The Video Game Industry still has the pending matter of granting the place and the importance that the Driving genre deserves. I have come to understand that it shares a category with Sports in most awards events, such as the The Game Awardsbut it will never cease to disappoint me that they rarely win awards from others.
I don’t want to imagine the magnum opus that the driving genre must create to be nominated for Best Video Game of the Year, taking into account that wonders like Gran Turismo 7, Forza Horizon 4 and Forza Horizon 5 were barely mentioned outside of their category… and because something had to be put in. They deserve much more than what they end up receiving.
My thing is usually infantry, shooting on foot in first or third person, but from time to time I ride four-wheeled vehicles to enjoy the speed. The expansion LEGO Speed Champions of Forza Horizon 4 it earned a permanent room in the happiness building of my mind. I have played few things as fun and cool.
I remember that the technical section of Gran Turismo 7 my jaw dropped, I have never run so far from the police as in Need for Speed and that I liked Hot Wheels Unleashed so much that I almost fell into the dangerous world of collecting. And more recently I’ve enjoyed Pacific Drive, Expeditions A Mudrunner Game and The Crew Motorfest, whose Hollywood list deserves a separate post. However, I haven’t yet mentioned the last video game that made me enjoy myself like a kid.
Metal, Gasolina y Rock and Roll
How many of you do the name sound familiar? Wreckfest? To be more specific, Wreckfest: Drive Hard. Die Last. If you know what I’m talking about, you’ve surely unlocked several good memories. If you don’t know it, you are about to discover a gem like few others. Cinnamon stick. How to eat a Kinder Egg and get the surprise you were looking for. That level of quality.
Wreckfest is a driving video game developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by THQ Nordic for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Android and iOS mobiles. It has an update for the current generation of consoles. It was in Early Access and was released between 2018 and 2019, and its subsequent versions arrived between 2021 and 2022. It is the spiritual successor of two legends: FlatOut y Destruction Derby. Here a turbofan from Destruction Derby RAW!
As you have probably imagined, Wreckfest is a banger racing and destruction video game, modalities that are especially popular in the United States. Unlike other deliveries like Grand Tourism, iRacing y Asseto Corsa, there are few rules here and most are unwritten by the community. The only good friend in these races is the friend pressed against a tree, so imagine if you are a stranger.
I have no complaints about Wreckfest. It’s a shame that their Steam peak has been 3,865 players for four years. It drops to 950 players in the last 24 hours and 434 at the time of writing, according to SteamDB. I don’t think it has better numbers on the rest of the platforms, so I don’t dare tell you to jump in without thinking… because the most likely thing is that you will find a vacant lot with four crazy people enjoying driving pieces of metal with four wheels and an engine that few people would call a car.
And it bothers me a lot! I am 95% convinced that there is no other driving video game with a damage and destruction system as elaborate as Wreckfest. The amount of pieces of metal that can be on the screen is absurd and that every part of the car (including the axle itself) can deform is something that I can simply only describe as wonderful. Needless to say, it’s not a graphical marvel, but I doubt that any console can support a Wreckfest with the graphics section of Forza Horizon o Grand Tourism.
It has just been explained with physics and a system that allows you to personalize the driving of each vehicle. Driving on the asphalt circuits is quite an adventure, especially when there are junctions and sections in both directions, but things improve to stratospheric levels when there is dirt and jumps, and on top of that you have three or four kids bumping around next to you. And let’s not talk anymore when the fools who run with you are your friends.
Nostalgia does not forgive. I will probably reinstall Wreckfest this week and I dedicated a few hours to it, just enough to get rid of the itch and get back to my adventures in Dragon’s Dogma 2. I recommend you do the same, as long as you can afford the game, you may end up enjoying one of the most underrated driving experiences . Car video games get few awards for the wonders they have given us!
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