Wrecked: Revenge Revisited hands-on preview

Wrecked: Revenge Revisited is the follow up to sleeper hit Mashed: Drive to Survive, another top-down, arcade styled racing game that won over fans with its frantic, fun gameplay. On the surface, Wrecked may not have the immediate appeal of a Burnout or Need for Speed game, but after sitting down for a few rounds of multiplayer, it’s clear why the original had so many fans.

The game’s top down view is reminiscent of the classic Micro Machines series, which makes sense seeing as Wrecked is being developed by the same studio, Supersonic Software. Wrecked gives you a number of tracks and cars to choose from, and one goal: eliminate your opponents ASAP. You can be eliminated by falling off the course, via ramming or poor driving, or by falling too far back and getting booted by the elimination line that lurks behind the racers. Smooth driving can net you the win if you pull far enough ahead, but that’s only if you manage to pull away from the chaos; easier said than done.

To keep the game interesting for everyone, the Air Strike mechanic allows recently eliminated players to take potshots at the remaining players with a floating reticule that recharges between shots. While this may sound annoying, the pace of the matches is so fast that it’s hard to get mad over it. Smart players will put revenge aside in order to blast the player with the most points, but the satisfaction of swatting the jerk that eliminated you off the road is not to be underestimated.

The last player standing gets 2 points, while the first eliminated loses two. This means the leader is constantly switching between rounds, making sure everyone is still scrapping to take first. The general fracas is made even more hectic by the weapon pickups scattered around the tracks; smart mortars, homing missiles, machine guns, mines, and more all work differently and need some finesse to be used correctly. Interestingly, cars can be customized both visually and technically, an unusual feature for such an arcade styled game.

We played a number of localfour player rounds, and immediately noticed the rapid pace at which the rounds end and begin. The average race we played barely lasted 30 seconds, as we all immediately tried to kill one another instead of actually racing around the course. It may sound brief, but the added bonus of sitting in the same room with your opponent really added to the fun factor. The short load times between races helps keeps the energy up and thepace lively. Wrecked also features online play, so lacking 4 friends and controllers, you can have fun knocking H4L0M45T3RRR420 off the road and then yelling a racial epithet at him.

While we can’t vouch for the game’s singleplayer, Wrecked may have one of the most immediately fun multiplayer modes we’ve played all year, made even more fun if you can experience it with some friends. The release date and pricehaven’t been confirmed yet, but Wrecked: Revenge Revistied will be released via Xbox Live and PSN, hopefully before year's end.

Jul 21, 2011