On paper, Wreckfest is one of those games that should never really be possible on the Switch, at least not in a sufficiently playable state. When it came to PS4 and Xbox One in 2019, even though it was widely praised, many noted that it suffered from some technical issues and extremely long loading times. Surely if you’re bringing a game to the Switch when it was already pushing more powerful hardware to its limits, you’re setting yourself up for a broken disaster?
Not this time. Somehow, the wizards at developer Bugbear have not only managed to get Wreckfest running on the Switch, but it’s easily one of the better-looking racing games on the system and an absolute treat to play.
If you aren’t familiar with the game, the title is a fairly accurate representation of what you can expect to find. Wreckfest consists of a series of race and demolition derby events where smashing into your opponents is very much the order of the day. Making it to the end in one piece is obviously the main aim, but those willing to put the boot in and get involved in the car-crunching action will be the most heavily rewarded (and most heavily injured, probably).
Don’t expect to encounter any Ferraris or Lamborghinis here – the cars in Wreckfest are a bunch of bangers designed to crumple into pieces at the merest hint of a shunt. That said, there are some fun, quirkier vehicles included to make things even more chaotic than they already are. Racing in a stock car or truck is one thing, but racing in an old clapped-out school bus, a caravan, or even a lawnmower helps to dial up the anarchy factor a notch.
There’s a generous helping of tracks to choose from too, 45 of the gits to be exact. These range from rally-style dirt roads to Destruction Derby-style bowls, to more unique-looking tracks such as Hellride, which consists of two large half-pipe turns with a jump through a flaming ring in the middle.
Once you’re done with the single-player Career mode, which gives a healthy selection of races to play through, there’s also regular online tournaments where you get to take on a series of daily and weekly challenges in an attempt to work your way up global leaderboards to earn bonus vehicles and decals. Of course, there’s also online multiplayer too, which mercifully fills the rest of the starting grid with AI bots instead of having you wait forever for a dozen players to join a game that, given the evidence of most Switch racing games that don’t have karts in them, may not have much of an online community.
Of course, anyone who’s already played Wreckfest will already know all of this (the modes, not the online tumbleweed). What’s less obvious is how well all this is carried over to what is, let’s face it, weaker hardware than the game has been ported to in the past. For the most part, we’ve been pleasantly surprised at the result, to the extent that we’d say it’s one of the best Switch ‘downscales’ we’ve ever seen (for want of a better phrase).
The game aims for 30 frames per second and manages it a reasonable amount of the time without sacrificing too much in the way of detail. If you bring the camera up close to your car you can see that texture quality has been reduced to make things run a bit smoother, but when the game’s running these compromises, while noticeable, don’t really affect your enjoyment.
Also impressive is the way the game retains some of the debris-based effects that make it so satisfying to play on other systems. Crash into a pile of tyres and they’ll fly all over the place in a realistic way, while slamming someone into a fence causes planks of wood to scatter in a believable manner. Such moments can be surprisingly costly for graphics processing because of the physics calculations involved in throwing around large numbers of objects, but Wreckfest on Switch handles it without batting an eyelid and it’s just as fun to see debris flying around here as it is on other systems.
Even more surprising are the loading times, which were infamously awful on Xbox One and PS4 when the game was originally released, but actually aren’t so bad here. Let’s not pretend it’s a case of snapping your fingers and it’s loaded instantly, of course, but fire up a fully loaded 16-car race and you’re looking at around 20-25 seconds of loading time, which really isn’t that unreasonable.
Let’s also not pretend that the general presentation is flawless. We’ve already touched on the blurry textures, and in some situations in certain races the frame rate can suddenly tank for a few seconds, chugging for a bit before it gets back to normal again. Neither of these are particularly game-breaking by any stretch of the imagination, but nor are they so subtle that you won’t notice them. If you’re the sort of person who floods forums with claims that anything less than a perfect frame rate is “literally unplayable” then, if you’ll forgive the pun, you’ll want to steer clear of this one (though it would be your loss).
