Wreckfest is the latest title by Bugbear Entertainment in the long-running Flatout franchise. It might not carry the name Flatout, however, the important question is does it carry the same DNA and spirit of the original titles that made this franchise so successful in the first place? Bugbear calls it the spiritual successor of Flatout so that means it has big shoes to fill. I was lucky enough to nab a key early for this review and we find out whether Wreckfest is really a successor to the Flatout franchise. This review was made on Xbox One.
Before I start with my review, I would suggest that you leave your clean driving ethics and all that race-line driving somewhere else because this game is all about crashing, making your opponents suffer and humiliating them at the last corner by pushing them off the track into a tire wall. If you prefer racing in suits and following pace cars after someone touches your side mirror, this game is not for you. With that out of the way, let’s begin with the review.
The starting menu is a classic throwback to the older versions where you would normally see a banger car sitting in a junk pile. Jump directly in the Career mode and the first race you get to play is a demolition derby event with RWD lawnmowers. What could go wrong with that? The Career mode is divided into different categories which start from the basics and leads you all the way to the World Class racing events.
There are different types of races in the Career mode. You have the normal Banger Races and Destruction Derby events. Banger Races are races on regular tracks while the Destruction Derby Races are held on special tracks which encourage destruction such as Figure of Eight tracks and more. There are also championships in these Career disciplines which are a collection of races and your end result is determined on your points earned in all of the races.
The vehicles in Wreckfest are based on real-life vehicles with each vehicle clear hints on which vehicle they are based on. The cars belong to three categories both on the basis of their countries and performance class. You have vehicles from the USA, Europe, and Japan and the three classes are C, B and A with A being the best. Cars are also categorized based on their drivetrains and each class such as RWD, FWD, and 4WD get their own unique events in the Career Mode as well.
The cars range from wacky classic European cars to solid built stations wagons. You also have muscle cars, performance coupes, hot rods converted into bangers, UTEs, and SUVs. Well one SUV as far as I can remember. This offers a great amount of choice when it comes to picking the right vehicle for the right event. For Derbys, you can go for heavy and solid UTEs, stations wagons or the SUV. For racing, you can opt for performance vehicles which are lighter and faster.
Wreckfest also features a decent car customization system. This is not new to the franchise because we had car customization since the first game in the franchise. This allows you to upgrade even your first car to make it better and take part in events that might have been difficult on the stock performance specs. Mind that the game usually adjusts the AI cars to your level but you must always be on top of your game and some events come with pre-requisites that demand a faster car.
Along with performance upgrades, you can also change the visual appearance of your vehicle. Each vehicle comes with unique customization options such as bumpers, spoilers, side skirts, and hoods. You can change them and make the vehicle more appealing to you. There is also a limited visual customizer in the game which will allow you to change the color and livery of your vehicle. This is not very detailed but it does the job pretty well.
For me, handling is a make-it or break-it point for a racing game. I don’t care if the game looks pretty or it comes with a plethora of cars with detailed customizations. If the cars don’t handle well, the game is going out of my sight for good. Thankfully, Wreckfest is amazing when it comes to handling as well. Each vehicle handles really well in the game depending on its drivetrain. The cars handle really well and it’s a breeze to drive them. I am still exploring every car in the game and usually, every car comes with its own unique handling attributes depending on its height, weight and engine performance.
You will feel the handling change to cater to drivetrains. FWD cars are nippier and they take corners really well. 4WD comes really handy in tight spots such as in Demolition Derby events where you must be really quick to get out of harm’s way. RWD cars are a blast to drive as you skid around the track driving into other people and using them as your guide around corners. Depending on your own personal preferences, there is a car for every type of driver here.
To make driving more convenient, the game comes with the essential driving aids that you can turn on or off to make the driving more challenging for yourself. You have the ABS, Stability Control and Traction Control options to choose from along with auto or manual transmission. You can switch them on and off based on your own driving preferences. However, you must know that turning these aids off will yield better rewards after every event.
CR is your main currency in the game and you earn it at the end of each event. You earn CR for more destruction caused in the game, finishing position along with your overall performance in the event however your driving aid settings add a multiplier to your overall earnings. Harder your driving aid settings are, higher your multiplier will be resulting in greater earnings at the end of every event.
You will use CR to purchase new vehicles or upgrade your current ones. Lucky for you, earning CR is not a hard task in the game. Some vehicles are locked and cannot be purchased with CR. You will need to complete certain events in Career mode or reach a specific level to unlock them. The same thing goes for upgrades. You also earn XP at the end of every event which then levels you up. After reaching certain levels, you unlock more upgrades and cars to purchase.
Coming to the track design, they are better than ever. Although I miss the themed tracks of the original titles there are still some great city and countryside tracks in Wreckfest for you to enjoy. Although I could not find a track where I could max out my car. Wreckfest needs more fast tracks that will allow you to hit your top speeds as well. Derby arenas are excellent on the other hand and so are the special tracks.
Of course, when we talk about Flatout, carnage, destruction, fast cars and amazing tracks is not the only thing we talk about. Another important element of any Flatout game is its amazing soundtrack and Wreckfest does not disappoint in this department as well. The game features some of the best and the most-suiting songs that range from different genres of music. They are excellent to get you in the mood and will really pump you up for bending the car next to you into a piece of scrap.
At this point, there are no stunt events in Wreckfest such as the original High Jump, Long Jump, Bowling and more. I am not sure if Bugbear plans to add them to the game at a later time or not but since Wreckfest was in Early Access on PC for a long time. If there was enough demand for this mode, I am sure Bugbear would have just added the feature or at least given us a tentative outline for it. These stunt events were amazing and I am sure fans would love to see the feature return in Wreckfest as well. It would be amazing to see the stunts in the new mechanics model and in modern visuals of the game.
Another thing I found missing from the game is local co-op. Having the option to jump in Wreckfest locally with your friends would make the game an amazing party game. The destruction derby mode and the races make it the ultimate party game, however, the lack of split-screen local multiplayer totally skips a great deal of replayability opportunity. I am sure a lot of players would have loved to make their friends crash into a wall at high speeds.
Wreckfest, for me, is one of the best titles in the franchise so far and after the disappointing last title, it has put new life into the franchise. After staying in Early Access for more than a year, Wreckfest is finally coming out on consoles and I am sure that all fans of the franchise will love the game. I will highly recommend that everyone who loved Flatout and its carnage-filled racing, will love to play Wreckfest.
Final Verdict:
Ever since Wreckfest was announced, I was hoping that Bugbear would finally make a comeback and make Flatout great again. I skipped the entire Early Access period just so I could not spoil the final product when it came out. When I finally got my hands on the full version of the game, I was not disappointed. Bugbear has done a solid job on keeping the soul of Flatout alive in Wreckfest. I spent hours after hours in both Flatout 1 and 2 and I can see myself doing the same in Wreckfest. The cars, the destruction, the bent metal, the tracks, and the music. It’s all here and it is here to stay. I will agree that there are a few nags here and there, such as the long loading times and a few visual glitches but the good things easily overshadow these minute hiccups. I will recommend this game to any racing fan out there and I can guarantee that this game will not disappoint you.
Score: 9.0/10
Agree with everything said. To me it is closely related to Test Drive Eve of destruction, which is becoming a forgotten ps2 title
There are so many forgotten racing titles from the PS1 and PS2 era that would make such amazing games now. Interstate 76, Vigilante, Destruction Derby just to start with.