I don’t know about you, but I love fast cars and massive explosions. When these two elements collide, it’s a very special kind of joy for me (unless it’s a Vin Diesel movie). Sadly, I can hardly remember the last time I indulged in a decent car combat game—a genre that was thriving around 15 years ago.
From FlatOut and Crashday toBurnout: ParadiseandSplit/Second, I genuinely miss the golden age of vehicular action games, and it’s a shame that modern gaming doesn’t even try to revive the glory of those good old times.
The Chaos Rising
The original FlatOut likely sparked my passion for destruction arcade racing. What a game it was! The project fully embraces the gaming physics of the early days, elevating interactivity and destruction in survival derby races to a whole new level.
Capitalizing on the popular ragdoll physics of that time, the project also introduced us to the Twisted Stunts Mode, featuring your own driver character flying through the windshield to set high jump records or, y’know, knock down some bowling pegs.
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Several years later, FlatOut 2 came along, adding the brilliant idea of personalized bot drivers with their own strengths and flaws, making standoffs more intimate than ever. Naturally, it improved in all other areas as well: from graphics and special effects to physics and all the twisted stunt modes you could possibly wish for.
Since then, I’ve played plenty of vehicular action games: Crashday, GRIP,Ridge Racer Unbounded, Gas Guzzlers, Blur, Burnout: Paradise, Split/Second,Onrush—just to name a few. With rare exceptions, almost each new title aimed to inject a dash of uniqueness, be it arming your vehicle with machine guns and rocket launchers, navigating mined bridges and exploding buildings in true Michael Bay fashion, or smashing through walls at breakneck speeds.
Shadow Of Its Former Self
The thing is, despite the evident creative flair infused into them, most of these games failed to garner lasting success or widespread popularity, fading into obscurity rather swiftly. I can’t think of a more unique racing experience than Blur, mixing licensed cars, arcade power-ups reminiscent of kart games, and an incredibly stylish execution adorned with neon lights and edgy bosses. All that imaginative brilliance resulted in disappointing sales numbers of 500,000 units.
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In Memory of Car-nage
Eight years later,Codemasterstried to revitalize the genre with Onrush, drawing inspiration fromOverwatch. Onrush took a more multiplayer-oriented approach, pitting two teams against each other in an off-road environment, each vehicle equipped with unique skills. It was a very different set of rules and skill demands than players were used to, so the end result didn’t strike a chord with the gaming community, eventually leading to the game’s servers being dismantled in 2022.
I’ll settle for almost anything that allows me to drive a car dangerously, accompanied by some nostalgically vulgar heavy music.
Another recent homage to arcade destruction racing isWreckfest, developed by FlatOut creators at Bugbear Entertainment. It serves as a neat throwback to a classic formula, expanding on it with an array of tracks, diverse vehicles, wreckage modes, and more impressive graphics and physics than ever. Cruising through a sea of wrecked car bodies behind the wheel of some whacky vehicle is a lot of fun. However, its peak player count slightly surpassed 3,000 on Steam release day, underscoring how niche the genre has become, and how little hope there’s left for a long-awaited triumphant resurgence.
Untapped Potential
It appears that the era of car action games has regrettably waned, with even the biggest companies out there failing to breathe new life into the genre. TakeSony’s attempt withDestruction AllStars, released byLucid Gamesas a PS5 exclusive shortly after the console’s launch. As expected, the game failed to leave a notable impact, with several factors contributing to its lackluster reception.
Destruction AllStars is an online-focused game, requiring a PS Plus subscription to play. Furthermore, its appeal might not be for everyone, featuring reality-show-styled and somewhat dull combat arenas instead of a variety of dynamic off-road maps, and an overall scarcity of engaging game modes. I guess it deserves some recognition for the attempt, even though the final result was messy and essentially dead on arrival.
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The downfall of Destruction AllStars doesn’t mean we won’t see something similar soon—there’s still a sign of promise on the horizon. First, there’sWarhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, an upcoming combat racer featuring a cult of speed-obsessed Orks and radiating some seriousMad Maxvibes. Another example is DeathGrip, a high-speed sci-fi combat racer inspired by WipeOut. Both are currently set to release sometime this year on Steam.
While these are much smaller games compared to Destruction AllStars or Wreckfest, there’s far less risk in delivering smaller projects than rolling out another big-budget endeavor that could lead to disappointing financial results and numerous layoffs.
At this point, I’ll settle for almost anything that allows me to drive a car dangerously, reveling in the deformed piles of metal, accompanied by some nostalgically vulgar heavy music from our teenage years.
Perhaps, it was never a genre that the majority of players really dug, much like I’ve never dug those overly realistic racing simulators requiring a racing chair and a wheel to play. Nevertheless, it’s too unique an offering to be completely forgotten amidst today’s genre diversity, and it more than deserves another shot.
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