The sheer amount of mess left in the aftermath of races is wild, and yet almost never affects frame rate.

By the end of a race it’s likely you’ll be wading through a carpet of metal shards, splintered wood, scattered tyres, and shattered concrete. That's not gone well, then.Debris from collisions is persistent, too, and every new lap lays down more evidence of the high-speed war playing out on track. Normal, which makes cars tough but not invincible, is more fun because you can take a few hits and keep going – but I do enjoy the challenge of playing with realistic damage, where just one mistake can see you limping to the finish line missing a wheel. Wreckfest actually has two damage levels you can pick from: normal and realistic. It seems just about every panel and part can be punished, pulverised, or simply prised off completely. The level of damage goes well clear of most other driving games certainly most everything this side of the realistic car-crashing sim Beam.NG Drive, which uses similar soft-body tech. Wreckfest’s wonderful soft-body dynamics mean the cars can be bruised, battered, and bent beyond recognition. “Equally smashing, of course, is the actual smashing, whether you’re careening through trackside objects or mercilessly poleaxing your opposition.

There are significant differences in grip from mud or gravel to tarmac but, with Wreckfest’s well-tuned sense of weight and friction, the handling overall is smashing. There’s also a motorised couch, which handles a lot better than I’d expected it would (but probably could’ve done with some wheelie bars). The RV is probably my favourite as, despite its heft and relatively low power, it just loves being whipped sideways into ludicrous drifts. Live to race, race what you live in.The special vehicles are another story altogether, from the top-heavy double-decker cars and rollover-prone schoolbuses to the huge harvester with its distinctive rear-wheel steering. Some of the cars feel quite similar to each other but overall there are notable differences between the range of body types, from muscle to family wagons, and from sports coupes to front-wheel drive hatchbacks. Smaller European and Japanese models are nimbler but they’re also lighter, and some are prone to pitching themselves into lethal tankslappers. Hulking American muscle cars and land yachts squat back on their worn springs and need to be wrestled into heroic Hollywood powerslides and steered on the throttle. A fairly typical array of driving aids is on hand to tone it down a little, but I reckon Wreckfest is at its best when most of them are stripped away and we have to work harder behind the wheel. There’s actually a serious driving model beneath all of this over-the-top, elbows-out competition and conquering the cars here requires more than hope and a heavy right foot – you need some genuine skill.

Soft body physics games derby racing