The Next Car Game is an upcoming racing game made from the people who brought you Flatout. Flatout games were for the previous generation of consoles, and the objective of the games were to use your car in many different ways. Whether it be bowling or racing or being shot across an American football field. Well, they're back now with a new game, and it seems they're not quite sure what to call it.

 

The Next Car Game as of now is in early access (alpha) it's more of a tech demo/demo with a few gametypes. The only foreseeable problem I have for this title is its direction. I know it wants to be a racer, but that’s not too specific. Does it want to be like Flatout and have minigames? Or does it want to be like Dirt, a more serious approach to racing. I think The Next Car Game is unsure in which direction it wants to head in, but that’s fine because of what it is as of now, a product in more-or-less a testing/demo period.

 

Now, you must be thinking everything about this game isn't too great so far. Well you've never been so wrong. Sure, the game may not be sure in which way it’s headed, but what it does have is a fantastic foundation. The selling points for this game are the car physics and destruction. Crashing into a car will send pieces of it flying off into different directions. Glass will shatter; side mirrors will go clashing into the ground. And the body destruction of the cars is magnificent. Smashing into cars has never felt so gratifying, the side of the car will bend in and the back may get squished too. The cars never look the same after a race or derby.

 

But wait, I've seen other car games with body destruction and decent enough car physics? You may have, but you haven't seen them like this. Sneak Peek 2.0 is the technology used to render the car damage effects and you need to see it in action. It’s right up there next to BeamNG technology. Not only are cars destructible to a large extent, the environments are too. Smashing into cinder-brick walls hard enough will almost shatter them, also little things like fences, boxes and much more are able to be broken.

 

The graphics are mainly what you'd expect for a racing game in this time period. At max settings the game is quite pretty, and environments also look really nice during outdoor racing through the dirt tracks. And there are a few game modes to select from such as a crash derby, to various outdoor races and they're all quite enjoyable.

 

The game isn't without its fair share of problems, but those are expected since it is in alpha. The game takes a huge hit in performance when cars collide, my frame rate halves when I crash into another car. Sometimes your car can literally be missing its front half and still drive, which is odd but still kind of cool.

 

Overall, if you're looking for impressive car damage and huge hits and crashes, you'll love this game. It's not finished though, not even close and I have no doubt that when it is finished, and there will be even more destructive fun to be had.