Besides the regular career races, which are restricted to a specific vehicle class like ATV, buggy or motorbike, challenges are another event type in the game. These include for example chasing a helicopter through the terrain or trying to touch other vehicles within a given time limit. Players can also explore freely in each of the zones to discover new locations, including vista points and doppler trucks that show the locations of all items. The terrain is dense and the appropriate vehicle needs to be selected to navigate it.
The gameplay is arcade-like, with an emphasis on speed and exploration. Even though the terrain affects performance, vehicles cannot be damaged and there is an option to respawn when crashing into objects. Players can break away from regular tracks to find shortcuts and use jumps to cross large distances. A general HUD shows race statistics and marks the course, along with a mini-map. Fuel also features online multiplayer against up to 16 players.