Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged Review

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is an arcade racer from Milestone that attempts to improve upon the high octane racing action from the first game.

Just like before, you collect a wealth of diecast Hot Wheels vehicles and race along the brand’s iconic orange tracks with elaborate curves, jumps, and hazards to navigate. However, instead of receiving new cars from blind boxes like in the first game, you can now use the in-game currency you win from races to purchase vehicles from a limited selection that refreshes every 40 or so minutes. The collection aspect continues to be the biggest progression draw for the series, as even more vehicle types have been introduced like motorbikes and ATVs. But it’s still disappointing that there isn’t any sort of museum or gallery dedicated to the history of the brand or fun facts about any of the toy models.

WATCH THE HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED 2: TURBOCHARGED VIDEO REVIEW ABOVE

The single-player mode, now called Creature Rampage, has been given a light kid-friendly story told through short cutscenes with energetic motion comic panels and overtly corny dialogue from its chipper characters. It’s pretty inoffensive, but largely forgettable, and I wouldn’t be surprised if even the kids skipped through them to get back to the racing. Creature Rampage adds a couple new challenges like a checkpoint race that takes place on the floors of some of its maps rather than the tracks, and a new Boss race that has you break through targets while increasing your lap time to avoid losing the battle. While I like the target races, I miss the significantly more intense boss races from the first game that were challenging multi lap gauntlets. 

In fact, a number of small tweaks to most of the new track designs seem to lower a bit of the skill ceiling. Awkward lips and jumps that would have your car careen off the track if you didn’t hit them just right now have magnetic strips near the landings to ensure you don’t. Some of the bigger jumps make use of the Turbocharger tagline and boost you automatically across massive gaps, there are even jump pads that auto flip your vehicle to upside down tracks. There are still instances where you’ll manually have to handle all of these situations but they are fewer and farther in between. There are new mechanics introduced as well like the ability to jump or to side check opponents off their racing lines, both of which are managed by the same meter that handles your boost. These new skills fit seamlessly into the fast and furious gameplay, and coupled with competent AI and inventive track layouts, you’ll cross many a finish line while on the edge of your seat.

While I wasn’t able to find any online matches during the review period, you’re able to group with up to 10 other players in a slim offering of online modes. You can create your own custom tracks or race on others made by the community, though your custom vehicle designs will need to be shared online before you can download them back to be used on your cars. The livery editor is largely unchanged from the last game giving you a blank plastic slate with a ton of layers to get creative with.

Visually, Unleashed 2 still impresses with its insane level of accuracy in regards to its toy vehicles and play sets, but there appears to be an extra level of detail in the brand new background environments that swap kitchens and class rooms for arcades and museums. Its sound design also perfectly captures the fanfare of screeching tires, roaring engines, and hissing Nitrous. The accompanying music selection is a bit of a let down though, with a couple of tracks that are outright distracting in how offputting they are.

All in all, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged does little to alter the winning formula of the first title. It’s still an exciting arcade racer with depth and great track designs, but this iteration feels like it’s coasting on its laurels rather than realizing its true potential. The game is out Oct 19 for $49.99 on PC, Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.