The Simpsons Hit and Run fan remake is being upgraded to an open-world, multiplayer game

The fan-made Simpsons Hit and Run game from last year is back and is getting an upgrade as the developer adds a series of new features. 

Starting out as a week-long development challenge by YouTuber reubs, the original video showed off the playable demo’s raytracing and first-person gameplay. Now, almost a full year later, reubs is back and has announced that they’re making their Simpsons Hit and Run remake even bigger and better than before. 

This time around, reubs is planning to take their time on the project and wants to add a few new features to the fan-made game. First off, the plan is to make Springfield open-world with the help of Unreal Engine 5. After this, reubs wants to further develop the in-game vehicles so they run better, but as pointed out by the developer, this is one of the hardest parts of the game to perfect. 

After this, the plan is to implement some kind of online multiplayer aspect so players can complete missions and explore the world together. Finally, reubs wants to add new and exciting quests, dialogue, and cutscenes. To do this, the developer has said they’re going to use their own tool that they’ve been working on for the past three years. 

Unfortunately, as exciting as this sounds, you shouldn’t get your hopes up about playing the remake any time soon. As mentioned at the start of reubs video: "This is a fan remake for entertainment purposes, this game will never be available to download." 

Regardless of this, the remake has received a lot of praise online, perhaps most surprisingly from one of the lead designer on the actual The Simpsons Hit and Run game, Joe McGuinn, who called the game "a taste of what a full modern remaster could be."

Speaking of the original developers, just last year The Simpsons producer Matt Selman has said that he "would love" to see a Hit and Run remaster but that it's "complicated" to make it happen. 

Is this remake nostalgic enough for you? If not, take a look at our best PS2 games of all time list.