Trail Out Wild Roads and V2.0 updates explained

Yet more carnage for the smash-’em-up racer in the Trail Out Wilds Roads and V2.0 updates, plus news of online multiplayer and a console version.

Hopefully many of you watched my Trail Out review from September 2022 as I loved the game then and I love it even more now given its low price and the sheer number of updates developer Good Boys has released since.

The latest update of which is called Trail Out Wild Roads, which is free and takes the game to the island of Madagascar. Here you have to smash your way through beaches, jungles, remote villages and even safari animals while avoiding forest fires – take note, SnowRunner.

There are also new vehicles to enjoy, adding to an already impressive roster that includes the ridiculous and awesome Batmobile wannabe. Yes, you can enjoy a buggy, the dubiously named ‘Off Rover’, Badger and even a bus.

Meanwhile, those who hunt around the new map can find secret character looks for Woods, Uber and main character Mihalych. Or you can just avoid those SnowRunner wannabe logging trucks on existing maps.

Please note: This is the script from my YouTube video, click play above to watch or go here.

Trail Out V2.0

Not only did we get the Trail Out Wild Roads update, developer Good Boys also released V2.0 of the base game. In doing so, many changes have been made that aim to make the handling better, improve presentation and add variety.

These changes include redesigned driving, suspension, box and engine physics, with cars having weight and inertia so you can enter corners by drifting. Though I have not noticed a huge difference, you can spend most of the time going sideways and that is always awesome.

The wheels have also been reworked, meaning tyres behave differently depending on the surface. As such, it can be tactical to stick to dirt routes if you have rally tyres fitted or tarmac if you use something less knobbly.

Then there are new suspension types and improved AI opponents who are said to drive better, will chase you and are generally more challenging. They will even honk back if you use yours, you road rage fan.

Hunter Mode has been revamped too, allowing you to play as a police car that can utilise nifty gadgets such as an EMP weapon that fires a nasty electrical zap, landmines that go boom and spikey stingers. Yes, the long arm of the law is now longer.

As for those smash and crash derbies, the developer has somehow made them ‘friendlier’ and opponents take damage in a more balanced way. Speaking of which, a small action camera inside the vehicle shows what is going on with the driver.

Think that is all? Hell, no. That impressive car and driver damage system is now even better to the point that clothes can be torn (revealing digital butts) and things fall apart with even more brutal levels of detail.

Night and day cycles on some maps are a thing too. Plus you can now have more cars in your garage, there is more tuning data to look at, water has physical resistance, headlights can be controlled and some cars can even utilise pop-up headlights.

One negative of Trail Out V2.0, assuming you had a decent leaderboard score, is that all scores have been reset because of all the handling changes. Potentially a nice incentive to repeat former glories.

Trail Out on console?

Another is that due to developing Trail Out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, development of online multiplayer is currently on pause for, and I quote, “an indefinite time frame”. Sad times, indeed, but for a small studio with more limited manpower it makes sense.

Saddest of all, however, is that this is the last major free Trail Out update. From here on, you will have to open your wallet – unlike how it is with No Man’s Sky. To be fair, the base game is great value and one of the most fun racers I have played in a long time.

With that said, there are some performance issues on the new maps, my Xbox controller loses control in the menus, some cars have a weird shadow and the new handling can result in some interesting interpretations of the laws of physics.

When the time comes, the next and first paid Trail Out DLC is said to add new cars. No word on a price or release date just yet. Hopefully that sense of value for money will remain intact.