Coming from the creators of Burnout and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, I had grand expectations for THQ Nordic’s new arcade racer, Wreakreation.
I love the Burnout games and spent many hours playing Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. I’m also a great fan of THQ Nordic’s other, similarly named racing franchise, Wreakfest. But my first impression of Wreakreation was not good. The game drops players straight into a race along a track suspended high above the ground, with no time to adjust settings and tweak graphics. The car physics also felt weird- a bit retro. The initial experience felt like a poor man’s Trackmania. And it was quite off-putting.
The second gaming session was more favourable. I managed to find the graphics settings, hidden in the peculiar menu system and cranked up the visuals to the max. Straight away, this made Wreakreation look less like an Xbox 360 title and more like a modern game.
Wreakreation is an open-world racing game across a huge map packed with races and events. There are no built-up areas like in Burnout, though it does offer some interesting areas to explore.
The cars have that arcade steering from the middle, allowing for drifting with a tap of the brake or a swift pull of the handbrake. You don’t get the roll on the suspension that you get with the likes of Forza Horizon, making the handling a bit twitchy and retro. Once you get used to it, though, memories of those classic racers come flooding back.
Events are scattered about the map. These are races, point-to-point time trials, and road rage (takedown) events. Fans of Burnout Paradise will recognise the plethora of billboards that need breaking and a press of the LT and RT triggers to start races.
The point-to-point races are fun, and the road rage events even more so, with players tasked with taking down rival racers. You can take down opponents in races by smashing them off the road, but in road rage events, you must take down a certain number of indicated cars to win. Winning events increases your licence type, similar to Burnout Paradise, unlocking more events and cars.
Takedowns have always been my favourite Burnout feature. Just as with the original Burnout, shunting an opponent into a barrier is very gratifying and will bring a smile to your face.
The game’s emphasis is on customisation. Players can unlock jumps, hoops, and other props “mixing up the world.” You can also “mix” your car, your music, the weather, time of day and traffic. Online, with friends, you can all have a go at creating your personal MixWorld.
Whilst the core gameplay is robust, the game still feels a bit empty and more like an Early Access game. The sense of speed is there, and the weather effects are good. But the lack of polish is jarring. Even the cars, the centrepieces of the game, have no drivers.
The game’s user interface leaves much to be desired. All the triggers and communication with the player in the game seem off. Clearly, the developers are talented, but they really need a bit of help with the polishing. I hosted an online game (unfortunately, there’s not much of an online community yet) and was unable to see how to quit the game, resorting to a Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
Wrecknation is a lot of fun to play, and the more time I spent with it, the more it drew me in. It may be flawed and derivative of far better racing games, but it has enough old-school charm of its own. The game’s future, however, very much depends on what the developers do next. If they are dedicated to the game, a la No Man’s Sky, this will be the Burnout Paradise sequel we’ve been waiting for. If not, we can all lament on what could have been whilst enjoying a game that does its best to recapture past glories.
Rating: Good