Developed and published by BeamNG, BeamNG.drive is a driving simulator that has spent years building a reputation for its remarkably detailed vehicle physics and spectacular crashes. Now available on PlayStation 5, the long-running PC experience brings its automotive playground to a new audience, offering everything from leisurely drives through scenic environments to elaborate experiments involving ramps, heavy vehicles and spectacularly destructive collisions. However, this is not quite the same experience as a conventional racing game, nor is it a straightforward conversion of everything that has made the PC version so popular. The underlying simulation remains impressive, but the console adaptation has some significant compromises that occasionally get in the way of its considerable potential.
At its heart, BeamNG.drive is about exploring what happens when vehicles interact with the world around them. There is no single narrative to follow, and the experience is largely defined by the player’s curiosity. Free Roam allows players to explore expansive environments, experiment with different vehicles and manipulate conditions to create their own challenges. Those looking for more structure can turn to Career mode, time trials, rally events, police pursuits, delivery jobs and a variety of other activities. The range is impressive, with everything from precision parking and drifting to rock crawling and heavy-vehicle driving demonstrating the versatility of the simulation. The difficulty is that this abundance of possibilities does not always translate into a coherent progression system. Outside Career mode, many activities feel more like individual experiments than parts of a carefully organised campaign, leaving players to create much of their own entertainment. That freedom can be liberating, but newcomers expecting the clear objectives and steady rewards of a traditional racing game may struggle to find their footing.
The real star is undoubtedly the soft-body physics engine, which simulates the deformation and behavior of vehicles in remarkable detail. A collision is not simply an animation followed by a dented bonnet: suspension components can break, wheels can buckle or detach, bodywork folds in on itself, and engine damage can leave a vehicle completely immobilised. Even relatively minor impacts can affect how a car handles, making the consequences of a mistake feel tangible. Just as impressive is the way different vehicles behave on the road. Their weight, suspension and handling characteristics make switching between a compact car, a sports vehicle and a heavy truck a meaningful change in driving experience. Braking too late, taking a corner too aggressively or losing traction on an uneven surface can have immediate consequences, while the dynamic rewind feature makes it easy to revisit an experiment without repeatedly navigating loading screens. This combination of convincing vehicle behavior and detailed destruction gives BeamNG.drive an identity that few other console driving games can match. Watching a high-speed collision unfold in slow motion can be as entertaining as driving itself, and the physics also lend credibility to more conventional activities such as rallying and racing.
There is more to the gameplay than simply smashing cars together, although that remains one of its most immediately entertaining attractions. Career mode introduces a financial dimension in which vehicles need to be purchased, jobs completed and repairs paid for. Damage that can be dismissed with a quick reset in Free Roam becomes a more serious consideration when fixing a vehicle costs money and repeated failures can affect its long-term usefulness. This gives certain challenges a welcome sense of consequence, encouraging more careful driving rather than reckless acceleration at every opportunity. Rally events, in particular, benefit from the combination of realistic handling and the need to finish a stage without destroying the vehicle. At the same time, the balance between realism and entertainment can be uneven. Some activities lack the polish or structure needed to make their objectives consistently compelling, while computer-controlled traffic can behave unpredictably in ways that feel unfair when an accident carries lasting consequences. The Career mode also creates an awkward contrast with the game’s more playful side: a simulator that encourages players to experiment with spectacular crashes can be surprisingly unforgiving when those experiments become expensive mistakes.
Unfortunately, the PlayStation 5 version struggles with the complexity of translating such an elaborate simulation to a controller. Driving itself can feel convincing and satisfying once players adjust to each vehicle, but the sheer number of available functions creates a cumbersome control scheme. Lights, indicators, gear selection, camera adjustments, vehicle-specific systems and environmental modifiers all need to fit into the DualSense’s limited buttons. The resulting combinations can be unintuitive, and navigating the menus to access less frequently used features interrupts the flow of experimentation. Although the introductory tutorial helps explain the basics, it cannot fully prepare newcomers for the depth of the underlying systems. The interface compounds the problem with nested menus, small text and options that can be difficult to locate. Setting up a particular scenario or adjusting environmental conditions can become a task in itself, undermining the immediacy that makes the simulation so entertaining when everything works smoothly. Experienced players can improve the situation by customising their controls, but the need to do so highlights how much more naturally the PC version’s keyboard-and-mouse setup accommodates the game’s complexity.
