Considering the rather lengthy journey Wreckfest took from early access to full release, I was quite surprised to find that it has a sequel, Wreckfest 2, now also in Steam early access.

This sequel has the backing of THQ Nordic, which helped developer Bugbear finish the first game after an extended development period.

Like its predecessor, Wreckfest 2 is a no-holds-barred racing game very much in the vein of the classic Demolition Derby on the original PlayStation. With physics-based impacts, cars become twisted metal, and the circuits littered with wrecks and debris.Even as an early access game, I found Wreckfest 2 to be a bit sparse, content-wise, at launch. Of course, I’ve been spoiled by the original Wreckfest, which, although it started much the same way, is now a very polished and fully featured banger racing game.

A couple of months in and Bugbear has started to populate Wreckfest 2 with more circuits and cars. There are currently seven track locations to choose from, offering fourteen circuit variations. Fincross is a banger racing track available as a circuit and a reverse circuit. Savalax Sandpit is a quarry banger racing track, again, with a main circuit and a reverse circuit. European Rally Cross is a banger racing circuit.Speedway can be selected as an oval, figure eight or as a demolition derby arena. Scrapyard has a main route, demolition derby arena and a criss-crossing circuit called bonebreaker.

UK Banger 1 has an oval circuit, a figure eight circuit and a demolition derby arena. Finally, there’s an area called Testing Grounds with all sorts of ramps and devices that show off the game’s amazing physics.

From the above, depending on the circuit, players can select from straight-up banger racing and last man standing or deathmatch demolition derby events. The game has eight vehicles from American muscle through European compact to a motorhome.Vehicles can be painted to create custom looks. Like the tracks, the variety of cars is likely to continue to expand. There’s the option from the main screen to select a quick match and jump right in with a single-player race around the Savalax Sandpit circuit or select the custom race option and make your own single-player event. Multiplayer races can be selected either by matchmaking or the server browser. There’s no indication of ping or location on the server browser, but I never had a problem with latency.

The races are bound to make you smile with circuits designed to encourage absolute carnage. From the figure of eight layouts to lethal trackside detritus, players can find themselves in the middle of a pile-up at any minute.Other racers, as well, see no problem in pushing your car off the road. But revenge is sweet, via the guilty pleasure of giving your opponents a little tap that’ll see them careen off the road and into the tyre wall.

Just as with the original game, the physics and spectacle make the game. Be it the superb handling of the cars or the bouncing tyres and other objects spilling across the tracks, Wreckfest 2 is a rather unique racing experience.

The visuals on PC are next level, updating the graphics of the first game and bringing them in line with the virtually photoreal look expected of modern racers. The game uses AMD’s FSR 3.1.3 upscaling but has no Nvidia DLSS. The game did tax the review rig’s Nvidia RTX 4090, with all the settings maxed out when things got busy.There’s plenty of visual customisation options that’ll get the game running smoothly even on more modest machines. When Wreckfest 2 first hit early access, it was a bit lean, but now with more tracks, it’s worth jumping in.

As the game develops, we will likely see more tracks, more vehicles and hopefully a campaign mode. If you like the first game or racing games in general, I certainly recommend jumping in early with Wreckfest 2.

The post Wreckfest 2 (PC) Early Access Preview appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The year was 1995 and a vehicle based video game released that changed the playing field.

Destruction Derby was a metal twisting fest of carnage where in-game physics took on a more real world flavour.

Since then most racing video games have included a damage engine, some more realistic than others.

Recently a title that I liken to a tribute to that original classic released; Wreckfest.

Bugbear and Bigben Interactive’s cross between the already mentioned Destruction Derby and another iconic franchise; Flatout initially released in 2018 and now has smashed it’s way on to PS4 and Xbox One.

Wreckfest brings the physics, the crunches, the paint trading and real world carnage to an epic level where you literally find yourself tightly gripping your control pad as you partake in arena death-like matches and high tension adrenalin fuelled races – aiming to be in the top spot, hoping your vehicle makes it through.

Modes of gameplay are the expected; Career, Multiplayer (incl. online) and Custom Event – which is exactly as it sounds. Choose a selection from an array of options to create your own event to challenge others with.

Career has a few options too. World Masters, Challengers, National Amateurs and Pro Internationals. But these are all locked until you forge your way through Regional Juniors which boasts a few diverse games, such as Arena destruction through to ride-on lawnmowers…

Overall the challenging modes not only just under Career but throughout are widely unique from eachother and there’s alot of them.

You have a modest selection of vehicles to select from, these differ for the type and range depending on what the challenge you are currently in. Naturally as you progress more sturdier and beefy rides become available.

Competitions are fierce and do not expect an easy ride if you’re a novice.

As fast and furious as the gameplay is, loading times are slow. Very slow. For those that like to put their foot down and drive faster than their speedo can recognise this may be a put off.

But, if you like a bit of quiet tension between races and matches Wreckfest is a lot of fun. Whether you choose to go solo or battle it out in online matches a game such as this had been way overdue and Bigben have done it right.

The post Wreckfest (Xbox One) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Bugbear Entertainment have announced that the latest update to Wreckfest is now available on Steam.

There’s something that a lot of players have wanted to see make a return, and as a way of saying ‘thank-you’ for all the amazing support they’ve received since the start Bugbear has included a very special event in this update: lawn mower derby with ragdoll physics!

So slip into your farming mood and show them who’s the boss!

In addition to the new agricultural playground the update also contains early versions of two new race tracks, a twisty real-world inspired folk-racing track and a high-speed street track, both guaranteed to work wonders for some high-octane racing that’s only possible in our game.

This update will also introduce the basics of Career gameplay, with parts deteriorating over time, and a marketplace from where to obtain new and better parts for your cars. There are also many more performance parts like gearboxes to choose from and tune your car with.

This update will only give you the first taste of the planned Career gameplay, with many more features like crew management and repairing scheduled for near future.

Bugbear are constantly evaluating and improving their vehicle physics, and with the updated tyre model introduced in this update the sensation of grip is significantly more tangible than before. Furthermore the visual damage has been once again enhanced, and cars now deform more like they’re actually made of sheet metal instead of paper or plastic. The update also contains a huge number of other major and minor improvements, many of which have been requested by the Wreckfest community.

The post Lawn Mowers and Ragdolls appeared first on Shane the Gamer.