That said, when you switch to handheld mode, the visual sacrifices become more pronounced. Things look significantly blurrier and the cutbacks are generally more distracting. This is mainly because Bugbear has clearly decided its focus is mainly on performance, and in that sense it’s made the right call because even with the further downgrade on handheld everything still runs smoothly enough with all damage effects still intact.
Finally, it’s also worth pointing out that this is a three-year-old game and other formats have already received two seasons’ worth of DLC including a bunch of other cars. On Switch the game costs $40 at launch and the two DLC packs cost $28 combined. That’s a total of $68 if you want everything, while other formats already have Wreckfest: Complete Edition which includes the DLC for $50. As much as Wreckfest defies convention by delivering an extremely impressive Switch port, then, it also very much goes along with another annoying norm – charging more money for a less impressive version of a game because it’s ‘newer’.
Conclusion
Wreckfest is one of the more impressive Switch ports we've seen, taking a game that already had performance issues on more powerful hardware and delivering a relatively stable version with reasonable loading speeds and all its debris-flinging carnage fully intact. Handheld play is a little less visually acceptable, and the Switch tax rears its ugly head again, but just like the rough-and-ready roadsters in the game, we ultimately had a great time behind the wheel.
Comments 67
First time I've seen text added on the article thumbnail itself, that's interesting.
I've loved the bits that I've seen of Wreckfest online (there are some incredibly funny videos covering it) though I feel as though it would be a bit too repetitive for my liking if I were to actually play it. Still highly respect it though.
My favourite racer for quite some time. Another impossible conversion on Switch and I will gladly take the performance hit to be able to have this on my Switch library.
Someone can tell me if this game you have tournament mode with points per racing, like Mario Kart, Formula 1, Horizon Chase (tournament mode)?
Or only events, like Forza, MX vs ATV, Gran Turismo, etc?
I don´t have fun with "events" in a racing game. Only tournament.
@Fizza They used to use the thumbnail text on the review tab to signify which console the game was for, but for some unexplained reason they stopped.
This sounds like my cuppa tea. I won't be buying it now but it's definitely on my to buy list.
The only thing I want to know, how does it control with the digital triggers? That's the greatest oversight of the Switch imho.
@Pk-glitch Probably because 99% of games reviewed are for Switch nowadays.
This is one of those games that is technically impressive, and should be rewarded for being a strong port of a very demanding game.
But for the current price? Nah... but it is this exact logic that causes us to get awful Switch ports! I'm torn.
Absolutely cracking racing game, up there with GRID. Only due to Grid having the performance mode choices to run at 60fps does it JUST take the edge, but its close!
Wreckfest has tonnes of content, great online modes (played Saturday couple of hours and was flawless), love the "Tournament" mode (odd name, but basically daily/seasonal content).
Price is always an issue for Switch games and I wish (so bad!) it had cross platform accounts somehow so you could progress on any system, but other than that its absolutely top drawer!
Yes definitely picking it up once the price is right.
Missed an opportunity for the tagline to be ‘bangers and crash’
Oooh, sounds good. Purchase has been made much more likely now....
SOLD! I love survival racers and so happy this reviewed well.
I think the Switch is the first Nintendo console with a racing line up that's kind of good since the Gamecube. It's only really lacking on racing sims, but that wasn't all that different on the N64 or Gamecube.
I got it day one - The game runs great on Switch. An absolute corker of a racer to have on the system. If anyone's on the fence, just pick it up.
I enjoyed it greatly on Xbox first and I'm having just as much fun if not more playing it through on my Switch. 👍
Glad Switch players can finally play. There are some crazy cars and others: lawn mowers, bumper cars, etc.
@RubyCarbuncle An amazing port, you would enjoy it, it's a blast!!
Picked it up yesterday, and having tremendous fun. I consider this as a port that is a great success for Switch. I like how it feels, drives, the content is awesome, so if anyone's on the fence, don't hesitate, it's GREAT! We need more ports like this!
