Wreck Runners drops players into a supernatural take on the Bermuda Triangle, where crews employed by the mysterious Trustwell Corporation venture into the ever-shifting Fog in search of valuable salvage. Rather than focusing on an elaborate narrative, the game uses its premise as a backdrop for a cooperative extraction experience built around teamwork, physics and emergent moments. It’s a straightforward setup that works well enough to establish the world, with environmental details hinting that Trustwell’s operations may not be as innocent as they first appear, even if the story rarely develops beyond that initial intrigue.
The real attraction is the gameplay loop, which immediately distinguishes itself from many other extraction titles. Instead of simply collecting items with the press of a button, nearly everything in Wreck Runners is governed by its physics system. Heavy cargo has to be dragged, lifted and carefully secured with the Scrapjack before it can be transported back to the ORCA, a versatile vehicle that acts as your team’s mobile headquarters across land, sea and air. The constant need to coordinate tasks gives every player a meaningful role, whether piloting the ORCA, scouting ahead, defending against creatures or hauling valuable cargo. Those systems regularly create the kind of unscripted disasters and last-second recoveries that make cooperative games memorable, especially when a carefully planned extraction suddenly falls apart because someone drops a priceless statue or flips the ORCA into the ocean.
That emphasis on cooperation is also where Wreck Runners shows its biggest weakness. While solo play is technically supported, it’s clear the experience was designed around a full crew. Larger pieces of salvage quickly become difficult to move alone, enemy pressure escalates sharply during later expeditions and increasing extraction quotas can turn lengthy forty-minute runs into frustrating failures. The progression system encourages repeated attempts through equipment upgrades and cosmetics, but several upgrades feel underexplained or lack meaningful impact, especially since failed runs can wipe away much of the momentum you’ve built. Randomized enemy encounters and changing loot locations help keep runs from becoming completely predictable, yet the overall mission structure remains fairly repetitive over time and could benefit from greater objective variety.
On PlayStation 5, the controls generally succeed in making the many different activities manageable, although there is a noticeable learning curve. Operating the Scrapjack, carrying awkward cargo and switching between the ORCA’s various driving modes all feel responsive once you’re familiar with them, but the game offers little guidance beyond the basics. As a result, newcomers are largely left to discover efficient techniques through trial and error. The ORCA itself is an impressive centrepiece mechanically, yet steering such a large vehicle can occasionally feel unwieldy, particularly when navigating tighter spaces or trying to avoid environmental hazards while under attack. Combined with the sometimes unpredictable physics, this can produce equal measures of comedy and frustration.
Visually, Wreck Runners punches above what we’d normally expect from a budget-priced release. The haunted islands, abandoned facilities and dense fog create a distinctive atmosphere that gives the Bermuda Triangle setting its own identity, while the physics-driven interactions add plenty of spectacle as cargo, debris and enemies bounce around the environment. Performance is generally solid on PS5, and the varied loot models receive far more attention than their disposable role might suggest. Audio complements the presentation nicely, relying on environmental sounds, creature effects and directional audio to build tension throughout each expedition. The soundtrack itself stays relatively understated, but the overall soundscape does an excellent job of reinforcing the eerie mood without constantly demanding attention.
Like many multiplayer-focused games, Wreck Runners ultimately lives or dies by the people you play it with. Gather a coordinated group of friends and it delivers a steady stream of hilarious mishaps, frantic recoveries and satisfying extractions that justify its physics-heavy design. Go in alone, however, and many of those strengths become obstacles instead, exposing rough balancing, a lack of polish and progression systems that still feel like they’re finding their footing. There is clearly room for expansion through additional content, better tutorials and further balancing, but the foundations are undeniably strong. For players looking for another cooperative obsession on PlayStation 5, Wreck Runners is an entertaining extraction game with plenty of personality, provided you’re bringing a crew willing to embrace both its chaos and its rough edges.
Score: 7.2/10