I’ve been playing a bit of Hot Wheels Unleashed lately, and it’s a surprisingly good game. It’s the result of what happens when you hand a developer that’s proven it can make phenomenal racing games a toy car IP and let them roll with it. I honestly wasn’t expecting the level of quality that’s present in the game to be there, but lo and behold, this game is great. I’m as surprised as anyone, mainly because I didn’t enjoy playing with these toys when I was a kid, so I have no reason to like the game other than it being fun to play. I’m going to try to explain why I think it’s so good for you here.
The first thing that makes the game great is the outstanding arcade racing gameplay. Even on easy, there’s a level of challenge that’s worth coming back for. This isn’t a racing game that you’ve got to spend hours in to master. You can pick this up and instantly be good at it. There are a few opening races that help you get to grips with everything, but after those, you’re good to go. You can get through everything with relative ease, and there’s a lovely difficulty progression as you move through the game’s story that sees you building up confidence and skill as you go.
The second main reason to play this game is the plethora of content on offer. There are tonnes of cars to collect through Blind Boxes, which can only be purchased with in-game currency, and hundreds of events to work your way through. The world map is dauntingly big, but that’s exactly as it should be. There’s so much to sink your teeth into, and every event feels rewarding. You get resources to buy more cars through Blind Boxes or upgrade your current cards to be better in any event you tackle. There’s also a full multiplayer mode that I’ve not been able to dig into yet, as well as a custom track editor. That last part is so big that I don’t think I’ll ever touch it, but it looks insane.
