For all the racing games I’ve reviewed at Gaming Cypher, there hasn’t been one quite like “Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged.” At first glance, I figured this to be an undercooked game geared towards kids who just recognize the IP. Developed by the Italian studio over at Milestone, the same company that released “Ride 5” earlier this year (check out my review of that HERE), this one completely had me in shock with my mouth hitting the floor in awe with how absolutely stunning the visuals are. With “Ride 5” it’s expected to have very lifelike visuals as that’s a motorbike simulator game, but here, they took the fantastical elements of Hot Wheels and really opened my eyes of how unique and original this franchise can be in the right hands. Taking photorealism to new heights at times, even if that photorealism is of a tiny Hot Wheel toy.
What stands out immediately are how insane the race tracks are. Given its Hot Wheels and overexaggerated tracks should be a given, but the game still treats these cars as still being little toys on little orange tracks. The result being a very awesome “Honey, I Shrunk The Kids” like experience where you see every day’s areas as gigantic landscapes. A person’s living room can be the home of a very inventive track, or even a backyard maneuvering around beach chairs and giant sports balls. While this isn’t Milestone’s first game in the franchise, the first being back in 2021, it’s the first I’ve given it the time of day, and I’m happy I did. This arcade racer plays very easy and smooth, making it one of the most accessible racing style games I’ve played in a very long time. Since this isn’t some kind of racing sim, we are given fun controls such as a lateral dash and even a double jump, I’d categorize this game with the likes of Rocket League with how it feels to control the cars.
There are six classes of cars (Rocket, Balanced, Drifter, Heavy-Duty, Off-Road, and Swift), all of which feel very different from the other and can tackle the obstacles on the tracks in different ways. I personally had fun going all in on the crazy and mostly used Rocket vehicles. The more you play a car the more you unlock stats in its own little upgrade tree. I was never the best at drifting my car in these sorts of games, so any upgrades that helped me in that department was always welcome. Sometimes choosing a car from the drift class would be a better strategic choice depending on the track you’re about to race in. Car combat is also a bit of a thing here too, as you are encouraged to ram opponents out of your way (hence the lateral dash move) and this is where the heavy-duty vehicles tend to excel at, so it’s cool that the game gives you a sense of needing to plan before starting the race.
The story mode is by far the biggest downfall this awesome title has, while actual story surely isn’t what is important here, but after completing it fully you are rewarded with not much except with more events to do. I personally thought being able to unlock different Hot Wheels here would be rather plentiful, but in fact it’s unfortunately the opposite. Rather than unlocking cars with progression you are met with a shop that has a lineup of cars you can purchase with earned currency. Rather than waiting a day or two for the shop to refresh with new cars, this shop actually refreshes every forty-five minutes or so. The track builder is also something I want to highlight quickly, as this feature has me really excited to see what other games come up with in building their own courses. I spent a brief time attempting to make my own, but I guess I wasn’t very good or had the imagination enough to come up with something very compelling. “Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged” makes for an awesome and addictive racing game that is suitable for all ages, while it’s not a perfect game, I’m excited to see it continue to evolve.
8/10
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Related: Nick Navarro Reviews
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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