One of those games Im more than willing to pay out for
@Shiryu It really is the impossible port made possible. Runs great on Switch, it's great fun. With so many games nowadays not being fun anymore this is a breath of fresh air once again.
A must have for any avid racing fans.. We need more ports of this quality...
Gonna have to be waaayyy cheaper for me.
@Rykdrew. In online multiplayer you sort of can however it’s not a straight racing game. With a group you can pick and choose when type of racing you do. The single player is a a league type affair this multiple types of race events each awarding points that open up access to higher leagues/events. When it comes to racing the are arena type events, lap races, lawnmower racing, motor homes, trucks, buses. There are rally type events which are not circuits but A to B races. Crashing into others is encouraged. I would not class it as a MARIO kart points league type of game.
@Scollurio this was my big concern too. I was hoping you could use the analog stick to accelerate
@HollowSpectre A miracle port. No gameplay issues for me, it's run very well on Switch. Gameplay completely intact. So much fun 👍
No - I'm done with blurry ports. I'd rather see honest lower res textures than blurriness.
@Quinine911 @BANJO
Are you playing the game in handheld? I'm debating whether to buy this for the TV (PS4) or handheld (Switch). The only reason I'd go with the Switch version is if the handheld mode doesn't feel like an annoying downgrade. Not sure how seriously to take the review comments of blurriness.
Seems to no longer be on the eshop. Searching for it only shows its car pack dlc any idea why?
@sketchturner Admittedly mostly in docked mode. However, I have tried it out for about an hour in handheld mode, I was surprised just how good it played. Highly recommended 👌
@sketchturner handheld mate. I have this game on Xbox but I bought it on Switch because of the mobility. I dont really play on TV much prefer to play on the couch or in the bed, etc.
@Manxman64 You can set up, switchup spoke of a way to do it
@scully1888 So, how was the accleration/control, since the Switch doesn't have analog triggers? Did you use trigger throttle or analog stick for throttle?
Thanks for the review.
This is one for a future sale for me but I'll definitely get it. Looks like great fun. THQ Nordic games are on sale all the time so I probably won't have to wait too long.
THQ normally includes local wireless play.
This exclusion meant the game went from most anticipated to biggest disappointment of the year for me.
Got a physical copy on the way. Just hope there's a good community online on switch.
@Rykdre
Mixed. You have one-off races and derbies, but whack season will have a few race series with points etc.
Downloaded it day one after seeing gameplay on youtube. Absolutely brilliant port, it's amazing how well it runs compared to say, ports of the WRC games with their pop-up shadows and trees. It's now in my top 3 arcade racers on Switch, up there with Need for Speed and Burnout.
This actually is another "impossible major third party" Switch game that, like DOOM 2016 and Witcher 3, comes off looking really good. I have so much respect for developers who take the time and put out a really good product for the Switch. If hybrid portability is an option and it runs well (doesn't have to be perfect), I will always favor the Switch version. Well done!
Great review of a great game! Fantastic port given the physics/demands of the game. 60fps is nice (GRID still has the crown as best non-mario kart racer on switch IMO) but the 30fps on offer here is perfectly playable. Like need for speed hot pursuit, I love that this game is simple, pure racing fun with no pointless open world or story!!
@WoomyNNYes I used the triggers because to be honest it didn't really feel like it affected things too terribly. There's the option to use the right stick for acceleration and braking instead if you want analogue controls for it, but it's the sort of game where the racing isn't so nuanced that you really need it too much unless you're really taking it seriously and want to top the leaderboards. Hope that helps!
I picked up a physical copy the day after release and so far I'm enjoying the little I've been able to play (my job is a total killer of any gaming time ). I hope to get more into it soon.
If you’re the sort of person who floods forums with claims that anything less than a perfect frame rate is “literally unplayable”...
