Paul Jeffrey
Premium
With the announcement of new Bugbear game Stuntfest, the studio have been quick to quash speculation that development will be slowing down on current game Next Car Game: Wreckfest.
Preview images of a new car due to be added to the game, alongside confirmation that more new content previews, will be forthcoming in the coming days and weeks. Bugbear are keen to stress that the game will remain high priority "until its finished", with Stuntfest acting as a "much smaller scale experimental project" aimed at players less interested in racing games, but still wishing to experience open world environments and customisable events and damage simulation.
Wreckfest has received rather a lot of criticism of late for an allegedly slow development pace, having spent a prolonged period in Early Access with seemingly limited development visible to those part of the title since its initial release. It is however heartening to hear that Bugbear are keen to stress development of the title continues, with new content and enhancements due to be brought to the game in the coming weeks. The studio confirms "we already have some cool new stuff in the works" and promise to reveal more information in the next few days.
Natural successor to the FlatOut series, Wreckfest is a superb recreation of the exciting world of destruction derby style banger racing, but with a few interesting takes on the scene thrown in for good measure. Graphically pleasing to the eye, with one of the better damage models in the industry, Wreckfest is a visual delight to behold while at the same time offering a surprisingly engaging driving experience, bringing to the fore a simulation aspect one would not originally have thought the game would contain.
The cars are all pretty entertaining to drive, with power slides satisfyingly possible in the quicker machines, mated to an impressive feeling of the body roll and weight shifting when driving out on track.
The game itself is very well optimised considering the amount of action on screen, with early stutter issues now seemingly resolved. Menus and in game screens are, at best, minimalistic but never the less easy to negotiate for those not familiar with the game. Room has obviously been left for new features yet to arrive for the sim, but Wreckfest just about scrapes through and passes for a semi-finished game when it is first fired up.
On track the net code has been improved considerably in recent builds, presenting players with a solid online experience. The in-game lobbies work well, as does the simplistic chat functionality available when waiting for the race to load.
It would be expected development of the game should increase soon, with the recent announcement that Wreckfest will be made available for console in the near future, its exciting times for fans of the series.
Wreckfest is available to purchase for Windows PC in Early Access now.
Check out the Wreckfest sub forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest news and discussions regarding the game. Head over to the forum and join the discussion today!
Do you play Wreckfest? How are you finding the game? Looking forward to the update? Let us know in the comments section below!
