My Winter Car
Last updated: 2025-12-30
- Highly praised overall immersive experience
- High replayability with engaging content
- Realistic and chaotic driving physics
- Severe game instability issues
- Unpolished early access state problems
- Vehicle reliability and mechanics broken
Emotions
Players experience frequent crashes, bugs, and unintuitive mechanics that disrupt gameplay, such as permadeath triggered by saving, car windows fogging uncontrollably, and critical features like heating or refueling being difficult to manage. The game's janky physics, scarce resources, and lack of clear guidance exacerbate the difficulty, leading to repetitive cycles of failure and lost progress.
The game's chaotic and unpredictable mechanics, such as physics bugs, extreme survival scenarios (e.g., dying from hypothermia after a short walk), and humorous interactions (e.g., crashing due to foggy windows or driving drunk), create unintended comedic moments. Players find entertainment in the absurdity of in-game events, like flipping cars or dying in exaggerated ways.
The immersive and detailed gameplay, including realistic winter survival mechanics, unique car builds, and long-awaited content, generates enthusiasm. Players appreciate the variety of activities, the thrill of driving in harsh conditions, and the fulfillment of expectations after years of anticipation for the sequel.
Despite its flaws, players derive enjoyment from the game's core mechanics, such as navigating locations, assembling cars, and engaging in survival challenges. The overall experience is described as cinematic and rewarding, with moments of fun and immersion outweighing bugs or missing content.
The game's unfinished state, including missing features (e.g., Teimo kauppa), AI-generated assets, and high hardware requirements, frustrates players who expected more polish. Crashes, lost progress, and perceived laziness in development contribute to feelings of wasted money and unmet potential.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 75% Ā· Negative 25%. Score: 25 / 100
Positives:
- Players consistently describe the game as enjoyable, fulfilling expectations, and improving over its predecessor. The feedback highlights satisfaction with the game's current state and its value for the price.
- The game is praised for its abundance of content, variety in car parts, and unique builds, which contribute to its high replayability and long-term enjoyment.
- The gameplay is frequently described as fun, engaging, and highly replayable. Players appreciate the detailed mechanics, unique challenges, and long-term enjoyment derived from the experience.
- Players highlight the game's driving mechanics as a standout feature, praising the realistic drift, crash physics, and chaotic yet immersive driving experience.
- The introduction of new mechanics, such as engine startup, temperature simulation, and winter survival elements, adds depth and immersion to the gameplay experience.
Negatives:
- Frequent crashes, freezes, and save corruption are reported across multiple clusters, often resulting in lost progress. Examples include crashes during gameplay, engine starts, and AFK sessions.
- The game is described as 'raw' and unfinished, with numerous bugs, physics issues, and texture misalignments. Players note this is expected for early access but still impacts enjoyment.
- Cars suffer from battery drainage, overheating, frequent crashes, and poor handling (e.g., slippery roads, lack of ABS). Mechanics like refueling and defrosting are unintuitive or broken.
- Unclear systems (e.g., refueling, battery charging, window defrosting) frustrate players. Some mechanics (e.g., permadeath bugs) feel unfair or unintuitive.
- Fogged windows, ice buildup, and lack of defrosting options severely hinder visibility. Combined with slippery roads, driving becomes frustrating or impossible.
Gameplay:
- Vehicles require constant upkeep, such as defrosting windows, refueling, managing battery life, and scraping snow. The car can also break down or fail to start in cold conditions.
- Driving is a core mechanic with detailed physics, including braking, wheel behavior, and handling in snow or icy conditions. Players note issues like sliding, visibility, and collision responses.
- The game features mechanics around alcohol consumption, including managing addiction, purchasing drinks, and interacting with NPCs in a drunken state. This can lead to in-game consequences like death.
- Players visit and interact with various locations like pubs, gas stations, and supermarkets. These locations play a role in gameplay, such as purchasing items or completing quests.
- The game is positioned as a sequel or spiritual successor to *My Summer Car*, with comparisons drawn to its predecessor in terms of mechanics, setting, and difficulty.
Performance:
- Players report poor performance and bugs affecting gameplay, despite the game's long development cycle. Some note that the game runs well on low-end hardware, but others recommend high-end GPUs (e.g., 3060TI) due to optimization problems.
- Minor but noticeable issues include texture misalignments and collision problems, which detract from immersion. Additionally, some players mention unusual visual glitches like flying car shadows.
Recommendations:
- The game is widely recommended for fans of the original 'My Summer Car' and those who enjoy challenging, winter-themed, or chaotic driving scenarios. Many reviews highlight its replayability and unique content as key strengths.
- New players are advised to try the predecessor ('My Summer Car') first, as this game is tailored for veterans or those familiar with its mechanics. Beginners may find it overwhelming or inaccessible.
- Many players consider the game worth its price, whether purchased at full cost or on discount. The value is often tied to its content depth and replayability.
- Players express optimism that the game will improve over time, particularly as bugs are fixed and more content is added. Some suggest waiting for these updates before purchasing.
- A few reviews suggest purchasing alternative games with mods instead, citing concerns about the game's current state or value proposition.
Miscellaneous:
- Players express unease about the use of AI in creating visual elements, questioning the authenticity and quality of the game's art direction. This reflects broader industry debates about AI's role in creative processes.
- Feedback highlights a demand for more populated shops with a wider variety of products, suggesting players want deeper immersion and more interactive environments in the game.
- There is significant player interest in upcoming updates, reflecting optimism about the game's potential and a willingness to engage with its evolving content.
- The game's Early Access status is frequently mentioned, indicating players are aware of its developmental stage and may have tempered expectations or hopes for iterative improvements.
- Players note the absence of quality-of-life mods from the modding community, which were a valued feature in a previous game (MSC). This highlights a gap in player-driven customization and support.
