FUEL

Another part of the game we're keen to learn more about is the recovery system. If you find you've wandered too far from race route, or indeed fallen off the edge of a cliff, holding down Y will reset you back on the track. We're told this isn't quite finished in the build we've been playing, so we're not sure how it will work out where to put you, or in what position. Too near the front and it could be used for sneaky cheating; too near the back and it might make catching up impossible. It will be interesting to see how this is balanced in the finished version.

There's another use for that Y-based reset. Vehicles come with a damage-o-meter, a small dial on screen that indicates how much you've broken it in your crazed offroading. This makes for a fascinating tactical aspect to how you approach a race. If your car's in good nick you might decide to take a sharp corner extraordinarily fast, knowing you can repel off a handy barrier.

However, if your dial's in the red, this could be the last crash you can take, and such boisterous shenanigans might break you to bits. When this happens you're instantly given back a working vehicle, but of course you've lost your position. Risk-taking becomes a big factor in how you approach each turn.

The atmosphere seems pretty impressive. This is a world destroyed by man and the weather has upped the ante in response. Lashing rain changes course conditions, creating mud. Snow of course makes everything far more precarious. And tornados. Well, they're quite blowy. Head to Dustbowl City and take on the Dark Dust race in your Enforcer muscle car and you'll find yourself racing through a tornado, visibility down from 40km to the bonnet of your car, in a car that really doesn't like it when you go offroad. It's safe to say the weather makes a difference.

This is all taking place across territory representing the most epic extremes of America such as the Utah salt plains, the Grand Canyon and the snowy mountains of Mt Rainier. It's big, and it feels really big. Choosing to drive from one camp to the other probably requires packing sandwiches. Fortunately there are (invisible) heliports at each camp, meaning you can instantly transport yourself to any you have unlocked.

It's not possible to draw conclusions on vehicle handling at this point as there's still work to be done, but in the preview things already seem impressive. There's a separate learning curve in place for each vehicle type, bikes requiring a completely different approach to offroad buggies or reinforced rally cars. The speeds you can reach are extraordinary, and there's a great sense of the ground beneath your wheels.

It will be fascinating to see how FUEL plays once it's online. In the few races we've had access to in the offline mode, it's shaping up nicely to be a breezy, arcade sandpit with an extraordinary amount to do.