Review: Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 Turbocharged

I’m sitting in the driver’s seat of a big, yet small monster truck. Around me is a Koenigsegg, a toaster on wheels, something that looks like a dinosaur, and an old Ford. The beginning goes. I set the gas timing correctly and get full boost. The poor cars that come my way fly away like bouncy balls, while I accelerate through a loop to complete a long jump several meters over the living room table.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 is a fast, furious, and really fun game. But haven’t I played this before?

Reboot or fresh start?

At first, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 may seem like a carbon copy of the first game. There are toy cars in very different forms, with everything from real car models and pop culture celebrities battling it out with laser-armored cars and rocket engines. Add to that imaginative courses in miniature, full of loops, speed boards and obstacles.

Together, they create fast, fun and often challenging races, which require complete concentration so the competition doesn’t end with a car upside down in a dusty corner. Just like the predecessor.

That’s not to say it’s an outright negative as the concept is still strong, thanks in large part to the unique tracks. Courses where orange plastic roads, giant jumps and imaginative obstacles, mixed with ordinary environments decorated with appropriate details such as wooden boards, chairs and arcade machines, bring to mind the classic Micro Machines games of old.

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A small car in a big, big world

In Hot Wheels Unleashed 2, the full-sized environments are also put to better use than the first; Like the Micro Machines series, it’s more integrated into the racing this time. You gasp at the orange rings and gutters in all their glory, but there’s something special about dodging beer cans and driving a slalom between the legs of a chair.

The environments in which the courses are held are relatively large and filled with furniture, decor, and other details that are woven into the races in various ways. At the museum, the track revolves around a huge dinosaur, while the escalators, ventilation and arcade machines in the arcade hall become perfect racing tracks. In addition, there is a house with a living room, kitchen, garage, backyard, a Western-inspired mini golf course, an American restaurant and its own parking lot. The ability to compile your own tracks using a simple tool also makes it clear how precise the studied environments are.

But even though the environments are larger, more detailed, and better used in this sequel, I do miss the rooms from the previous game. Or rather, I lack diversity. Because as crazy as courses are, they become unnecessarily poor in variety when there are only five areas where everything is done.

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Jump to the top

Fortunately, it’s easy to forget that the backgrounds are often repetitive when the races themselves are so intense. Speeds are high and braking paths are few, instead it is driven through corners in a very impressive manner with the perfect combination of complete control and heart in the throat pit.

This sequel also received some new game mechanics that actually affect the racing a bit. Partly the possibility of upgrading and adapting certain characteristics of the cars, and partly a completely new jump button.

Jumping consumes part of the boost, and makes it possible, for example, to jump over obstacles and holes, jump into shortcuts, or jump over gaps in tight turns. It doesn’t sound very exciting, but it gives the driving a welcome extra depth – and makes the game stand out a little more from its predecessor.

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Wash your mouth with soap

There’s simply a lot to like about Hot Wheels Unleashed 2. But then we have that difficulty level. Because some races, like the previous ones, are extremely frustrating and unfair. Sometimes because of the strangely high difficulty level, and sometimes because one crash near the end of an otherwise perfect race can ruin everything. Fortunately, the races aren’t too long, so it’s rarely too difficult to tackle over and over again.

However, every now and then, there are exclamations of ugly words directed at a varying degree of difficulty, to put it mildly. Not least in boss battles, where one mistake will usually ruin the entire round.

At the same time, it must be said that both the track design and car physics have been improved compared to before, so it’s not entirely uncommon for minor collisions to have devastating consequences. But the fact that a simple mistake at the wrong time can ruin a perfect race is not fun. A limited rewind function would have done much more, although it would have taken away some of the racing nerves.

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Shop, shop, shop your happy face

But it’s not really cool races in fun environments that are what I like most about Hot Wheels Unleashed 2. It’s the toy cars, or more accurately their collection.

With over 130 vehicles in the base game, there are plenty of cool, fun and goofy cars and bikes to spark nostalgia. Since the money is distributed freely in campaign mode, there is also no need to wear the same contests again and again or fill the virtual wallet with real money.

However, there are actually additional toy cars that can be purchased for real money. Due to the large amount of DLC released for the previous version, the sequel will also be filled with one, two or three expansion passes – but fortunately, the base package is packed enough that it won’t feel unnecessary.

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Full throttle

Aside from a few cars based on the toys and series, I never had much interest in Hot Wheels. However, I was blown away in the first Hot Wheels Unleashed game thanks to the combination of fast-paced racing, a range of toy versions of iconic car models, and pure fantasy creations.

When the second one comes here, I’m still sitting there with a smile on my face. The smile does distort into pure anger at irregular intervals, but not often enough to affect my enjoyment of the game. I have to say that this sequel doesn’t quite grab me in the same way as the previous one, mostly because the concept doesn’t seem as fresh and exciting this time around.

But with better path design, more balanced difficulty, and a couple of new gameplay mechanics, it’s a second that does enough to make the first feel limited. There’s certainly no shortage of good arcade racing games, but Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 stands out quite a bit.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged

Tested: October 2023
Type: race
Developer: Milestones
platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PC
Tested on: PlayStation 5
measuring: 13.3 GB
prize: From 449 SEK via Prisjakt