2021’s Scorching Wheels Unleashed set the stage for a brand new period of Scorching Wheels racing video games. It wasn’t simply a racing recreation, however a celebration of the tiny toy automobiles that felt larger-than-life due to the sport’s physics-based racing and grandiose scale of its environments. These pillars are what made Scorching Wheels Unleashed really feel distinct, and never simply from Scorching Wheels video games of the previous, however even amongst different modern arcade racing video games. It is a distinction that developer Milestone appears to be doubling down on for its sequel Scorching Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged. Or, perhaps relatively, double leaping on?
In each sense of its title, Scorching Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged may be very a lot turbocharged, with new options, car sorts, environments, and a set of recent strikes. Throughout our half-hour of hands-on time with the demo, we zipped and drifted round a few of its new environments and tried out a few of the new strikes, together with a double soar, which lets you soar over different automobiles, attain new areas, or strategically get better after falling off the monitor. Moreover, gamers can even carry out a lateral drift, which lets drivers immediately transfer automobiles sideways like one thing out of Velocity Racer, enabling you to bump different automobiles out of the way in which, immediately keep away from obstacles, or, as soon as once more, assist you to from falling off the monitor (which might occur fairly typically).
These new strikes are a welcome enchancment whereas nonetheless sustaining the texture of driving and drifting acquainted to returning gamers. The unique’s race-drift-ramp rinse-repeat system felt repetitive shortly to me, so the added selection feels extra substantial than just some new tips and provides significant depth to its racing. In truth, the double soar felt similar to Rocket League–another physics-based automotive recreation and one which nurtured a aggressive scene. The devs instructed me that Rocket League was completely a degree of inspiration, particularly for its aerial gameplay, however their focus wasn’t to match Rocket League’s aggressive talent ceiling. As an alternative, their intentions have been to present gamers extra artistic freedom in the right way to race. Nonetheless, it is the creativity of the gamers that can inevitably outline that talent ceiling, so it’s going to be thrilling to see how gamers use these strikes when the sport releases.
Double jumps aren’t the one manner Turbocharged is adapting a extra aerial strategy. This recreation sees the introduction of modules that, when driving by means of them, trigger your car to defy gravity and drive on the ceiling or partitions of the course like in Mario Kart 8. All these new additions, from car maneuvers and modules, additionally broaden the set of instruments that can be utilized when creating your individual tracks.
Sadly throughout our hands-on time, we did not get to see the brand new motorbikes or ATVs in motion, however we did get some perception into how its new perk system will work for its 130+ automobiles. Each particular person car now has its personal perk system you’ll be able to tailor to your fashion, like with the ability to blast by means of obstacles comparable to site visitors boundaries and not using a drawback, enhancing drifting or car dealing with, and so forth. We have been additionally knowledgeable how unlocking automobiles differs from the primary recreation, too. Initially, automobiles have been unlocked in a loot box-like method utilizing in-game forex. However as a substitute of buying blindbox after blindbox and hoping to your desired automotive, Turbocharged now simulates an aisle in a toy retailer, the place you’ll be able to cycle by means of automobiles of their packing containers to really see what you are shopping for this time. The catch is that obtainable automobiles are randomized each few hours, incentivizing you to often return and scope out what’s new on the shelf.
Scorching Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged encompasses a story mode with cutscenes, however that wasn’t obtainable to us throughout our hands-on time. That is a disgrace, as I needed to see the way it’ll deal with the heroic story of toy automobiles (I need to see my heroic little automobiles do and say heroic issues!).
Scorching Wheels Unleashed managed to take the tiny toy automobiles we have all held in our palms and raced round our lounge flooring (typically intentionally smashing them into partitions over-and-over, or was that simply me?) and provides them a way of weight and life whereas nonetheless retaining that toy-like appeal and surprise. Its follow-up seems to be sticking to all the pieces it acquired proper the primary time round, however now with a hefty load of recent options, selection, choices, and a few well-needed quality-of-life updates. Scorching Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is anticipated to launch October 19 on Xbox One, Xbox Collection X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC.
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