by Hudson Ebach
BeamNG.Drive is the best driving game I have ever played in my 7 years of playing games. It is my go-to car game for many different reasons that I will talk about here.
I first found out about BeamNG.Drive when I was just 4 years old and came across a YouTuber playing the game. He was smashing cars and doing police chases with the AI. At that moment, watching him playing it, I felt a spark. Like a voice telling me, “Yeah, you need this game.” Fast forward to a couple of years later and I had it to enjoy myself!
The game was originally a website that you would visit and could drive a truck in a Gridmap (that is simply the name of the map). The developers posted their first video on YouTube showing their website. It was HUGE. Everyone was so impressed by the realistic Soft Body and driving physics of a website. Eventually, BeamNG.Drive started to make some big changes, including adding cars, maps and more. This was exciting for the community of players. Next, it became a downloadable game you could purchase.
The game play for BeamNG.Drive is unique to other car games that I have played and is one of many reasons why it is my favorite. The first time playing the game it might seem like a standard sandbox style car game. You spawn into a world, and you see a simple truck. Well, the truck itself is more complicated than you would think. Inside the truck is a bunch of J Beam Nodes (Nodes are masspoints and the core of the BeamNG physics, according to their website) that make the truck act like a standard truck would. The truck has a normal interior: seat, steering wheel, pedals, etc. The only thing missing is a driver which makes smashing into the side of a building safer and more fun. Also, it is not just one truck you can drive; what makes BeamNG.drive so enjoyable is a wide selection of cars, trucks, trailers and many variations of these vehicles.
Along with the vehicle options, maps are another part of BeamNG.drive that makes it special. West Coast USA is a city map based on California cities and highways, just to give one example. Their map files are smaller, so it runs smoothly while playing.
The AI is a standout feature of the game that helps make it feel immersive. You can feel as if you are actually chasing a Gravil-H series (one of many car options) with a Police Package Gravil Grand Marshal. The AI continues to enhance the game experience, if you are getting bored driving by yourself. There are multiple ways to use AI and bust that boredom!
As if that is not enough, there are mods. The mods are a big part of the BeamNG.Drive community. Mods can include cars, maps, accessories, and much more. It keeps the game exciting with new features.
BeamNG.drive is the perfect way to experience a car game with good crash physics which is unlike other racing games. The work that the developers put into making this game, along with mods from the community of players, is so impressive and fun. I highly recommend BeamNG.Drive to anyone interested in car games or gaming in general.
The Lighthouse 