No matter if it involves vehicles with two wheels or four, if there’s a style of professional racing that takes place somewhere out there, chances are Italian developer Milestone S.r.l. has made a game based around it at some point. In 2021, however, the studio tackled a type of racing bigger—or, should we say, smaller—than anything it ever had before: the world of Hot Wheels.
Now, Milestone is back to build upon that original release in Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged, a sequel that hopes to run circles around its predecessor. The most obvious place to start in that goal would be with the Hot Wheels themselves, and Turbocharged will not only give players more to pick from, but also a much wider variety of vehicle types as well.
“With a huge roster of over 130 vehicles, we are sure that we have something for every Hot Wheels fan out there,” producer Domenico Celenza told us. “We have iconic Hot Wheels Originals, modern and classic manufacturer’s replicas, supercars, racing cars, bikes, ATVs, Monster Trucks, and many more.”
Of course, half of the fun of getting access to all of those new Hot Wheels is then having fantastical tracks to race them on, and Turbocharged will have plenty to provide in that regard. On the surface, there’s an interesting new mix of locales in the game, from the Backyard, to a Mini Golf course and separate ’80s-style Arcade, to more unique choices like the Museum or the Gas Station. It’s the actual surfaces of those tracks, though, where the real change comes in.
“We wanted to enrich our environments by giving them more purpose and a greater sense of challenge,” Celenza explained. “Players will encounter grass, wood, dirt, and carpets as new terrain, and they will soon learn that each has its own rules, and that not every vehicle is suitable for each terrain.”
Beyond the expected, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged also brings updates and refinements to other parts of the original game’s experience as well. Jumps and lateral dashes introduce new movement maneuvers, which Celenza called “a very important addition to the game, because they give more options to the players to overcome the challenges they face on the tracks.” Joining them will be the new Skill System, which offers players the ability to add perks to their vehicles in order to modify its characteristics.
“The Skill System is a response to the needs expressed by our players after the release of the first Unleashed game,” said Celenza. “Looking back, we realized that what we did was good, but maybe not flexible enough to let them fully customize their vehicles to fit their ideal style of gameplay.”
From everything we’ve already mentioned, to other elements like a revamped campaign and much-enhanced Track Builder and Sticker Editor, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged is looking to rev up both that flexibility and gameplay depth for fans of the original Unleashed. While we’ll have to wait until we get our hands on the final game to see if Milestone was indeed successful, nearly 30 years of racing game experience has us pretty confident in how things will turn out.