There are also important differences between the console edition and its PC counterpart. The PlayStation 5 release offers a substantial amount of built-in content, but it lacks the extensive modding ecosystem and World Editor that have helped sustain the original game’s community. Players therefore have fewer opportunities to introduce additional vehicles, environments and scenarios or build the elaborate experiments that have made the PC version a popular source of creative driving videos. The absence of those tools is particularly noticeable because experimentation is such a central part of the experience. The console version still provides plenty of ways to create amusing or challenging situations, but its boundaries become clearer when compared with the near-endless possibilities associated with the PC edition. Split-screen multiplayer is a welcome counterpoint, allowing up to four players to share the chaos locally. Competitive collisions, pursuits and other shared activities can turn the simulation into a wonderfully unpredictable party game, while simply exploring an environment together provides a more relaxed alternative. It is an excellent addition, although it does not entirely compensate for the missing community features.
Visually, BeamNG.drive is a mixed bag. The vehicles themselves are convincing, and the deformation system gives crashes a level of physical detail that is difficult to replicate with more conventional damage models. Watching suspension compress over uneven terrain, tires lose grip or a vehicle’s bodywork buckle during an impact is often more impressive than the surrounding presentation. The environments also offer considerable variety, ranging from American highways and desert roads to Italian coastal landscapes and off-road courses. Lighting changes and atmospheric effects help establish a convincing sense of place, and the interaction between vehicles and terrain reinforces the impression that the simulation is doing considerably more than simply playing back predefined animations. Nevertheless, the overall presentation does not consistently reach the polish of major racing productions. Some scenery feels assembled from repetitive assets, and the graphics can look uneven when compared with more visually focused driving games. On PS5, compressed and pixelated mirrors, texture pop-in and occasional frame-rate drops are further blemishes, particularly when several vehicles are involved in a complicated collision. Performance can deteriorate substantially in demanding scenarios with numerous vehicles or environmental effects, making the experience less consistent precisely when the simulation is being pushed to its limits.
Audio is similarly functional rather than exceptional. Engine sounds do much of the work, providing an audible sense of the different vehicles and reinforcing the mechanical character of the simulation. The noises of revving engines, impacts and damaged machinery complement the physical spectacle, although the overall sound presentation lacks the broader musical and cinematic flair associated with more polished racing games. Music is largely confined to the menus, leaving the driving itself dominated by mechanical sounds and the surrounding environment. That restraint is not necessarily inappropriate for a simulator, but it means the audio rarely adds as much personality as the physics do. The result is a game whose strongest sensory moments come from watching and feeling the consequences of a collision rather than from a particularly memorable soundtrack or elaborate sound design.
Ultimately, BeamNG.drive on PlayStation 5 is an impressive technical achievement that has not entirely overcome the challenges of its transition to consoles. Its vehicle physics remain the main attraction, delivering a combination of realistic handling, detailed mechanical damage and player-driven experimentation that is difficult to find elsewhere. The range of vehicles and activities provides plenty of content, and local split-screen multiplayer makes the experience especially appealing for players who enjoy sharing unpredictable moments with friends or family. However, the cumbersome interface, awkward button combinations, performance limitations and absence of PC modding support prevent the console edition from realising the full potential of the original. Those willing to learn its systems and create their own entertainment can find a remarkably rewarding driving sandbox here. Players seeking a streamlined racing game with intuitive controls, polished presentation and clearly defined progression may find the experience frustrating instead. BeamNG.drive is at its best when it lets players experiment freely with its extraordinary simulation; on PS5, getting to that freedom can sometimes be almost as challenging as the driving itself.
Score: 7.5/10