I’ve had a lot of fun playing REKT! over the last few days. Sure, there might not be all that much to it but the core gameplay – and that’s what counts, right folks – is a blast. Solo players might get tired of the repetitiveness quickly but add a couple of mates and there’s a good few evenings of entertainment to be found here.
The aim of the game is rack up high scores by performing stunts around fairly vast arenas. Vehicle control is snappy and arcade-like, letting us drift with ease while also boosting up the side of the arena or over massive jumps. When in the air we can spin and flip the car using the right stick, and the speed of the rotations mean even a mild jump can grant us enough time to get a couple of back flips in. Land on our wheels and the combo multiplier racks up. Land on the roof though and we’re greeted with an arcadey announcement of being “REKT!”. It’s easy enough to get back into the action afterwards, and knocking up the combo’s begins anew.

Rounds are generally short and offer up a few bonus objectives to complete too, such as flipping 5 times, or drifting for 10 seconds. Successfully completing these and finishing runs gives us the currency needed to unlock new cars or arenas. This currency comes at us pretty fast, though I did feel it could have been slightly more generous when it comes to arenas. They are 2000 coins each (with four in total to buy) and unless you’re OK with bog standard vehicles we need to choose between both for a little too long. There is a lucky wheel to bet on that can grant currency or cars as well, but that takes a fair chunk of change too so it might end up setting us back even further.

Cars themselves can be modded with extra speed, handling etc. while cosmetic changes are free and range from new tyres to bigger spoilers and more. There is a shed load of vehicles to unlock as well, futher stretching the currency. Of the dozen or so I’ve tried so far there didn’t seem to be a massive difference in how they felt, but all were fun to slide and flip around the arenas.
The arenas offer up unique layouts and obstacles to contend with. The first we get is pretty basic but still features a triple loop to traverse as well as plenty of ramps and gates to drive through, while later ones bring in rails to grind, buildings to go through and more. Each time we knock up a combo the level colour and presentation changes; I really dug this feature as it gave a more visual feel to our progression. Starting off as an over saturated red, each change goes through various colour schemes from purple to grey, to green, blue and more. This will reset back to red as we fault too, further amplifying our failure.

There’s no career to speak of, just completing the challenges to unlock more cars and levels. Played solo I found myself only wanting to sit with the game for half hour or so before the repetition got a little too much. With others is the way forward, and myself and my two young children had great fun playing together. The gameplay isn’t so complicated that they could pick it up easily enough, and the visual flairs and simple controls meant they were soon out performing me! There’s no online play which is a shame, but this’ll make a great addition to a local game night once we’re able to do so again.
Conclusion
All in all, REKT! is a fun, arcade style stunt game that is best played locally with others. Solo players have a lot to unlock but the repetition might mean that it’ll take some time to get everything available. Snappy, easy to pick up controls and fun level design mean that even then, it is still fun in short bursts.

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox One console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.Want to keep up to date with the latest Xt reviews, Xt opinions and Xt content? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.