Console: X-Box 360, PS3Genre: 3rd person shooter/Driving Sim
Players: 1
Rating: Mature 16+
Story
In the streets of Barcelona, undercover CIA agent Milo Burik, from the U.S., works his way through the underworld to investigate, and put a halt to the gang activity there. By dealing with criminals and gangs of all sorts, Milo works his way up to the head of the operations, one mission at a time.
Gameplay
Wheelman catches the eyes of everyone who plays it with it's awesome car based stunts, from an aggressive melee and gunfire attack system, to the insane “airjacking” stunts that Milo can perform.
Airjacking is the most invaluable tool in Milo's arsenal, as the vehicles you drive will inevitably accumulate damage, and eventually explode. As soon as you need a new pair of wheels, just drive up behind an unsuspecting civilian vehicle, and press the right button to leap from your smoking heap, into their ride, ala Pursuit Force for PSP.
When you're in a ride, you can also perform Melee attacks, to the right, left and straight ahead to damage and bash through any vehicles in your way, or dodge melee attacks from other vehicles. In some cases, when you've hit an enemy enough times, their vehicle will be susceptible to a “Melee Finisher”, where the next move will send their wreckage flying off in an explosive, slow-motion spin through the air, complete with terrible graphic stretches as they crumple away.
Performing all of the above, will earn “Boost” as well, a source of nitrous for a quick boost of speed, but more importantly, power for the “Aimed Shot” and “Cyclone” moves. Either one throws Milo into slow motion, letting him aim for engines, gas tanks, and easy headshots, for use in those high speed chases, or for eliminating the competition in street races.
For all it's shining features Wheelman comes with more than it's fair share of shortcomings.
There'll always be moments where you can stand in the middle of a highway, and you can count the number of cars on the street on one hand. Honestly.
When cops, helicopters, and enraged gangsters are chasing you and your ride had exploded seconds after you ditch it, the last thing you want is to be without a ride; a situation that players may find themselves in, on more than one occasion.
In addition, shooting out tires, and using your boost seems to do almost nothing to slow and/or overtake your competitors, making your failed attempts seem more like a cheap AI rather than a lack of skill on your part.
While the core of the game is focused around Milo's airjacking and the flimsy gang plot, the devs have added the expected cinematic jumps worthless destruction of cat statues, which do absolutely nothing for the Wheelman, except unlock worthless achievements and artificially lengthen the games time.
Another weak point, is it's 3rd person shooting segments, which are too easy due to the poor AI aim, and Milo's lock on, making every firefight a repetitive exercise. That and your limited choice in weapons hardly makes for an interesting gunfight.
Graphics & Sound
Any graphics intensive users will be sorely disappointed with their console versions, while PC users can just crank their settings to an acceptable level, but in either case, the graphics take the back seat as all the intense action and stunts make you forget about them.
Exploding cars have a tendency to stretch awkwardly as they fly into the air, and during some Airjacks, if the car you ditch manages to hit something and come to a full stop, Milo will fly through the air several meters to his target car before Airjacking it. As entertaining and rare as it is, it might make some players instantly pause the game in fits of disbelief and laughter.
As far as voice acting goes, most of the script is the usual gang war drivel and one dimensional characters, and those that you take for a ride end up repeating the same annoying lines while you attempt to concentrate on evading that next roadblock up ahead.
Overall
With a flimsy story, weak missions, and high repetitiveness in gameplay, Wheelman isn't quite worth every cent, but in small doses, it's a fast paced action game with addictive high speed chase mechanics.
Wheelman is available now at ETA.
Review by Johar Aston, TheLAG
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Copyright 2009 Johar Aston, TheLAG
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