Hot Wheels Unleashed PS5 Review
| Game: | Hot Wheels Unleashed |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Milestone |
| Developer: |
The Hot Wheels brand is one with enduring popularity, so it’s with little surprise that there has been a number of games based on it over the years. The latest game comes from Italian racing specialist developer Milestone, and it offers plenty of toy-based thrills, which is fun enough for both fans of Hot Wheels as well as those who have no interest whatsoever in the 53-year-old brand.
Hot Wheels Unleashed is an arcade-style racer that has the looks, the speed as well as intuitive gameplay. Don’t get me wrong though, there’s a decent level of depth here in terms of getting to grips with the handling, so it’s not a game of the genre that plays itself by any means. Like many games of its type, you are able to drift around corners, and here it is immensely satisfying if you manage a clean sweep around a curvy bend. There’s also a boost mechanic, which is always helpful to catch up to the pack or to speed ahead, and it’s also important to get around some of the loops.
Vehicle physics are fun, although experimentation is necessary, with some results unexpectedly sending your vehicle flying off the track. This is often caused by boosting at the wrong time, so it does mean that there’s an element of trial and error each time that you race on a new track. Turning upside down and landing the correct way on my vehicle’s wheels was always a bit of a bugbear for me when playing also. As for collisions, the physics do enough to make it feel as if they are toy vehicles bashing into one another.
The AI is decent enough in the game, and they show enough character by being prone to mistakes from time to time. The game does have a certain level of catch-up, which does well in making sure that races are close enough and, like always, it helps add to the excitement of an action-packed race. If you don’t like catch-up, however, this game isn’t going to change your mind.
Hot Wheels Unleashed features 40 tracks across five different environments. There’s a good variety of different courses, with some offering quite a bit of challenge with their twisty layouts as well as their gigantic jumps and loops. There’s also other obstacles to contend with, including a giant spider who attempts to hinder you by trapping you in his webs. It’s also nice that, while the game forgoes the top-down view in which the Micro Machines games make you feel small, some environments have big real-world objects in them, making you very much appear shrunken down. A few more race environments wouldn’t have gone amiss, however.
The earlier mentioned Hot Wheels City Rumble mode is a fairly sizeable mode, which has you racing through race and time attack events. You’ll also come across boss races, which might sound like a one-on-one race with a tricky opponent, although the opponent here is the track itself. These boss races are all about perilous and lengthy tracks, and there’s five of them for you to tackle in total. City Rumble is also where you’ll unlock tracks, earn in-game currency, and you’ll also unlock pieces for the track creation tool as well as the livery designer.
Yes, the game also has an impressive track creation tool included, which means that you can get your creative juices flowing as you put together your own creations. The tool is easy enough to use, although there’s enough depth to experiment with as well. It’s also possible to play tracks created by others online, and Milestone even used the tool to put together all their own tracks. The livery designer is also a fantastic tool, and if you don’t want to design your own, you can always use the liveries of others.
As for vehicles, Hot Wheels Unleashed has just short of 70 of these included in the game, many of which need to be unlocked, and all of which have their own stats. A handful of vehicles are offered every four hours in which you can purchase with in-game currency, although you can also purchase or come across blind boxes. These blind boxes feature a random vehicle inside, which means that there’s a possibility that you could end up with a vehicle that you already have. Not to worry though, as these vehicles can then be exchanged for in-game currency or gears, with the latter being used to upgrade your vehicles. The blind boxes cannot be purchased with real cash, so there’s certainly no controversy here, at least for now. All in all, it’s definitely fun to see what comes out of each box.
Hot Wheels Unleashed can also be played in two-player split screen or online. The split screen works perfectly well, and remains at a smooth 60fps, and it’s nice to know that the feature isn’t being ignored by games such as this one. 12-player online racing also works really well, and both multiplayer options can feel very competitive.
It all looks very, very pretty as well. Vehicles look like the toys that they are supposed to be, lighting is impressively good, and the 60fps action never seems to slow down. The shiny and reflective tracks also look absolutely glorious.
Hot Wheels Unleashed is quite the impressive package then, and it really does nail the fundamentals of what makes an arcade-style racing game so fun. It’s fast, action-packed, easy to play but with enough depth, and it’s also visually stunning. The track designer and the multiplayer options give the game legs, adding to the fun. All in all, Hot Wheels Unleashed is a racer that has been made with plenty of care and attention, and while there’s a certain level of trial and error involved in relation to its physics and environments could have been in greater number, this is still a racing game that I would highly recommend.
