Wheelman - Eurogamer & IGN Reviews

After a dozen hours in Wheelman's company, you will have seen most of everything, but you've more or less seen everything in a fraction of that, and the promise of an openworld game that concentrates on what you can do with a car is long forgotten. There are some highs, but they all come early, in the thrill of your first Air Jack or Cyclone, or the first hilarious ragdoll enemy death or the sight of Vin Diesel on a scooter. After that, nothing really changes. It's all smoothly presented, accessible, and easy enough to play for a few hours, but it has very little to offer beyond not making you especially angry. Perhaps Vin Diesel is the new Sonic after all.

I don't know how I'm going to score a game until I sit down and write the review. After reading the paragraphs preceding this one, it's clear I did not like Wheelman. When Vin Diesel is attached to a project -- whether it be a movie or game -- you expect to have to suspend your disbelief and settle in for some unbelievable shenanigans. Sadly, Wheelman pushes those ideas too far past the point of no return. Sure, the occasional hip check from a sedan is cool, but there's no story to keep you going (Why would the gangs put up with his crap?), the combat is a chore (Oh, another swarm of bad guys to block my path? Fun.), and the game doesn't look that good (Cars are just generic boxes.).

I wanted Wheelman to be a guilty pleasure, like 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, but it's just guilty of being a poor game.

KKLEIN wrote:Well, I thought the demo was terrible...

Raze wrote:**** IGN, I'm looking forward to this.

KKLEIN wrote:Well, I thought the demo was terrible...

KKLEIN wrote:Well, I thought the demo was terrible...

Hero of Canton wrote:Embarrassing review, that. For one, it's not trying to be GTA at all. For two, he complains that you don't have to drive to missions. Three, he criticises the Spanish accents. The game's set in Barcelona, for Christ's sake.

Game Informer's 8.5 is much more like it.

EDIT: The whole criticism of the five-minute car chase is redundant, too, because he's waiting for someone to arrive. strawberry floating hell, suspend your disbelief, man - it's a game where you jump twenty feet from trucks onto motorbikes, kicking off the occupants and grabbing the handlebars in one fluid movement.

Harry Bizzle wrote:

Hero of Canton wrote:Embarrassing review, that. For one, it's not trying to be GTA at all. For two, he complains that you don't have to drive to missions. Three, he criticises the Spanish accents. The game's set in Barcelona, for Christ's sake.

Game Informer's 8.5 is much more like it.

EDIT: The whole criticism of the five-minute car chase is redundant, too, because he's waiting for someone to arrive. ******* hell, suspend your disbelief, man - it's a game where you jump twenty feet from trucks onto motorbikes, kicking off the occupants and grabbing the handlebars in one fluid movement.

Do the cars feel any faster in the final version? Because I quite liked the demo except that I think the cars felt like they had pillow stuffing for engines. Not enough oomph.

4.8

After a dozen hours in Wheelman's company, you will have seen most of everything, but you've more or less seen everything in a fraction of that, and the promise of an openworld game that concentrates on what you can do with a car is long forgotten. There are some highs, but they all come early, in the thrill of your first Air Jack or Cyclone, or the first hilarious ragdoll enemy death or the sight of Vin Diesel on a scooter. After that, nothing really changes. It's all smoothly presented, accessible, and easy enough to play for a few hours, but it has very little to offer beyond not making you especially angry. Perhaps Vin Diesel is the new Sonic after all.