BeamNG.Drive
Making my own fun in Beam NG. Drive.
I’m driving a bus down a mountain road. Flashes of black void flit across the screen arrhythmically. I’m pretty sure they’re not supposed to be there. About halfway down, I’m told there’s a bomb wired to the bus that will detonate if I drop below 34mph. Unfortunately I also have to follow checkpoints around some tricky corners. I clip a barrier and never recover my speed. Boom! I’m driving through a… er… forest? There are trees that look like big house plants. I’m on a flat piece of AstroTurf overlooking a bowl. I drive over the ramp at the end and aim for the center of the target on the floor below. I miss and get a bronze medal. Welcome to car darts.
I’m driving into a black hole. Or more accurately I was driving into a black hole. I’ve passed the point where I need to be an active participant. My car is slowly dragged towards the black mass until it flies, bursting through the imposing mass with such force that it leaves the map, flying forever in an eerie gray void.
BeamNG.Drive reminds me a lot of Garry’s Mod. There’s no rhyme nor reason, just an ever-expanding collection of scenarios thanks to its community of creators. There is no objective. Are you having fun with a slightly shonky sandbox full of carnage and strange, uncanny physics? Then congratulations, you have won BeamNG.Drive.
It’s ideal for Early Access because the fundamentals are in place, and content arrives from the community. If you’re prepared to put in the work to entertain yourself, BeamNG.Drive is rich, weird and rewarding.