Hot Wheels Unleashed is really cool in the sense that the company owns a ton of stuff, and they are able to have a bunch of outrageous Hot Wheels in the game itself. It's basically a novelty racer with some interesting mechanics that does it's job well enough. Like there is absolutely a full hearty racer in this game, and there is even a custom mode to it to make your own tracks, but in doing so everything just kinda blends to the point it feels barren.
It's not in the sense that there is no substance to this game, but I think that's the hard part to figure out why it's not that interesting. Like it still feels like a decent racer with some interesting drifting and boosting techniques, but as you race more and more a lot of the tracks blend together and the novelty of them wears off. Hot Wheels also feel like they are different enough, but also not at all. See, largely due to the sheer roster, and track building mechanics it really feels like everything is a copy pasted version of itself. Like there is proper substance and style to everything here, but when you keep looking it's more like 3 different tracks, 3 different types of cars, and 3 different traps. There is enough variety that it keeps your attention initially, then just sorta never gets higher than that initial first impression. Like the campaign is there, but gets repetitive after a while. The traps are interesting and neat, but often feel cheap and unavoidable at times. Even the tracks, which should be the most interesting part to each racing game; just kinda flop with how they don't do more than what you are first shown.
If this stuff doesn't bother you, I'm sure you can have a lot of fun times with this game. Heck, with the way Hot Wheels Unleashed has it's collection game play loop, I can even see this game being thrilling for people that are a fan of the toy series. As for me, I simply have enjoyed other racers more because the tracks are just more engaging to me. Not to say I didn't put my hours into this game, but I don't really remember a lot of my run through with it. And as something that is supposed to be played constantly to "get everything" I just see it getting boring after the first 5 hours.Not to say that 5 hours isn't nothing though, it's certainly better than a lot of other games out there.
It's not in the sense that there is no substance to this game, but I think that's the hard part to figure out why it's not that interesting. Like it still feels like a decent racer with some interesting drifting and boosting techniques, but as you race more and more a lot of the tracks blend together and the novelty of them wears off. Hot Wheels also feel like they are different enough, but also not at all. See, largely due to the sheer roster, and track building mechanics it really feels like everything is a copy pasted version of itself. Like there is proper substance and style to everything here, but when you keep looking it's more like 3 different tracks, 3 different types of cars, and 3 different traps. There is enough variety that it keeps your attention initially, then just sorta never gets higher than that initial first impression. Like the campaign is there, but gets repetitive after a while. The traps are interesting and neat, but often feel cheap and unavoidable at times. Even the tracks, which should be the most interesting part to each racing game; just kinda flop with how they don't do more than what you are first shown.
If this stuff doesn't bother you, I'm sure you can have a lot of fun times with this game. Heck, with the way Hot Wheels Unleashed has it's collection game play loop, I can even see this game being thrilling for people that are a fan of the toy series. As for me, I simply have enjoyed other racers more because the tracks are just more engaging to me. Not to say I didn't put my hours into this game, but I don't really remember a lot of my run through with it. And as something that is supposed to be played constantly to "get everything" I just see it getting boring after the first 5 hours.Not to say that 5 hours isn't nothing though, it's certainly better than a lot of other games out there.