- Unmatched realistic vehicle physics engine
- Extensive modding support and active community
- Diverse vehicle customization and damage mechanics
- High hardware requirements and poor optimization
- Mod instability and frequent crashes reported
- Lack of structured gameplay and career mode
Emotions
Players are excited by the game's variety of vehicles, maps, and deep customization options, including modding support. The realistic physics, crashes, and sandbox gameplay create endless creative possibilities, while features like track editing, AI traffic, and upcoming multiplayer enhance replayability.
Frustration stems from technical issues like crashes, lag, and poor optimization, especially on lower-end hardware. Players also cite bugs, mod compatibility problems after updates, unrealistic physics in certain scenarios, and a lack of tutorials or structured gameplay as key pain points.
Players feel satisfied due to the game's realistic physics, long-term engagement, and value for money. The freedom to experiment with mods, customization, and destructive gameplay, along with regular updates and a strong modding community, contribute to a rewarding experience.
Admiration is directed at the game's unmatched realism, detailed physics engine, and destructibility mechanics. Players also praise the developers' dedication to community feedback, regular updates, and the depth of vehicle customization and handling.
Enthusiasm is driven by the game's modding potential, realistic driving physics, and creative freedom. Players highlight the ability to create custom scenarios, the frequent updates, and the immersive experience provided by features like suspension feedback and crash dynamics.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 91% · Negative 9%. Score: 9 / 100
Positives:
- The game is praised for its highly realistic physics engine, including soft-body physics, real-time deformation, and detailed vehicle dynamics. Players highlight its accuracy in simulating crashes, damage, and driving mechanics, making it stand out among driving simulators.
- The game features a thriving modding community with thousands of mods available, enhancing replayability and customization. Players appreciate the ease of mod installation and the variety of content (cars, maps, game modes) added by the community.
- The game is praised for its impressive graphics, detailed environments, and high-quality sound design, which enhance immersion and realism. Players note the game runs well on a range of hardware.
- Players consistently describe the game as fun, engaging, and replayable, especially with friends. The combination of realistic physics, sandbox freedom, and modding contributes to its addictive nature.
- The developers are highly responsive to community feedback, providing frequent updates with new content, bug fixes, and improvements. This commitment enhances long-term engagement and trust in the game.
Negatives:
- The game suffers from optimization issues, including laggy menus, FPS drops, and inefficient GPU/CPU usage. Even high-end hardware struggles to maintain smooth performance, particularly with multiple vehicles or complex environments.
- The game lacks traditional progression, missions, or narrative, making it feel repetitive or like a tech demo. Players report boredom after extended playtime due to the absence of clear goals or structured modes.
- Frequent updates disrupt gameplay by breaking mods, resetting career progress, or introducing game-breaking bugs. Some updates are poorly received due to negative impacts on controls or performance.
- The game frequently crashes or becomes unplayable due to mod-related issues, such as outdated mods, corruption, or incompatibility with updates. Players report recurring errors like STATUS_HEAP_CORRUPTION and system instability, including BSODs.
- Mods vary widely in quality, with some containing viruses, poor textures, or unrealistic damage models. Paid mods are criticized for being overpriced or potentially stolen from other creators.
Gameplay:
- The game features a highly detailed physics engine with real-time soft-body simulation, realistic deformation, and crash physics. Players highlight its 2000x/second simulation for vehicle behavior, weight transfer, and damage modeling.
- Players can deeply customize vehicles, including engines, turbos, suspensions, tires, and body panels. Modifications directly impact physics and handling, enabling tailored setups for racing, off-roading, or stunts.
- Vehicles deform dynamically based on collisions, with granular details like halfshaft damage or suspension failure. The soft-body physics engine ensures realistic destruction, from dents to mechanical failures.
- The game emphasizes open-ended exploration with no fixed objectives, allowing players to experiment with crashes, drifts, or scenario creation. Diverse maps (cities, deserts, mountains) enhance replayability.
- The game offers structured scenarios (delivery missions, time trials, police chases) alongside free-roam modes. Mods add rally, drift, or derby modes, catering to varied playstyles.
Performance:
- The game is resource-intensive and demands a powerful PC, especially for high settings or complex simulations. Many users report lag, crashes, or unplayable performance on mid-to-low-end hardware.
- Users with older or low-end PCs experience significant lag, low FPS (e.g., 20-30 FPS), and crashes, even on low graphics settings. The game struggles to run smoothly without modern hardware.
- Even users with high-end PCs (e.g., RTX 4070 Super, Ryzen 7) report FPS drops, stuttering, or crashes, indicating optimization gaps for newer systems.
- The game offers adjustable graphics settings, allowing it to run on low-end hardware (e.g., 8GB RAM, integrated graphics) at reduced quality. However, performance may still be suboptimal.
- Performance degrades significantly when spawning multiple cars or in traffic-heavy areas, often due to CPU limitations or unoptimized AI handling. This affects gameplay fluidity on both high- and mid-range hardware.
Recommendations:
- The game is repeatedly recommended as a must-have for car enthusiasts, simulation fans, and those who enjoy realistic physics, drifting, or modded cars. Its depth and realism make it a standout choice for this audience.
- The game is praised as a masterclass in physics-driven sandbox simulation, offering realistic destruction, driving mechanics, and open-ended experimentation for creative players.
- The game is recommended for players with mid-to-high-end PCs and steering wheels, as these significantly improve the experience. Performance and realism are often tied to hardware quality.
- Players consistently highlight the game's worth, even at full price, due to its content, realism, and replayability. Many consider it a strong investment, especially during promotions.
- Customization and mods are frequently cited as key reasons for the game's addictive and long-term appeal. They add replayability and creative freedom, though some note issues with mod stability.
Miscellaneous:
- Developers engage with the community for updates, localization, and feedback, fostering a strong player-developer relationship. This includes partnerships with industry clients like Audi and Bosch.
- The game features pop culture references in vehicles and levels, while the modding community offers both free and paid options, expanding replayability.
- The game is described as easy to pick up ('Just press W') but offers near-infinite playtime, appealing to both casual and dedicated players.
- The game’s small size (10% of a 1TB drive) and separate mod storage simplify PC upgrades and file management for players.
- Players highlight the game’s educational value for learning real-world vehicle dynamics, making it useful for both casual and serious learners.
