Wreckfest 2 Early Access Impressions (PC)

This preview is based on the Steam release of Wreckfest 2, with the full release coming to Xbox next year.

I was a big fan of the original Wreckfest. The highly detailed damage simulation paired wonderfully with fun driving mechanics and modes to make it a racer that I kept (and still keep) coming back to. We now have an early access release for the sequel, and having spent a few hours with it I’m pretty confident that Bugbear are going to deliver the goods again – though this release is early access in every way.

So, what do we get for our release price (that will go up over time) of £19.99? Four tracks, three of which with a couple of variants, four cars, and two game modes. That’s slight, but again, this is early access for a reason. The original Wreckfest had a similar EA period, and by the time I got to play the full release the roster of track and cars was far in excess of that number. And anyway, it’s more than enough to get an idea of what Wreckfest 2 will look like going forward.

The driving feel is very similar to that of the original, with cars having a realistic feel albeit with a twang of arcadiness to it. It’s just as enjoyable to throw our old bangers around the tracks and into each other, and general racing feels rewarding and challenging enough to make races a true test of skill. A long lead is easily lost by one mistake, and with Realistic damage on our car can be almost unrecognizable by the time we cross the finish line. This damage is one of Wreckfest 2’s big selling points, but in this early access period it feels a bit too easy to get catastrophic damage. I’ve lost count of the amount of tyres that have fallen off or engines that have broken from seemingly minor bumps. It’s a bit inconsistent at the moment, but is also one of the many things Bugbear have on their to-do list of improvements. Wreckfest 2 is also currently missing the fine-tune setup options for the cars such as gear ratios and the like, though they are coming down the line. 

Trackwise we have a mixture of styles here; dusty Scrapyard in a couple of configurations; Savolax, a track with a mixture of surfaces and elevations; Speedway that is used as an oval, figure 8, and the only current destruction derby arena; and Testing Grounds which is a showcase for the destruction of the cars, with all manner of traps and devices there purely to crush the cars. I’ve very much enjoyed Savolax in particular, especially in its reverse setting,, though smashing into cars in Speedway’s destruction arena is easily the most fun I’ve had in Wreckfest 2 so far. I’m very keen to see more of these arenas, and to see what the other regular tracks have to offer as they are released. 

The car AI at the moment feels a little rigid in races. There’s not much jostling for places, and very little chance of them crashing out unless we intervene. Even when we do, they feel like they have a bit more grip to defend with than we’d expect; one car I was wrestling with just kept to the racing line no matter how much I pushed, and I ended up on the losing end of the exchange as I was slowed down by the impacts while they continued to sail on by. The AI in the original Wreckfest was already tough, but these feel a bit too solid at the moment. 

Destruction derbies though are a riot of violence. The AI cars seem hell bent on smashing the ever loving shit out of each other and with a dozen or so cars on the field it can be utter carnage. It’s here the destruction physics are really evident, and the cars deform and fall apart even better than the original Wreckfest. Panels get beaten in, tyres wobble and fling off, roofs and sides crumple and flatten and, if you’re playing properly, the car will be a literal shell of itself by the end. It’s possible to have up to 24 cars in an arena (races too), though I’ve yet to be able to load in more than 10 without my 4050-powered gaming laptop crashing. I can’t wait to see the chaos with a full field.

The four cars on offer here so far are decent, but fairly run of the mill. I’ve been sticking to the Striker, a 90’s era US banger car, but the other three really only vary in their looks with minimal difference in actual play as far as I can tell. Wreckfest had over 100 cars in the end, and the current crop in Wreckfest 2 feel like the starting roster before we get to the really good stuff. 

One nice surprise in Wreckfest 2 is the inclusion of online multiplayer – though this is less than ideal in its current form. We can randomly search a match or browse a server list, but in several attempts to play with others I either saw error codes before I even joined the lobby, or the game would crash when a currently on going game would end. The one game I did manage to play felt very laggy too, with all the cars on the track juddering along. It’s a nice addition to have, but don’t go picking up this EA release if online is your main attraction. 

There’s also no form of career or single player modes other than quick or custom races so far. Again, this is coming, but for now with just four tracks and four cars there’s not much to keep coming back to over and over. 

However, the simple fact of the matter is that the racing is brilliant fun and so despite the limited options, I have found myself coming back each day for a race or two. The roadmap Bugbear has laid out means we’re looking at more courses and cars in the next few months, but it’ll ultimately be up to the players to dictate what they want Bugbear to prioritize in updates going forward. For me, I’d like to see more destruction arenas added, as well as bigger vehicles that can really smash the place up. I really enjoyed using the bus or combine harvester in Wreckfest, and having a field of these with the improvements made to the physics in Wreckfest 2 is bound to be great fun. Elsewhere, even a simple solo career or way to set up a league so we can have something to work towards would be a nice interim addition. 
For now? I’m quite happy with this early look at Wreckfest 2, and will be checking in regularly until the full release in 12 months or so from now.

This game was previewed on PC (via Steam). All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by the publisher.