Wreckfest

Genre: Arcade Racing

Players: 1-16 Competitive (Online)

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Review:

Wreckfest is an Arcade-style Racing game released on PC in 2018, ported to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2019, and then ported to Nintendo Switch in 2022. As the name implies, this Racing game puts destruction front and center, making it the focus of the game.

Now, to clarify, this game is not as cartoonishly over-the-top in its physics as games like Burnout Paradise and Asphalt 9 Legends. Instead, this game revels in destruction by not only making the vehicles take somewhat realistic damage over the course of a race, but having parts fall off and litter the track, as well as making parts of the track itself similarly destructible.

As such, the visuals in this game are highly satisfying. Running at a very nice 1600 x 900 resolution in docked mode, with a 960 x 540p resolution in portable mode, it’s wonderful to see all the wreckage start piling up on courses after particularly contentious jockeying for position. What’s more, the detail in the vehicles and the roads themselves is wonderful, with excellent-looking dirt and mud, and some very nice lighting as well, with fitting rock music playing in the background with some decent vehicular noises to go along with it.

There is a downside to this presentation, though – the framerate is only 30FPS, which I tend to find mostly pretty good for this game. But when the destruction starts to really rain the junk down on the screen, those framerates can definitely take a hit. It’s not game-breaking, and I mostly found Wreckfest to be a pretty smooth experience, but it does happen on occasion, and it is notable.

The destruction theme extends to more than just the visuals here, though – computer-controlled racers in the game are highly aggressive, and will not think twice about smashing you into a wall if it’s advantageous to them. And of course, players who really want to explore this game’s destruction can head into one of the destruction derby maps and try to smash into competitors’ cars in an enclosed arena.

When it comes to multiplayer, I do have a few pieces of bad news. First, there is no way to play multiplayer locally, or even using local wireless. This game’s multiplayer is online-only. And while the online connectivity works fine, when I tested the game there were barely any human players playing – my game was filled with a lot of bots.

Despite its flaws, Wreckfest is an excellent Arcade-style Racing game on Nintendo Switch. It’s fun, fast-paced, there’s a good amount of skill to its racing, but players can also lean into dirty play by slamming into other vehicles, and all the destruction still looks fantastic on Nintendo Switch, even if the framerates also take a beating when the cars do. If you’re a Racing fan looking for some destructive fun that looks great and plays great, this is a solid choice.

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tl;dr – Wreckfest is an Arcade-style Racing game with a focus on destruction, whether it’s fending off aggressive racers in more traditional races, or aiming to smash the competition in destruction derby. The game looks fantastic on Switch, though the framerates can noticeably take a hit at times. Also, the game only supports multiplayer if you take it online, and you won’t find many players there if you do. Still, despite its flaws, this is a superb racing game well worth adding to your collection.

Grade: B

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