I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest racing game fan, especially when it comes to realistic racing sims such as Forza, Gran Turismo or even F1. Not that they aren’t any good, they’re just not my cup of tea. But when something comes along that’s a little different, I’m all over it. Think games such as Burnout or Flatout, and now Wreckfest.
Wreckfest isn’t just a racing game, it incorporates so much variety into it, it feels like a number of different games amalgamated into one. It’s almost like Dirt got together with Destruction Derby and they had a baby. A beautiful baby where you can race lawnmowers, crash buses and wreak mayhem and havoc on the track.
From the off, there are a few different modes you can select from, including the new tournament mode we posted news about not too long ago. First up I jumped into Career Mode. Here, you basically compete in various events, starting at a junior league level, earning points to rise through the ranks. But it’s not always a case of finishing a race first.
For those events that are races, you will probably want to win like me. Because nobody remembers second place. However, you won’t always need to, because some races are like mini-tournaments where you just have to qualify for the next. These events allow you to focus on bonus objectives, for things such as wrecking an opponent or making them spin out.
But that said, you will want to be careful because focusing on a bonus objective in Wreckfest, can sometimes hinder your position in the race. And if you don’t qualify, you’ll have to start again. But even focusing on the position can not always make it easy to win. Especially when racing a sofa around a figure 8 track. Yep, you read that correctly. You race sofas. And it’s more difficult than it sounds, especially on said track as the track overlaps.
As you drive through the overlap, opposition racers can come from the side. And it only takes a second for one to wipe you out, and then you go from a 10s lead to being 5th place. Which is partly down to an issue. That being you can reset your vehicle if you crash out, which is great, but if you’re moving too fast it won’t let you reset straight away. Which I understand, but sometimes your body can fly for a really long time. Delaying your ability to get back into the race.
But it isn’t always about racing, Wreckfest also has destruction derby events which are more about being the last car standing or racking up the most wrecks compared to your opponents. These are great fun to play, and allow you to unleash utter carnage on your opponents. Just eye up that rival, put your foot to the floor (finger to the trigger), and don’t stop until you smash right into the side of them.
The key to balancing how well you perform overall is to modify and tune your car to suit. As mentioned above, you’ll earn credits from completing events, more for winning them. These are then used to buy new vehicles, from a variety of different classes, as well as new parts for them. Some parts can improve or hinder your car’s performance, so it’s important to swap them around regularly to suit your event type.
For example, if you’re on a racing challenge, having armour will protect you from shunts etc. But removing it increases you vehicle speed. Especially if you tune things like gear differential too. I was really struggling with one race. Not to finish it but to win. As soon as I removed all the armour, I was flying round and other races were left in a trail of my dust. It was great, and likewise if you’re in a destruction event, you can pile that armour on to prevent damage and protect yourself when ramming others.
Once you’ve got to grips with Wreckfest and had some practice, you’ll then be ready to take on other gamers in multiplayer. Sadly though, it only supports online multiplayer, and it isn’t cross-platform. So you can’t play with family or friends on other consoles, or in the same household unless, like me, you have two PS4s in the house because your partner always wants to play The Sims 4 when you want to kill people on Apex Legends.
It’s not all bad though, because as long as you do have friends etc. on the same platform, you can easily set up private games in Wreckfest, using different tracks, restrictions or even types of races. And if not, you can search for games and join random people and just make them suffer instead. And waiting times for games to start don’t take too long.
And you can even compete in the new tournament mode in Wreckfest through leaderboards. There are daily, weekly, and monthly challenges all of which have different rewards. They don’t take long to do at all either, not like when Apex forces you to play 12 games or get 12 assists on your dailies. Spend 5-10 minutes playing a few different modes introduced to the game, and best of all, if the challenge uses a DLC car you don’t have, you’ll get access to complete the challenge so you don’t miss out.
Wreckfest – Overall Thoughts
Like I said at the start, I’m not the biggest fan of racing games, especially sims. But, Wreckfest is so much more than that. Yes, you can race around tracks if you like, but there is so much more variety with different modes and challenges like trying to race lawnmowers.
It just freshens things up and rather than being stuck in a repetitive loop, gives you a good mix of content to keep interests peaked. Sadly, the reset time delay for flying off your couch was annoying, likewise the lack of local multiplayer. However, it is a really solid game, enjoyable to play for every second you’re on it, and definitely one worth adding to your library.
Wreckfest is developed by Bugbear Entertainment, published by THQ Nordic and available to play on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. You can find a link to the official Wreckfest website by clicking HERE and find more of our game reviews by clicking HERE.