Unfortunately, that's become the new normal nowadays. It's times like these I appreciate living through the Golden Era of gaming and the real Console Wars.
@scully1888 Good to hear. Thanks.
@solidox Thank you for details. I prefer the championship game structure than "events". Like the old Destruction Derby. I´ll pass this one. It is a pity! Thank you again!
To all the naysayers, it's visually not quite on par with the higher spec consoles but it pushes the Switch to it's limits, and plays perfectly... It's as good a port as you could possibly hope for 😃
I got this physically and was actually surprised at how fun it was driving around on 4 wheelers ramming into everyone. Good rumble integration too. Looked decent in handheld. Not perfect. But not terrible.
I think I'm gonna grab this digitally. Wasn't planning on it but after how much fun I had, I've had a change of heart.
@BANJO Good to hear! Been a few years since I got my hands on a decent destruction derby kinda game.
@JaxonH I agree. It's basically a perfect port. Graphics are as good as the Switch can possibly hope for. It plays perfectly... Considering the hardware and being third party it's quite a feat..
@HollowSpectre It really is the current day Destruction Derby..
Very blurry looking. Really not impressed with these ports anymore.
As someone who loves the old school Burnout games, this game definitely piques my interest.
@BANJO That's all I needed to hear! THEY MAY TAKE MY MONEY NOW!
single player unless 2 or more copies are owned. Following Hot Wheels Unleashed in the vein that it will cost you a ridiculous amount to get the DLC. These are the 2 biggest factors for me not buying the game now. Hell Walmart has the PC version for $10
@Rykdrew. There are events within each league tier that are similar to DD but across the wider selection of league events everything is unrelated. No gold cup to aim for. For me given the variety of cars and races on offer you lost the persona of the opponents from the original DD i.e “The General”.
This is one of those miracle ports that I never thought would be possible. I mean yeah, it's running on potato settings and barely at that, but it somehow works.
Incredible Port for Nintendo Switch! I highly recommend it.
Demolition Derby is to ps1 as Wreckfest is to Nintendo Switch! It's like peanut butter and jelly!
Sure, you can buy it for the other consoles, but it just feels right at home on the Nintendo Switch!
@BANJO Absolutely 💯
I'm playing it and is a MASTERPIECE! kudos to bugbear for the game and for the conversion!
@symmy is not blurry at all.
Really considering buying this later down the line!
@Manxman64 Even that is garbage tbh. I'd even buy 3rd party controllers, given the option, just to have analogue throttle control, like on every other console in the 21st century, lol
Loving this, even though I've played it on PS4. I have no problems with the handheld resolution, and the whole game is fantastic, my new favourite Switch racer.
Online works pretty well, and will involve a lot of swearing as a human opponent whacks you into a wall.
The only poor part is oval races, as they are mostly dull affairs.
TOTALLY worth buying.
@solidox yesss, each character in Destruction Derby has a different personality! The "low driver"....etc...it was incredible!
Multiple racers in different leagues but in the same races. For me, nothing beats that as a racing game structure. Just unrelated events are not fun for me anymore.
@Manxman64 Okay I picked it up, gave it a whirl. It runs well, even in handheld, even though it looks a bit "mushy" but that's to be expected. About the controls, well of course you miss analogue control, but to be honest, there's a huge threshold that lets you "feather" the gas and the game fills in the blanks, also it's arcadey enough. It "will do". It's not grand, but I imagined it to be worse. Might keep it!
EDIT: Oh and before I forget, yes there's a control preset to use the right stick for gas/brake!
@Zanzox You are blind.
@symmy no... really you are blind if you see all blurry😂 it is called myopia😂
@Zanzox Loon
Despite the handheld mode looking apparently worse, i will get it i think. Needed a reliable revw to see if it was good. Cheers for the review. My kinda thang
Playing Wreckfest on a switch makes me feel like I’m really living in the future. You wouldn’t expect anything like that level of destruction to be possible.
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