Wreckfest (PS4) – Review

Good racing games in which you can crash and bash your opponents are rather hard to find nowadays. While we used to have games like Destruction Derby, Carmageddon, Vigilante 8, Burnout and Twisted Metal, these blasts from the past made way for more realistic racing games, or Mario Kart clones. With the appearance of Onrush, which was heavily undervalued, there seemed to be a little bit of hope on the horizon. Fairly soon after the PC version of Wreckfest left Early Access, we were able to get our healthy dose of vehicular carnage. It has been so long since we were able to get all the stress out of our bodies, by destroying many cars over and over again. Now Wreckfest has made its way to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, for us to get back in the groove.

Story

There is absolutely no story to be found in Wreckfest. You pick a car, you choose a target and you bash your foe into oblivion. There are different disciplines available that range from racing to deathmatches to actually racing with lawnmowers and harvesters. There are many wacky vehicle combinations to be found in the career mode, and that’s pretty much all there is to the game. While a story mode could be interesting in a game such as this, we reckon it would take away a lot of the arcade atmosphere of the game.

Graphics

Graphically Wreckfest is a nice looking game. The cars look battered enough to play the part in a game such as this. The tracks themselves suffice in their offset, but the game won’t be winning any awards in terms of stressing the graphical output of the PlayStation 4. When playing without realistic damage conditions, you’ll end up with cars like you used to see in the Carmageddon series. You’ll see many contraptions that shouldn’t be able to drive anymore, and even the driver will get deformed in the process. While this may look a bit freaky and extremely unrealistic, it adds a certain charm to the game, making it lighthearted and fun. The game does suffer a lot from popping textures, but there aren’t any noticeable frame drops when playing.

Sound

Wreckfest has a decent soundtrack to get you in the mood of destroying some cars. You’ll have a fairly heavy rock/metal setlist, that might not be that expansive, but does feel very pleasant when racing. The typical crash and bash sound effects are also present and other than that, the SFX are fairly standard, with all cars sounding like they’re supposed to sound.

Gameplay

Wreckfest is an arcade racing experience that has a lot in common with a demolition derby. More than often you find yourself slamming into your opponents to gain the lead, or simply because it’s the objective of the event you find yourself in. Other than that, the game also offers disciplines with funny vehicles, making this a lighthearted, yet spirited game.

The controls in the game work a bit as you’d expect. The game is more directed towards arcade play, rather than being a simulator. Nonetheless, all cars handle differently, and you’ll also notice the not-so-subtle differences between racing in a car, a harvester or a lawnmower. Overall the controls don’t punish you that hard for mistakes, and more than often you find yourself back on track easily after you’ve crashed into something. The reset button does allow you to cheat a little bit, as you’ll be rendered invincible for a few seconds, allowing you to drive through your opponents as if you were a ghost-car.

Wreckfest throws you in the midst of many different disciplines, or better said, at the helm of many different vehicles. You’ll find yourself driving lawn mowers, engine-powers sofas, harvesters and of course rally and derby cars. There are only two real different disciplines, namely driving each other to a pulp in an arena, or racing where there are no penalties for shoving someone off the track. You can indulge yourself with the fairly expansive and diverse career mode, but you can also opt to create your own custom events or play online. There’s more than enough content to keep you busy for a while.

The game’s biggest gripe is the AI. You’ll notice that the AI recovers extremely fast from poor turns or crashes, so fast often that they are right on your tail again. You’ll also see AI drivers fly through corners without losing that much speed, while your car slows down immensely, even without pressing the brakes or when drifting perfectly. While on lower difficulties a win is still a viable option, you’ll notice that harder difficulties become a tad unbalanced when having to play like this.

Conclusion

Wreckfest is a total blast to play. While not everything feels ironed out as it currently is, and the tracklist is quite limited, the different vehicles and disciplines make for a very fun experience. If you’re looking for a racing game, with a lot of vehicular bashing and crashing, then Wreckfest just might be the game you’re looking for.

Ibuki

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Aspiring ninja.

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