Small Scale, Big Fun: Hands-on with Hot Wheels Unleashed 2

For a team whose bread-and-butter is stern and serious motorcycle simulations, Milestone’s 2021 toy-based racer Hot Wheels Unleashed certainly seemed like a quirky fit at the time. However, buried amongst 30-or-so iterations of the Supercross, MXGP, MotoGP, SBK, and Ride series, Hot Wheels Unleashed shone like a die cast diamond. Combining the impeccable speed brandished by the likes of arcade racing icon Burnout with the twisted madness of Trackmania, Hot Wheels Unleashed boasts toy-sized racing that’s small on scale and massive on fun. After the positive reception for the original, a sequel is no real surprise – but how does Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged improve on the 1:64 formula? At least, other than just adding motorcycles, that is? Classic Milestone.

We’ve had a brief hands-on with Hot Wheels Unleashed 2, and it definitely seems largely in-line with the original at first blush. That is, tiny and impeccably detailed toy cars taking on wild and wacky plastic tracks draped across life-size environments.

The garage this time, however, is bolstered by a few extra vehicle types – including motorcycles and ATVs. They honestly look a little odd without riders and they’re too big compared to the cars, but both of those things are essentially out of Milestone’s control. Milestone is just emulating the actual Hot Wheels models, and in real-life the die cast bikes do skew quite large compared to the regular cars they’re ranged alongside of. About 10 years ago Hot Wheels debuted a range of bikes with little plastic riders that might’ve been a better aesthetic fit for the game, but the fact they’ve been out of circulation for some time now wouldn’t have helped their case. The bikes handle much like everything else in the game, but they do authentically lean left and right as they manoeuvre.

There was only a small smattering of vehicles available in the preview, but the final game will feature over 130 of them. The first game launched with 66, although over 80 more were added as DLC or rewards post-release. It feels plausible that Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 will arrive with fewer cars than the most dedicated returning fans may have ended up with in the original, but it’s not clear how many of the 130 will be returning cars and how many will be new. There were a few familiar models in the preview selection as well as some new ones, including a reissue of the Sol-Aire CX4, a knock-off Group C racer I definitely remember having back in the 80s. More of these older models would be welcome in the final product; I know some younger players may not recognise them but I’m sure others will; my kids can’t be the only zoomers who inherited a bucket full of Gen-X Hot Wheels!

I also spotted a Bugatti Chiron, so licensed models will still make an appearance. Hopefully we’ll see more entertainment models; last time we had the DeLorean from Back to the Future and the TMNT Party Wagon amongst several others, but it’d be nice to see them joined by some others this time around. The licensing for specific replica movie cars does admittedly seem to bounce between a number of die cast companies (so I do gather not everything Hot Wheels has ever modelled in its long-running Entertainment line may necessarily be up for inclusion in 2023) but I’m up for whatever we can get. Some Fast & Furious cars would be a good fit considering it’s been a significant pillar of Hot Wheels’ range for years, surely?

A new skill tree system for upgrading vehicles will be on hand, and broadly speaking you’ll be able to equip a specific amount of perks to a vehicle depending on its category level (which can also be improved with so-called ‘Upgrade Kits’). I’m hoping the overall system for this is extremely straightforward and features zero mobile game treadmill nonsense; the last thing anyone needs is another dose of Disney Speedstorm.

There were two track environments available in the preview – Backyard and Mini Golf Course. They’re both brightly lit and largely outdoor locations, and they both introduce dirt and grass as terrain. I’m guessing I’ll probably need more time with more vehicles to properly assess just what impact these different surface types have on the overall handling, but there is supposed to be an effect. The three other maps are called Dinosaur Museum, Gas Station, and Arcade. I’m liking the look of the neon-splashed diner in Gas Station, but Arcade looks like it has massive potential to be my favourite – and not just because I obviously have a soft spot for classic video game halls. In my opinion, the visuals of the original Hot Wheels Unleashed were at their absolute strongest in the Garage map, which features a fantastic contrast between more dimly lit zones and areas bathed in fluorescent light. I suspect the lighting in Arcade will be equally strong.

Milestone has added more race types to Hot Wheels Unleashed 2, which is a good move. As much as I truly enjoy the original, it is a little limited by the fact it only features standard races and time trials. Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 adds elimination events, drift challenges, and waypoint time trials. There’ll also be some online-specific events, including a destruction derby-themed one, but we weren’t able to try that one during our preview.

Some other big additions are the inclusion of a lateral nudge move (which can be used to bonk into opponents beside you, or avoid incoming obstacles) and a jump move (which is tied to your boost meter). The jump move seems like a big swing considering how much of an effect that may have on shortcut hunting, but I’m going to reserve judgement until I can get a lot more time to explore the tracks. On first impressions, the checkpoints do seem to be placed a lot closer together, though. As such, I’m slightly worried about what this may mean for the cheeky and technical air-boosting shortcuts that were quite fun to fool around experimenting with in the original. Significant stretches of track can be skipped with varying degrees of skill (and luck) in the first Hot Wheels Unleashed, but I’m not sure yet whether the same will be possible in the sequel.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is primed to hit the pegs on October 19, 2023.