‘Hot Wheels Unleashed’ Review – PS5

There’s always some nostalgia we all hold to about our childhoods, good or bad. We all hold things like television shows, clothes, music, and other trinkets from this era near and dear to part of our being. For me, that is diecast cars. I’ve been a car nut and racing/motorsports fan for most of my life. So what do you get a nine-year-old kid? Hot Wheels. Not even a second guess. So when 24 year old heard that ‘Hot Wheels Unleashed’ was gonna be a thing, you bet I let out an audible ‘hell yeah’ in the office.

‘Hot Wheels Unleashed’ is an arcade racing/creator platform made by Milestone SRL. Now I want to preface that I was super hesitant. There have been several attempts before, my mind goes to ‘Hot Wheels World Race’ and how it was kinda less than stellar. Unleashed though begins fresh with a completely different style. It takes my childhood dream of ‘man, it would be cool to drive in my living room’ and lets me live out that fantasy. You’re thrust into the miniature driver’s seat of your favorite 1:64’s cars that made your life so much better. Racing in some of the most exotic places such as ‘The Basement’, ‘College Campus’, ‘Skyscraper’ and more. You’re able to rip the world up in some of the best childhood classics like ‘Bone Shaker’ (a personal favorite and cried when I saw it in the game), ‘Twin Mill’ as well as some of the real-life representatives like the ‘COPO Camaro’ and ‘Dodge RAM 1500’. This plus 62 others and the ability to earn the legendary versions allows for a huge depth of collectibles. Which if you’re a diehard Hot Wheels fan, will be par for the course.

Something that caught me off guard was the ‘Hot Wheels City Rumble’. The single-player mode/kinda story mode for the game. This wasn’t part of the preview *shameless plug for that here even though it doesn’t matter now*. This is an interesting mode as it is really what allows you to move forward into unlocking all your dream toy cars. Composed of races, both point to point and lapped events, as well as time trials and others it’s all a very fast-paced move that kinda seems to have a story. It’s a bit weird, but easy to overlook said strangeness and just enjoy and race. The worlds that you can race in are also breathtaking and super pretty to look at and take in. Even in the beta, the skyscraper is so amazing to see.

Now the biggest thing and something that I was super excited about and I think everyone was is the Track Builder. Similar to GTA Online and its track builder, Hot Wheels allows you to take those chaotic ideas you’ve had since childhood and make them a reality. Now I won’t lie, I have a college degree, but this was kinda hard at first to understand and grasp. I could build a track, but it took a few tries to be able to actually test it to run. Finally, after a few failures and moments of frustration, I was able to figure it out and create some cool stuff. I think this is gonna be a major piece to this game. I can’t wait to see what all others create, build, make us suffer online. It’s the best part in that it allows gamers to create and show it off.

Speaking of creating, customizing your Hot Wheels cars in-game was something that I was way too excited about. I love painting and designing cars (looks at the folder on the desktop with over 1000 items related to iRacing paints) and having this was epic for me. It really took me back to my childhood of modeling cars and trying my best to be a custom Hot Wheels maker. The detail is like my dream idea if I were to go to the Hot Wheels factory. It’s just a simple thing, but it makes me so happy and really allows that connection to the game for users.

So what about on track? Well, they handle about what you’d think cars with plastic wheels would handle like. Not ideal, but also not as bad as expected. This isn’t just a ‘mash the gas and win’ kinda game by any means. There is some skill that you need to drive a toy car. Figuring out how to drift and hang the back end in corners is a blast. The coolest part is that each one has its own different handling characteristics/handling. It’s a smaller, minute detail but adds to the level of coolness that is this game as a whole.

‘Hot Wheels Unleased’ is as close as you can get to a kid’s dream (or at least mine). There are some slightly clunky things like the track builder at first, but once you get past the learning curve you’re able to set sail and take the wheel. It handles like a dream.