Twisted metal.
Bugbear might not be a household name, but I am extremely fond memories of their work from the 360/PS3 era. The original Flatout games were some of the most ridiculous fun due to their outlandish physics and wacky mini games. So when the developer announced they were moving away and creating their own racing title I was excited. Then it sat in early access for a very long time and console versions, while announced, were rarely heard from. Now the game is finally hitting Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and I couldn’t wait to take it for a spin.
Wreckfest is indeed its namesake. The idea is built around slow-moving cars ramming into each other and causing as much destruction as possible. The premise is simple. Car deformation is at the forefront. These metal beasts twist and turn in the best ways. Bugbear has always had a knack for car physics and this is some of their best work. Car handling also felt good once I got used to it. The cars bounce and pull around corners much like I’d expect. The game just feels good.
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: XB1 (reviewed), PS4, PC
Price I’d Pay: $34.99
There are a variety of modes available, but the career mode is where I spent most of my time. It offers up various modes wrapped up in different events. It keeps things fresh and slowly progresses players by unlocking new modes, earning XP, and currency to purchase new vehicles. It also introduces all the modes including standard racing, destruction derbies, and couch racing…yes you can race a couch and it is as wild as you can imagine.
Physics make all the races a blast to play and the handling just feels right. There is a lot to see and do here. Some of it does get repetitive as far as objectives go, but having that moment where you take a turn the wrong way and end up causing a car pileup never gets old. The AI is inconsistent at best and annoying at worst. Winning every race is not going to happen, even on the easier difficulties. There isn’t a rewind feature, so those mistakes are ever-lasting. Which brings me to the issues with the console ports.
First up are the enhancements. Even running on Xbox One X the game still only runs at 30 fps. This works since it isn’t designed around speed necessarily, but any racing game running less than 60 feels off to begin with. Visually it looks good, the deformation is excellent, and it maintains its frame rate so all those things work. The loading times though are atrocious. I would put the controller down and pick up my phone before each stage, it is too long. There are also graphical glitches in the menus. Overall it just feels unfinished, which is weird considering it spent so much time on PC in early access.
Even with these issues though Wreckfest nails that feeling I had when playing classic games such as Destruction Derby. I love the wacky races, the destruction is perfect, and when it works it just feels fantastic. I kept playing through the issues, and I hope Bugbear continues to improve upon the foundation and maybe toss in some of those driver-tossing mini-games from the Flatout series. As it stands though Wreckfest is a solid game that hits a lot of the right notes, with plenty of technical issues that hold it back from being a classic.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
