Wreckfest hands-on: A fantastic racing game, but the bugs aren’t just on your windshield
Originally released on PC in 2018 after years in Steam’s Early Access program, Wreckfest is now available on mobile devices. For those unfamiliar with the game, it’s a demolition derby racer that offers soft-body physics. It’s the spiritual successor to the demolition games of the 2000s, and despite some noticeable graphical bugs, it offers smashingly enjoyable gameplay.
I recorded the above video on an Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro at max settings. There’s no tutorial; you jump into whatever game mode you like. The controls are straightforward, so this doesn’t feel like a problem. Unfortunately, I encountered framerate issues and noticeable graphical bugs that prevented me from fully enjoying myself.
Performance and controls
For testing purposes, I cranked the game’s graphics to the highest they could and tuned my ROG 6 to favor performance. Unfortunately, my FPS fluctuated wildly throughout gameplay, despite turning down some of the settings midway through. Later, I locked the FPS to 30, which helped smooth things out. But it’s disappointing that a consistent 60FPS cannot be met regardless of the device. In addition, I encountered flickering graphics and shadows in all my races. This was intensely distracting, and no amount of fiddling with the settings fixed the issue.
These graphical issues marred a near-perfect racing experience otherwise. The touchscreen controls are a little fiddly, so consider picking up one of thebest Android controllersif you’re not a fan of touchscreen controls, as controllers are supported. Still, I soon got the hang of sliding and tapping my fingers on glass after a couple of races (tip: let go of the steering controls to go straight rather than holding your finger in the middle of the bar). While you’re able to’t change the location of the controls on the screen, there are plenty of customization options to tune them to your racing preferences.
Gamemodes and gameplay
Beyond the necessary graphical sacrifices, Wreckfest on mobile is almost identical to its console and PC versions. You’ve got the same tournament modes, and you can create custom games offline, and there’s also multiplayer, but it only supports local play. Beyond this one caveat, the gameplay is the same.
Events are demolition derbies or races, with numerous game modes within the two types. Some races are silly affairs where you’ll scoot around on sofas, whereas others are tense, high-octane matches where one wrong turn can spell doom. Demolition derbies are a little more tedious than I would like (some traps or hazards would be welcome), but the carnage of spinning cars and flying wreckage is brilliant fun. No matter your selection, you can enjoy the soft-body physics of Wreckfest, which range from Realistic (vehicles can get damaged from the smallest impacts) to Extreme (parts that normally can’t be deformed can be flattened).
Customization strikes a perfect balance between accessibility and complexity. Those unfamiliar with a car’s working will find the simplified descriptions easy to understand, while pro drivers can tune their car’s suspension, gear ratio, differential, and brake balance. There are plenty of visual customization options, although I would have liked to see more opportunities for custom livery.
Many “realistic” racing games on Android focus on the car’s performance rather than what happens when things go wrong. Wreckfest’s definition of realism means that if your car gets smashed in the front, not only will you have an appropriately sized dent in your car, your engine performance will suffer throughout. It’s an arcade racer at heart but with enough realistic touches to give it some weight.
Wreckfest suffers too many performances issues to be a perfect port
I’ve played Wreckfest to death on PC and console, and I have to say I’m pretty disappointed with the mobile incarnation. The flickering shadows are incredibly distracting during gameplay, and being forced to lock my FPS to 30 for consistent performance is disappointing. If these issues are ironed out, Wreckfest could easily be one of thebest racing games on Android, but the current performance and graphical issues mean we recommend holding off until they’re resolved.
Tablets and accessories are also on sale
Strong alternatives to aging competitors
It’s been an interesting journey
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before
Keep privacy a priority with the best VPNs
Free screen and battery repairs inbound
