Unleash Driving Carnage and Destruction With the Derby Style Wreckfest Game

Wreckfest is the sort of game that is all about staying in control amid absolute chaos. Sure, lap times and coming in first are still part of the goals, but in this world, coming in first means leaving your adversaries on the side of the road with nothing but the Jaws of Life to get them out of their car.

Just as the name would imply, this game developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by THQ Nordic is the sort of addition to your game library meant to spice things up. Sure, everyone loves a good and realistic simulator, but the freedom and chaos experienced in Wreckfest seem to be just what the doctor ordered.

Now, Wreckfest is considered a full-contact racing game. That means that you’ll generally start off with a pristine car and end up with something that’s basically just a frame and roll cage by the end of a round—if you make to the end.

Like most other videogames of this sort, Wreckfest includes several gameplay styles. In career mode, you'll have to complete events to unlock other events, in order to unlock other stages, and so on, amassing credits, airtime, and several unlockable vehicles along the way.

What sets this game apart from other driving games, aside from the total mayhem that ensues, is that the vehicles you’ll be using seem to be full of character. Your starter vehicle is going to be the Rocket, an American midsize RWD muscle car that looks like it’s been through the hands of some very careless owners.

With the Rocket, you’ll embark upon race after race that defies what you may be used to in terms of driving experience. Even though the game prides itself on offering the player a realistic crash simulation, the gameplay seems to offer a slightly different experience; you can feel a modification in gravity levels, at least that’s what I noticed looking at gameplay.

As you go through the events, you’ll amass credits you can use to unlock vehicles ranging from old Lincoln station wagons to VW buggies, Chargers, and even friggin lawnmowers or school buses modified for destruction—each vehicle with its own characteristics when it comes to speed, power, and paint job.

Once you’ve finished a race with your car falling apart around you, you can then get ready for the next objective by upgrading your vehicle with parts unlocked from previous wins or change the paint job. Maybe you feel your current ride is not suitable for the next race, and you’d like something a bit more menacing; at this point you can select a new ride.

The other main mode you’ll be engaging in will be the demolition derby. Just like classic derbies you may have witnessed on TV or some YouTube channel, competitors go head-to-head, smashing and bashing into each other until only one vehicle is left standing.

For this last style of gameplay, Wreckfest has become one of the most immersive driving games that you can play on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam. Xbox Hub rates this game 4.5/5, PSU 9/10, IGN 90/100, Gamereactor 9/10, and so on.

However, it wasn’t always like this. When Bugbear first launched the game for funding on Kickstarter on November 1, 2013, it quickly became obvious that it would fall very short. Having raised only $81,772 of a $350,000 goal, this Finnish team told everyone they’d be back. Look at them go now.

Today, the game has a solid community on several gaming platforms, and if you want to get in on the action, Steam lets you go smash for just €30 ($36.5 at current exchange rates)—in Europe anyway.

One thing I enjoy about this game is the multiplayer mode. You can go head-to-head in derby races or demolitions, make friends or enemies, and just smash things up as a group. You can also set up personal stunt courses, deathmatches, and unlock tons of special achievements. Oh, and everyone basically looks like The Stig.

Don’t get me wrong; the game isn’t perfect. One of the issues I ran across is that of a sensory overload due to insistent engine revving. It seems that most of the game is spent revving your engine to the highest RPMs possible. After about 15-20 minutes of a demolition derby, you’ll probably turn that revving down, but that shouldn’t push you away from the gameplay. I’m already considering this for my next salary.