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While I appreciate the fact that Sony is going for a more diverse game collection for its PlayStation Network service, that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone’s going to be batting out of the park with their efforts. Case in point – Gelid Games’ “Wheels of Destruction,” a game that obviously takes its inspiration from the “Twisted Metal” series, but tries to add its own diverse touches here and there to make it feel different. And indeed, it does.
Unfortunately, it’s not for the better.
It doesn’t entirely help that David Jaffe’s recent take on “Twisted Metal” is so good that it makes “Wheels of Destruction” look so much more second rate. But that bigger budgeted game aside, this downloadable game has its fair share of problems.
In the game, you choose from five classes of vehicles, some larger and bulky yet slower, some speedier yet more susceptible to damage, and hit the open road in five battle arenas placed throughout the world. The game only features three modes, including traditional Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag offerings. There’s no story mode in sight, but, honestly, it’s hard to really tie together a story with a car combat game, unless you’ve got a solid character like Sweet Tooth. Which “Wheels of Destruction” clearly does not.
The game provides both online play through PlayStation Network, as well as offline play against AI bots. Honestly, the online option is much better, if only because the computer opponents are the cheapest we’ve ever run into. Here’s an example: We make a run for an opponent’s flag and blow up three cars that are in pursuit, thinking we’re in the clear. But the second – and I mean the EXACT second – I pick up the flag, I’m bombarded from behind by two other cars, and left to die. It’s bad enough that I can’t defend myself from surprising ambushes like that, but my fellow teammates wouldn’t even budge to save me. Hey, guys, teamwork? Hello?
However, even the online play isn’t good, as we ran into a couple of baffling bugs that saw our car flying off the track entirely (weird) and the kind of voice chat you can’t make out at all. We asked a teammate about a strategy and I swear he came back saying, “Ahhhh mfmmmf cupcakes.” Obviously not, because I’ve never heard of a battle plan involving cupcakes, but that’s how garbled it truly gets. You’ll probably get tired after a few sessions and then go right back to “Twisted Metal.” Now there’s a game that gets online right – even without a cupcake plan.
Controls are pretty awful, too. Instead of going with routine, responsive controls that have worked in past car combat games, “Wheels of Destruction” tries to go with “Warthog”-style controls, where you aim the left cursor where you want to drive your car, occasionally using R2 for tight turns. That’d be great, except your vehicle takes forever to turn in that direction, meaning you’ll get stuck on a wall, fall off a ledge, or miss a road entirely, leaving you wide open for an enemy attack. Worse yet, the launch pads in the game are scattershot. Little do you realize you have to use a boost AFTER you hit the jump button to launch yourself in order to reach a ledge. This should’ve been better explained in a tutorial.
As for the visuals, they’re OK, but the locales aren’t really as personified as those in “Twisted Metal.” Sure, you can battle through Seattle, Tokyo and Paris, but outside of a name label, we couldn’t really distinguish that many differences between the levels when we fought in them. Not too many personal touches here, and way too much terrain to cover. What’s worse, some particular spots are traps, like an underground cavern that gets nowhere fast and launch pads that are SUPPOSED to get you to another area, but instead jettison you to your death. How helpful. The frame rate is acceptable and the music is OK, but it’s all forgettable, for the most part.
Had “Wheels of Destruction” come out last year, I could see some folks considering it as a passable car combat affair to spend a little time with before the arrival of “Twisted Metal’s” “big gun” package. Unfortunately, with that game out and defining what should be done right in the genre, this game feels like a retread with nothing left to do but spin its wheels.
Pass.
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