Milestone’s Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 once again brings Mattel’s iconic toy cars into a fantastical dreamworld of driverless toys drifting through impossible circuits through backyards, dinosaur playsets and neon-drenched arcades.
Developed by racing game veterans Milestone, the latest Hot Wheels video game builds off its 2021 predecessor in every way. Bigger is most certainly better here; every facet of the original game has been improved and bolstered in at least one area.
For example, the first game’s single-player campaign featured some brilliant tracks to race your favourite toy cars through, but nothing to connect them. In Hot Wheels Unleashed 2, there’s now a flimsy Saturday Morning Cartoon-style narrative that weaves each mission together.
In this game, you play as a team of Hot Wheels racers shrunk down to miniature form to fight monsters that the team’s mad scientist let escape. This means that you’ll race through a number of stages before finding a boss, a huge creature playset that you have to defeat by driving through card stock targets before it gets too angry.
Thankfully, Milestone’s toy box racer is held together by a surprisingly fun handling system that revels in high speed and Burnout-style long drifts across the franchise’s iconic plastic orange tracks. It’s easy to control, even if the cars are a tad slippery, oftentimes causing the tiny plastic models to lift up and tumble at higher speeds, almost as if the human hand guiding it around corners and over ramps has just let go.
There are a few additions to the racing formula here, but some are underutilized. The game’s new jump button is a much-welcome addition, allowing you to expend some boost to hop large gaps and jump on top of countertops — a majority of tracks make at least some use of this new mechanic. On the other hand, the game’s new sideways boost for avoiding obstacles and ramming other cars is far less useful.
There have also been additions to the game’s already phenomenal track builder. There’s now more pieces, allowing you to make even more intricate designs, playing around the game’s boosted mechanics. As you complete missions in the game’s campaign, you’ll also unlock more items to use in the track builder, allowing you to construct even more elaborate scenarios.
This is all held together by sublime visuals and sound design that combine to make the perfect look for a Hot Wheels racer. The game’s impressive collection of cars look incredibly photorealistic, recreating everything from plastic mould lines to glitter paint and even to scratches on the vehicle’s acrylic windshields. Even the iconic orange tracks are beautifully brought to life with high reflectivity that shine through the game’s complex environments
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 also appeals to collectors of Mattel’s long line of toy cars. Even compared to the first game, there are a lot of vehicles here spreading across the entire 55-year history. As you race, you’ll earn credits, pop over to the store and buy new vehicles from a revolving collection of cars, bikes and ATVs. Unlike the first game, there’s no loot boxes here, but a small earnable wheel spin mostly used to gain extra credits can hide some unique rides that you can nab.
Unfortunately, Milestone’s latest release lacks some of the brilliant licensed cars that were released as DLC for the first game. The brilliant Batmobile cars, Barbie wagons and Scooby Doo Mystery Machines are all missing here, perhaps coming back as DLC again in the future. It makes sense — licensed vehicles are pricey, there’s a reason LEGO games don’t mix licenses — but after the brilliant collection in the last game’s Game of the Year Edition, it feels like a step back. It is a stunning blow, especially for fans of the first game.
At the end of the day, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 is a great game, and a worthwhile follow-up to its 2021 original. The lack of the first game’s DLC cars and track designs are a major sore spot, but an understandable omission to a game bursting with heart.
