Titularly imaginative or not, Next Car Game has a great deal of ambition.
It's a racing game more about simulating the damage that can be caused at speed, than getting to the finish line safely – a game about going hell-bent at high velocity with nary a consideration for personal safety.
Nor does it care for the time, dollars and effort involved in repairing a race vehicle. It is reckless racing at its best – this is a virtual race world, after all.
Developer BugBear has a great pedigree in crafting these virtual race titles, having produced the critically acclaimed Flatout series among others. The Bugbear team is enthusiastic about the new coding engine that will drive Next Car Game, particularly its potential for spectacular collisions.
“Did you love the over-the-top, reckless racing action of the FlatOut series? Or the ferocious wrecking fests of the Destruction Derby games? We did too!” says the developer.
“What if you could somehow relive those glorious moments, mixed with some serious Street Rod inspired vehicle upgrading and spiced up with fierce online races where players can battle it out with their tricked out bangers?”
“Essentially we can now put a ton of flying metal and dirt in the air at any given time, and we certainly will!” offers the Bugbear team.
The cars in Next Car Game will not win any beauty awards. Whereas other games will let you stand back and admire the splendour of an automobile rendered in billions of pixels, and allow you to change paint and decals, Next Car Game is all about rusty, dirty beat-up vehicles that swap flair for fun.
Back in your garage you will be able to break down owned vehicles and rebuild them again in a configuration that suits your game style.
There is also plenty of ambition being injected into the variety of play styles, from rally to traditional racing to demolition derby type events.
The only problem it seems with Next Car Game is funding. The title is currently listed on the online PC store Steam as an “early access” title for those willing to jump in and help provide feedback on a game before it is released.
At the moment that is where it stands; the game has been in development for a couple of years now and went through a failed crowd funding exercise on Kickstarter last year.
At the time of writing there was no release date, however, the team is continually updating the forums for the game, adding discussion topics and new features on a regular basis.
Given the original target for a release on the PC platform was earlier this year, hopefully a full release of Next Car Game is just around the corner.