There are a lot of racing games out there these days, but it feels like, by and large, more of the genre has started to drift toward realism and simulation elements. And there’s a style of arcade racer that I think has begun to go the way of the dodo, despite a few indie studios trying to keep it afloat.
That’s exactly what makes Wreckreation 2 so incredibly exciting for me, especially after getting a few hours of hands-on time with the bombastic racer. Although it’s still early on, Wreckreation 2 is the kind of whimsical, destruction-loving racer I’ve been craving for years — even reminding me of the Midtown Madness series I was obsessed with growing up.
Wreckreaction 2, as you probably deduced, is a sequel to 2025’s Wreckreation, an open-world racing game with good, but slightly unrealized ideas. Both games come from Three Fields Entertainment, the studio founded by Fiona Sperry, longtime head of Criterion Games, and one of the key creatives behind games like Burnout: Revenge and Need For Speed: Most Wanted. The studio itself is also made up of a handful of devs who worked at Criterion for years.
Wreckreaction 2 Is Better Right Off the Bat
So there’s an undeniable pedigree at play on Wreckreation, but a few hours with the sequel have made it abundantly clear how much that first game just felt like a prototype. The handling and racing feel in Wreckreation 2 is abundantly better right off the bat, and the more grounded open-world city setting feels infinitely more approachable than the dreamlike toy-box aesthetic of the first game. But it’s the pure arcade-y feel and the way the game absolutely revels in destruction that makes Wreckreation 2 stand out.
As much as it might seem obvious, this is a racing game entirely focused on going as fast as possible and driving as dangerously as possible. While you have the typical controls of slowing down and handbraking, Wreckreation 2 intentionally makes it very easy to pull off drifts and tight turns, instead letting you focus on the almost car combat elements of it all.
You have a boost gauge in Wreckreation 2 that fills purely when you “drive dangerously,” meaning near misses with cars in traffic, smashing through objects, avoiding crashes, and yes, absolutely obliterating the other racers. The more destruction you cause, the more boost you have, creating a wonderful risk-reward system where you’re constantly trying to push your luck but not overextend. But if you do, you’re treated to one of those undeniably satisfying crash cams, where everything slows down, chunks of your car flying every direction, and you can soak in the damage. But crucially, these crash cams feel quick and snappy during races, letting you delight in the destruction while still not breaking up the flow of the race.
During my roughly three hours of playtime, I had access to four different types of events, two cards (with upgraded versions to unlock), and a snippet of the open world. It was obviously just a slice of the full game, but it left me tremendously excited to see more. Every event in Wreckreation 2 takes place within the context of the city itself, meaning you can explore at your leisure to learn a lot of the shortcuts and alternate routes. There are also collectible gates to smash, Wreckords to earn, and some delightful billboards to look at. But the real meat of the experience lies in the events, which I got to experience: Races, Face Offs, Road Rages, and Wreckonings.
The first is self-explanatory, while the second is more of a one-on-one, highly difficult race. Road Rages were my personal favourites, tasking you with destroying a certain number of opposing racers for higher scores. And finally, Wreckonings are specific tasks, like Time Trials, that let you unlock upgraded versions of cars. These four different events provide some nice variation, but I’d obviously like to see a bit more in a full release, with maybe one or two modes like Road Rages that really shake up the formula. But extra surprising to me was that this demo already had four different difficulty modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard. According to Fiona Sperry in a pre-demo presentation, difficulty is a huge focus for Wreckreation 2 — providing ample options for players of all types.
But that also ties into the major focus of Wreckreation 2 at large, really nailing those core racing systems and game feel. Apparently, the track creation mode from the first game will still be in the sequel, but first and foremost, Wreckreation 2 is a battle racer.
“Will track creation be a focus? Yes, it’s a focus, but not the main focus. It’s really about nailing those first principles; that’s what we’re really excited about: that battle racing,” Sperry says in a group Q&A, “If we go off trying to also do track creation, it takes away from that focus of battle racing. It will still be there. We have all those tools. We want to improve them, and we will do that.”
And after my playtime with Wreckreation 2, that’s not something I can disagree with. The core feel of racing here is so good that I kept playing on for a good 3-4 hours even after I’d experienced all the content. That blend of tight arcade-y feel and destructive battle racing already feels fantastic, especially for a game that doesn’t release until next year. Even the design of the city itself feels fascinatingly anachronistic, and you can almost see elements of cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York, pulled together. The joyful, chaotic spirit of the game is something I felt like I haven’t found in racing games for years, and I genuinely was getting flashbacks to playing those Midtown Madness games as a teenager, or even the often forgotten racer Split Second.
“There’s a huge opportunity to bring back arcade racing. When I talk to players, I had this conversation with one of our moderators, where he was talking to me about Burnout and I said, ‘Oh my god, your memory’s amazing,” says Sperry, “And he said, ‘Fiona, it’s not that we have great memories. We’re still playing those games. I think there’s a huge opportunity.”
Sure, I’d like to see more from the game: different events, more cars, deep car customization, and more life in the open world, etc. But, crucially, those are all very much things that can come with time and work. What’s most important is that you have the foundation right, and boy, Wreckreation 2 has one hell of a foundation. It wasn’t on my radar until a week ago, but now Wreckreation 2 is high on there.
Wreckreation 2 is planned for release on PC in 2027. Three Fields Entertainment is also considering console versions.
