2025 was full of interesting racing titles, such as Mario Kart World and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that brought a level of excitement to the genre. While the new year promises more news regarding some other cool titles, like Star Wars: Galactic Racer, that will no doubt bring even more high-speed thrills to the hands of many players. That being said, one game already promises exciting vehicular mayhem, and is available for players to wishlist ahead of its release.
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While traditional racing titles like Gran Turismo and Forza offer grounded competitions between real-world cars, some fans would argue that those titles are limited in their realism. Some popular racing games blend other genres into them, adding fantastical elements that you would never find on a race track normally. From bombastic violence in Twisted Metal to over-the-top nitro upgrades for vehicles in Need for Speed, these changes facilitate plenty of memorable fun.
Carmageddon: Rogue Shift Creates A Roguelike Racing Title With Exciting Progression
One upcoming Steam racing game is Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, which combines high-speed vehicular speed with the mechanics of a roguelike similar to Dead Cells or Hades 2. The game takes place in 2050, where the world has become post-apocalyptic while zombie-like creatures called Wasted attempt to destroy humanity at every turn. With everything in chaos, only the Carmageddon race offers some form of salvation, with its winner earning power, prestige, and prizes to escape the dying planet.
At the start of this game, you are a humble racer with next to nothing to your name. A simple car, some scavenged fuel, and a basic weapon is all you have to fend off Wasted and rival racers. However, as you crash again and again, you’ll learn from your mistakes and grow stronger. For every enemy gang defeated or destroyed zombie horde, you’ll gain new parts to upgrade your car, tricking it out to become a true contender in Carmageddon.
Carmageddon: Rogue Shift is a re-imagining of a classic game of the same name, refining and redesigning visceral vehicle combat racing in new ways. Dynamic day/night cycles build a brutal atmosphere, where 15 different car types can be chosen and upgraded throughout the course of your journey. Visual damage on every vehicle makes the car-on-car combat of this game heavy as you smash, boost, and inevitably crash your way toward a finish line.
Every Crash Makes You And Your Ride Stronger
According to Carmageddon: Rogue Shift‘s official Steam page, the main campaign of the game is where its roguelike systems shine. Each campaign you embark on has a unique path for you, where a graph randomly generates the road forward. Multiple events will earn you in-game Credits, which are multiplied based on maneuvers you do during races. By planning your routes on the graph, you can plan to reach Shops at various intersections, spending your hard-earned Credits on new upgrades.
Much like other inspired roguelikes, this game’s repetition culminates in growing difficulty between events, building toward boss fights against other racing foes. Even if you lose, another driver will step up to the mantle, setting out once again from scratch to race anew. In typical roguelike fashion, you’ll be given Beatcoins at the end of runs to unlock permanent bonuses and new content, to be spent in a Black Market hub to make your next outing slightly easier.
Endless replayability means endless customization as you keep returning to the Black Market before setting out on Carmageddon again. New runs will help you gather more information, such as intel on the corrupt police, marauders, and rivals who challenge you out on the road. This is especially important as you encounter more Wasted, who can slow you down for certain death or mutate to pose even greater obstacles for your vehicle.
Apocalyptic Maps & Endless Customization Might Create A Sleeper Hit For Racing Fans
The customization features for Carmageddon: Rogue Shift are quite impressive, with over 80 Perks available for players to mix and match new abilities for their vehicle. At least 13 different weapon classes also add to the destructive powers of your car, allowing for a ton of unique synergies to craft the most potent racing machine for the dangers ahead. When combined with all the roguelike bonuses from the Black Market, your races can get even crazier.
All of these mechanics make this Steam title one to look forward to going into 2026. Like other well reviewed racing games, Carmageddon: Rogue Shift‘s success will come from its core gameplay, which shows fun potential. This game seems to embrace the large-scale chaos of other genre-breaking racing titles, making it perfect for fans who want to spread destruction at every step of their fast-paced vehicle competitions.
Unfortunately, there is no planned release date for this title yet, so it may not launch for a considerable amount of time. Announced originally in December 2025 with an “Early 2026” window, there may still be hope for players to get their hands on Carmageddon: Rogue Shift soon this year, providing a great racing experience with addictive roguelike selling points.
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