BeamNG.drive PS5 Review: Brilliant Destruction Held Back by Missing Features
I first became aware of BeamNG.Drive about a year ago when my son got into a YouTube channel called Hudson’s Playground Gaming – at least I think that’s what it’s called – on which the titular Hudson and his dad potter around in a sandbox, vehicular world, racing in randomised cars, setting up crazy courses, ramps and stories as the father overacts for the camera and his son gradually loses interest the longer the channel runs and the older he gets, unfortunately not an unusual sight on channels such as these. The game looked great, and the thought of such vehicular destruction tied to an enormous, mod-laden playground was definitely of appeal to me, although at the time the game was only available on PC (early Access release in 2015) and as such was out of reach for us more console-centric folk.
Fast-forward a year, and I was offered the opportunity to cover BeamNG.Drive for its PS5 release, naturally I jumped at the chance – although not as high as I used to, because I’m now in my forties – and whilst it will clearly be a game that’s installed on my PlayStation for a good while thanks to how much it clicked with my young son, were I a single man, I’d be hard-pressed to return to this after a few weeks of play. Despite the sheer amount of promise under the hood, the technical issues and lack of mod support – which is at the heart of enjoyment on the PC version - really stick a dagger in the tyres of the game.
The version of the game I reviewed was 0.40, and whilst there are split-screen modes available (for up to four players), there is currently no online mode, no cross-play, and no mod support – although BeamNG have stated that they hope to implement it in the future, there’s currently no development roadmap available. I don’t tend to open up reviews by listing what’s not available in a game, but I feel that these are the initial questions that possible purchasers of BeamNG.Drive would have.
In terms of what is available, considering that this is a game available at a budget price of under twenty quid, you can have a heck of a lot of fun in local multiplayer with various modes available such as Soccer, Rock Crawling (this is tough), Derby, Pursuit, Race, Drag Race, and Free Roam. Most are self-explanatory, and you can also kind of create your own games within BeamNG.Drive, such as selecting the ‘cliff’ location and hurling yourselves off, with the winner being the first burning carcass to reach the sea below (I’ve spent a good few hours doing this and thoroughly enjoying it), and it’s definitely in the local multiplayer stakes that the game truly shines, with the incredible soft body physics that the game is known for always being great fun to see in action. Some of the most satisfying crashes I’ve experienced in any game are the ones I’ve enjoyed over the last couple of weeks with BeamNG.Drive.
The single-player experience is…different. Whilst there’s a full career mode that has various challenges available, such as races, deliveries, time trials and even ‘cannon’, which sees you rolling around in an old pirate ship-style weapon and aiming for distant targets. This adds novelty value, but whenever I played in single player, as enjoyable as the huge selection of cars, trucks and vans were, I always felt like I was merely passing time until I could get someone else to join me for the split-screen modes, where the game was clearly much stronger. That said, the existence of a career mode and steering-wheel compatibility means there's plenty for solo players to sink their teeth into, and the sheer number of options and tweaking available will really tickle the fancy of those who like to get under the bonnet. On the other hand, the labyrinthine menus are pretty overwhelming, with the game sometimes chugging along as you make your way through them, seemingly shuddering under its own level of complexity in offering the player myriad ways to personalise their experience, and each vehicle on offer, especially tied to a standard controller, lacks the keyboard that PC users have.
Another point I wanted to mention was the frame rate. In single-player and in split-screen, things are pretty solid for the most part, but if you add a handful of vehicles or trailers to play around with, the frame rate really takes a massive hit due to the processing complexity of the vehicles used. A warning will pop up in the main in-game menu stating that performance is being affected (you would have already noticed this, believe me). Ideally, you should delete some vehicles from the world to get it back up to a playable level of smoothness.
All of the issues I’ve pointed out here are things that I can imagine will be smoothed out in the fullness of time, if BeamNG continue to support the console version of the game. It’s not that it’s a bad game; aside from the technical limitations, the foundations are a fun and quite unique experience, but knowing just how much more content PC gamers get with the mods and VR support (if that’s your thing) makes the console port a somewhat bitter pill to swallow, when you really want to just dive in and create your own bonkers stunt park and throw yourselves at it. I genuinely hope that the game continues to be supported and, in a year or two, revisit BeamNG.Drive and pronounce that it is a must-have title for fans of open-world racing. Until then – I’d recommend this for local multiplayer laughs, or for single players who enjoy tinkering.