ever-changing environment, and committing to landings rather than slowing down to be safe. The Shard structure is strict, since levels in a Shard must be cleared without fail, so a bad stretch costs you lives and can send you back to the start of that Shard. Treat the item shop as part of the run rather than an afterthought, since Sparks turn directly into the build you carry through the Shard. A story runs underneath the racing, with a cast of characters to befriend as you look for answers about the destruction and how to escape it.