At its current state Wreckfest 2 is a very pretty and functional tech demo. Makes sense for an Early Access game, of course, but it's not really even a game yet, and instead functions more like interactive debug menu.

It's a solid base though, so hopefully it'll be better than what happened with development of Wreckfest/NCG. But for now...come on, it's an Early Access game, spend your buckaroos elsewhere, return here when the game actually releases :)

Having been around since the OG beta, and at the time being a content creator for BeamNG, Wreckfest has always excited me.

The physical damage model is a lot better in Wreckfest 2, however they have done some weird stuff to the actual physics of the vehicles, almost feels like pre-scripted movements based on where one vehicle touches another. Instead of allowing physics to show in all it's glory, similarly to BeamNG. They for some sad reason decided to code in, what seems like pre-determined spinning out if you clip a vehicle with the front bumper. For example, inability to recover from a minor side swipe. If I side swipe a car, just barely, it shouldn't send me into a full blown tail spin like I had a semi truck clip my rear bumper going through an intersection. Among other odd, un-natural occurrences, in an otherwise fantastic upgrade from Wreckfest 1.

This in my opinion is game breaking, having seen this game years ago, and now seeing how it's improved, I don't understand why you would absolutely muddy that up with these super un-natural physics. They have the right recipe here, I really hope they ditch that all together and try to take the more realistic approach. It feels like a cheap arcade game when it happens, and I mean the ones you put quarters in. It's like 80% "Yeah that was awesome I could totally see that happening" and 20% "that was just weird, why did my car do that after this"

The vehicles do feel heavy, but not in a great way, they feel like their close to how they should feel, but i'd like to see less "On rails" and more suspension travel, all vehicles feels the same. Regardless of which vehicle your in. In reality different suspension geometry is going to give the chassis, or unibody vehicle different handling characteristics, as will the weight distribution etc. Other reviews stated it felt like a microwave on wheels. Well, add in body roll, compression and decompression and rebound values to the different vehicles. Hopefully the code for the vehicles supports at least some basic forms of suspension geometry otherwise this will end up like GTAV where everything is sitting on the same independent suspension across the board even thought it's model has a solid axle, or trailing axle, whatever.

I think if Bugbear see's this and to best of their abilities and the engines capabilities, accomplishes these few things. They could 100% capture what BeamNG has failed too do, due to lack of direction and constant internal corporate issues, and what Forza and other racing games have never been able to do. Destruction & Racing competition done right. Nowadays you have two options, BeamNG for anything physics simulated, or ALL other racing games that basically handle on a set of train rails, with varying degrees of how well it's implemented. I think Wreckfest could bridge the gap, and create a whole new genre. Maybe even use the destruction development here and implement it into normal racing games. I'm sure some bean counter somewhere will disagree though.

Anyway, I'd recommend the game to anyone who could careless about anything I just said. This is a great modern day Burnout replacement, and the perfect casual game to waste some time for all of us car guys and girls.

While I am giving this a positive review out of bias, I am certainly in the middle as it currently stands. For $30, it's a tad steep of an asking price for just how early in early access in this game is. But, as an avid Wreckfest 1 fan with over 1,700 hours, I am currently having a great time with Wreckfest 2.

I have to admit with other recent reviews that Content Update #2 makes the direction of this game a tad worrying. Admittedly, I didn't play much of the launch version due to poor performance. but I played a fair bit of of Content Update #1 and loved it. While #2 added more vehicles and a good derby map, I don't think the physics changes were warranted. While not outright bad and I think it feels more like Wreckfest 1, I don't think it fits the new track design. During Content Patch #1, it felt like tracks were designed around the car's physics compared to Wreckfest 1: now wider, bumper, more torn up, and more hazards on the outer edges of tracks. And the cars fit that perfectly, you'd feel but not be upset by the torn up tracks, cars would land with a satisfying thud over jumps, and hitting the hazards such as the rock pile on Savolax had a good chance of taking your wheel, even on normal damage (which is insanely hard to do now).

Now, it feels like a slightly different version of Wreckfest 1 in regards to handling with the new maps in place. Anything besides the Roadslayer or Rammer basically bounce out of bumps as if their dampers are trying to make the car fly, and I think is perfectly demonstrated as you approach the finish line on Savolax Sandpit Reverse where the Bravion takes off and bounces when that didn't used to be the case. And the new slow zones on tracks really suck in my opinion. In comparison to Wreckfest 1 it just feels lazy? Wreckfest 1 didn't have anything other than slippery grass or destructible obstacles on what could theoretically be considered the optimal line, not glue traps on the track. It's still early access and this can change, but as it stands they suck. The ruined good/fun lines, and there's even places on both of the Scrapyard tracks where you're randomly slowed downed for taking a good line within what is seemingly the track boundaries (Taking the left on the first 1/2 of Bonebreaker is just a bad decision now and going slightly wide on the loop on the Circuit). They just just cut the throttle and slow the car, and I don't think boring slow zones have a place in Wreckfest just put a lap 1 destructible fence in the way instead please.

Again, this is all from early access and I hope it does change for the better. And while I am having fun and would still kind of recommend it, you should wait honestly. More contented needs to be added and the physics need to be figured out. While I didn't bring it up earlier, and the netcode is back to being ok, Content Update #2 just doesn't feel as good it Content Update #1 in regards to handling. Ultimately the handling is a matter of opinion and even now I don't think it's bad per say, but the track layouts don't feel like they fit as well as they did and the slow zones on both variants of Scrapyard just feel awful.