SMASH AND GRAB
WRECKFEST FINALLY MAKES IT ONTO SWITCH
Wreckfest (PEGI 12)
Switch
★★★★✩
FOR racing game purists the last couple of decades have been a dream.
Wave after wave of simulators have taught us how to drive fast, and drive clean. But where’s the fun in that?
Wreckfest had a bit of a rough start in life, first mooted as ‘Next Car Game’ way back in 2012.
A failed Kickstarter campaign in 2013 almost buried the project, but developer Bugbear Entertainment refused to give up.
Turning to PC gamers, a ‘sneak peek’ was issued to crowdfunders who had shown interest in the game.
A single level with 24 playable vehicles giving just a taste of what the game’s damage mechanics could do.
That sneak peek became an early access release on Steam in 2014, earning $1m in sales in a single week.
While PlayStation and Xbox owners have been able to enjoy this game for a few years, it’s finally the turn of Switch players to unleash some mindless destruction.
Wreckfest is all about smashing into your opponents, causing as much damage as possible while you fight to the finish line.
While the metal crunching, high octane, handbags at dawn action is all there, underneath is a fairly decent driving model.
There’s the usual training wheels to tone it down a bit, but Wreckfest is at its very best when you cast off the stabilisers and wrestle with the controls.
The game has a great roster of vehicles from your standard Audis, Fiats, Fords etc, to hulking American muscle cars and massive RVs which slide satisfyingly around.
But there are also some ridiculous vehicles you can compete with, including a motorised couch, a combine harvester and even a lawn mower.
Purists can still get their racing fix as there’s the option to tinker under the bonnet and fine tune your vehicle to cause maximum mayhem on the course.
You can also choose between two different damage modes – realistic or normal.
Normal makes you tough, but not invincible, so you have a fighting chance of making it to the finish line. Realistic will see you limping to the end, missing three wheels and 90% of your car.
The single player campaign boasts five championship levels, each with myriad events you’ll have to compete and earn points in, in order to proceed.
To keep things interesting, each event has a different goal. Some are your standard first past the post winners, others see you wrecking a certain number of your opponents’ vehicles.
When that gets tiresome, head online for some multiplayer vehicular carnage. Alongside the base game you’ll be able to download two season packs – the first of which includes 20 additional vehicles and various decorations for £11.99, the second adds just 12 new cars for the lower price of £9.99.
■ Buy it: £27.95 from thegamecollection.net/