Skip to main content GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love Search GamesRadar+ View Profile Xbox Series X Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch 2 Tabletop Gaming Toys & Collectibles Retro Gamer Newsletters Total Film Gaming Magazines Why subscribe? Subscribe from just £3 Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£9.99Subscribe now Battlefield 6 SDCC 2025 schedule Switch 2 Starter Pack Recommended reading Open World Games Wheel World review: "By merging Burnout Paradise and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with pedal power, Wheel World arrives somewhere unusual and worth visiting" Racing Games Fast Fusion review: "Futuristic racing from the same mold as Wipeout and F-Zero shines on Switch 2" Open World Games I've been hunting sandworms while doing hoverboard kickflips and keytar solos in this hypnotizing mashup of Breath of the Wild and Hi-Fi Rush Horror Games I got a nicotine rush and set zombies on fire in this PS1-style survival horror demo, and it's basically Resident Evil on a submarine Adventure Games 6 years too late, I bring lukewarm takes: Death Stranding rules, and we should all play more games outside of our comfort zone Racing Games I played Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds for an hour and its chaotic item-based destruction reminded me of how fun it is to be bad at a kart racer I'm going back to the five best post-apocalyptic games I ever played, thanks to Death Stranding 2 giving me a taste for the terrible Racing Games 'Legally distinct Mad Max' is a worthy successor to one of the most underrated open-world games of the last 10 years, and it's got near-perfect Steam reviews to boot 29 July 2025 Avalanche's Mad Max enjoyers, meet FUMES When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Fumes team) Avalanche's Mad Max might have gotten off to a slow start, but it eventually emerged as one of the most hidden open-world gems out there. The story of how it came to be a cult classic rather than a literal classic isn't one for this article, but it does include Mad Max film director George Miller and his good pal Hideo Kojima, and also helped pave the way for Fumes, which is following firmly in the tyre tracks of Avalanche's 2015 game. Fumes puts you in the driver's seat of a retro-looking rustbucket in the midst of a sprawling desert filled with enemy rustbucketeers looking to do you harm. It's a dusty, grimy, world in which every vehicular inhabitant feels like it's held together with duct tape and a dream, where the rattle of your roof-mounted autocannon feels like it's more likely to shake your own car apart than do meaningful damage to your opponents. It's an obvious homage to Mad Max, and that's before you even get to the defeated opponents shouting out things like "witness me" as their cars burst into flames. Even as you rumble through the opening cutscene, your license plate reads "not M4x," an amusing 'legally distinct' workaround that belies how effective a pastiche this really is. It's not exactly a like-for-like comparison to Avalanche's game - it's too deliberately arcade-y for that, even if several elements ring true - but it certainly understands the world that Miller and co helped bring to life. You may like Wheel World review: "By merging Burnout Paradise and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with pedal power, Wheel World arrives somewhere unusual and worth visiting" Fast Fusion review: "Futuristic racing from the same mold as Wipeout and F-Zero shines on Switch 2" I've been hunting sandworms while doing hoverboard kickflips and keytar solos in this hypnotizing mashup of Breath of the Wild and Hi-Fi Rush From a driving perspective, it's not exactly complex, the huge swathe of uninterrupted desert and the apparently infinite ammunition reserves you've got not exactly requiring delicate handling. Instead, you and your foes seem to bounce across the sand in a manner that's more reminiscent of dune buggies than Max's sleek Pursuit Special. But the bounce beneath your struggling suspension is a big part of Fumes' charm - driving is less a matter of skill and precision as it is of confidence and bravado. Fumes hit early access on Steam yesterday, where it's already racked up 96% positive reviews - enough to put it in the 'Overwhelmingly Positive' category if it can keep up its current trajectory. But if you're not convinced yet, you can still check out the demo, which places you immediately in the driver's seat and never really allows the action to let up. I'm pretty confident that if I hadn't had to stop and write this article, I'd still be playing it now, so if you, like me, picked up Mad Max ten years late and found yourself itching for more, Fumes seems like an excellent alternative. Furiosa director George Miller says 2015's Mad Max game "wasn't as good as we wanted it to be" - but he'd love Hideo Kojima to make a new one. Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. See more PC Gaming News Social Links Navigation Managing Editor, News I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Wheel World review: "By merging Burnout Paradise and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with pedal power, Wheel World arrives somewhere unusual and worth visiting" Fast Fusion review: "Futuristic racing from the same mold as Wipeout and F-Zero shines on Switch 2" I've been hunting sandworms while doing hoverboard kickflips and keytar solos in this hypnotizing mashup of Breath of the Wild and Hi-Fi Rush I got a nicotine rush and set zombies on fire in this PS1-style survival horror demo, and it's basically Resident Evil on a submarine 6 years too late, I bring lukewarm takes: Death Stranding rules, and we should all play more games outside of our comfort zone I played Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds for an hour and its chaotic item-based destruction reminded me of how fun it is to be bad at a kart racer Latest in Racing Games Ubisoft CEO addresses Stop Killing Games after overseeing the deaths of The Crew and XDefiant: "Support for all games cannot last forever" "I can't move my hands": After 92 hours, 264 attempts, and 12 days of grinding, Trackmania player beats 4-hour ice gauntlet after his opponent in the $3,800 race had finally gone to sleep Steam users obsessed with a pink horse girl sent so many kilograms of grass to the real horse she's based on that it broke the food donation website: "It's very crowded right now" Horse girl gacha gamers are so obsessed with pink racer Haru Urara that the farm that owns the real-life horse she's based on, who never won a single race, had to respond Nintendo has made my biggest problem with Mario Kart World even worse Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is getting Minecraft characters and Hatsune Miku to make sure people are "not just playing it when it comes out, having fun, and that being it" Latest in News James Cameron has no plans to step away from directing Avatar 4 and 5, but he's not ruling it out: "I might not be able to do that" "Thinks he's playing Assassin's Creed": Elden Ring Nightreign's absurd parkour tech sees one player scale a fort in seconds, so I guess it's time to update my routing cheat sheet After 33 years, Nintendo finally brings back the Super NES mouse game that's perfect for Switch 2, and even lets you plug a USB mouse into a Switch 1 to play it In an hour, Grounded 2 has already beaten the original survival game's all-time Steam player peak by 50% The Boys and Gen V star joins the second season of hit Netflix sci-fi show about an incoming alien invasion from Game of Thrones creators Battlefield 6 leaks are so widespread that scammers are now apparently sending Steam phishing links disguised as playtest invites GAME REVIEWS MOVIE REVIEWS Grounded 2 review: "I'm already having terrific fun thanks to ant buggies and a massive new park to explore, even if this sequel is slightly safe" Tales of the Shire review: "As a long-time Tolkien fan, I'm both pleasantly surprised and slightly frustrated at what should've been my dream Lord of the Rings game" Wheel World review: "By merging Burnout Paradise and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with pedal power, Wheel World arrives somewhere unusual and worth visiting" Wuchang: Fallen Feathers review: "Flashy combos are impressive, but boss battle frustrations get in the way of me actually using them" Donkey Kong Bananza review: "Destruction isn't just a flashy gimmick for the Minecraft generation, it's one of the best inventions Nintendo has had in years" The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range" Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU" Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber" M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion" 28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy” Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever" Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era" Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date" Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling" Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision GamesRadar+ is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Contact Future's experts Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cookies policy Advertise with us Review guidelines Write for us Accessibility Statement Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Please login or signup to comment Please wait...