Like this Review? Follow The Cpt Froggy Club Curator Page for plenty more!

HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wait is over; we finally got a new HOT Wheels game and it’s everything that we were hoping for. Catering to our childhood nostalgia, Hot Wheels Unleashed brings out the best version of itself in its glorious life-sized form, something straight out of our wildest Hot Wheels fantasy.

Highly accessible and full of advanced driving techniques, Hot Wheels Unleashed is for all, from 23-year-old me to my 8-year-old cousin. Hot Wheels Unleashed is at the right caliber to cater to every age group, and there is something for all.

Cars: Hot Wheels Unleashed features one of the hottest lines of Hot Wheels cars ever. There are more than 60 cars to be unlocked, which means it will take a while to unlock them all.

The best part about this, all of these cars can be unlocked via simply racing and opening blind boxes, which you get via drops or can be bought with in-game currency. You can buy some of the best cars available in-game via the offer section, which also requires the in-game currency.

The currency is super easy to earn and doesn’t require any micro-transaction (although some cars will require picking up the DLCs, if you are going for that 10on10 full collection).

Every single car has its own unique style and identity. Meticulously designed resembling the actual physical product, they look, feel and play out like the actual thing.

And best of all, these in-game cars get worn out like the actual Hot Wheels, as if you were playing with them with your bare hands!!! The paint will get scratched, bumped, and bruised after racing for a while. I must say this was surprisingly good and it made the game feel that much more immersive.

Customization/Upgrades: The game features a neat little customization section from where you can change the look of your car, to a limited extent.

The upgrade section is pretty barebones but does boost up the car. For each upgrade, you will need to spend scrap metal, which you can earn by racing or dismantling duplicate cars that you’ve unboxed.

Race/Game modes: Hot Wheels Unleashed lets you go through six maps across your house. I know, I know . . . six maps doesn’t sound that exciting, but there are a ton of variations to be played from each map, in multiple game modes.

The single-player mode (oddly named City Rumble) is just awesome in every sense. The tracks are well made, they’re super easy for everyone but add enough complexity to please some of the hardcore arcade racers out there.

The City Rumble consists of Quick Race, Time Attack, Boss Race, and secrets to be uncovered. Each map is unique and features elements to throw you off enough to keep your eye on the track.

The tracks come with gravity assists, speed boosts, slowdowns, nitro supercharges, obstacles, over-the-top trick shortcuts, insane jumps, and roles, etc.

I was quite upset at first after seeing that the entire Time Attack mode tracks are the same as some of the Quick Race maps, but I got over it since it’s so much fun and it’s only logical to know about the track to score the best time possible.

Multiplayer and Split Screen: Seamless Multiplayer experience with up to 12 players. The match search time was surprisingly quick and without any issues whatsoever.

For the time being, there is just a Quick match-up option available but something tells me we might get a dedicated map/track browser, which will help with custom maps, tracks, and races.

If this feature is not added in the future, bro, am going to be very upset.

Split-screen turned out to be a great addition for both online and offline playthroughs.

Track Editor: The game features an absolutely brilliant/complex track edition, which lets you build your own monstrous track in any of the six maps with as many tracks, traps, objects, and decorations as you want to throw in.

One major downside, no Steam community workshop as yet!!! Man, we need a dedicated Steam workshop page to import/upload player-made tracks.

There are already some mad lads out there making some of the most ridiculous maps possible, and I want to play those without putting hours on my own track.

World design: the Hot Wheels Unleashed world setting is currently limited to a six-room/location house and am hoping to see more in the future updates.

Each of these rooms is amazing in its own right and brings its own look, feel, and energy to the game.

And the best part is you can change up their visuals slightly with minor unlockable decorations.

The moral of the Story, Hot Wheels Unleashed is just brilliant and super fun for all ages. Reviewed on PC, the game is available on the following platforms: PlayStation 4™, PlayStation 5™, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™, and PC.

Positives:

+ Fun Arcade Racer for all ages
+ Easy to get into with challenges for those who want it
+ Brilliant track design with fun features
+ Track Editor
+ Split Screen/Multiplayer supported
+ Cars are Customizable and the stats can be boosted
+ Visually pleasing
+ No Micro-Transactions, everything can be earned by playing

Negatives:

- No Community workshop as yet
- No Community map/track browser as yet
- Track Editor can be improved and simplified

A brilliant Arcade Racer experience with some of the most classic and iconic Hot Wheels cars. Not only is the gameplay solid and easy to get into, but it’s also authentic to the game franchise and the iconic physical toys.

10/10

Key provided by the developer/publisher for review purposes. Any opinions expressed are entirely my own!

READ EPIC REVIEWS FROM “THE CPT FROGGY” AND MATES, UP NOW ON ZEEPOND, THE HOME OF THE ALMIGHTY FROG![www.zeepond.com]
FOLLOW THE CPT FROGGY CURATOR PAGE HERE