Wheelman

Review - Wheely rather good

It is a beautifully sunny day and I'm driving through picturesque Barcelona like a madman. Tyres screeching as I handbrake turn my way around corners, weave in and out of any vehicles that get in my way and wilfully flout every traffic law in the book. There's a reason for this craziness however, the posse of cars and motorbikes pursuing me are never more than a few feet away and gun shots are peppering my car from all sides. I can't outrun them, if I'm going to escape it's going to have to be by getting rid of them another way.

I pull the wheel sharply to one side throwing my car across the road to hammer into the side of the closest chasing car sending it veering into a wall where it explodes in a ball of flame. One down. Suddenly there's a break in the traffic and I use my boost to pull away from the chasing pack. A few precious meters gained and I yank the handbrake and spin the wheel throwing the car into a spin. Time seems to slow down and my hand, gun clenched firmly within its grip, moves almost without thinking. First I pick off the front tyre of the leading motorbike sending it pirouetting through the air. Then it's the gunman leaning out of one of the cars, a head shot dispatches him with ease. Then it's a quick one-two-three into the engine of another car causing an explosion that sends the burning vehicle tumbling across the freeway. As the rest of the cars scatter to avoid the flying debris I pull my car out of it's spin and, as the world speeds back up again around me, push my foot to the floor making good my escape down the nearest side street.

Welcome to Wheelman.

Developed by Midway Studios Newcastle and produced by Tigon, the game production company owned by Hollywood star Vin Diesel, Wheelman is an action driving game that's an interesting mix of GTA, Burnout Paradise and, perhaps surprisingly, Pursuit Force. Set out as an open-world game within Barcelona, your playground of choice, its up to you to pick your way through the available story and side missions as you see fit, unlocking more of each as you progress.

Playing the game through the eyes of gravel voiced Vin Diesels character, Milo Burik; you take on the role of a CIA agent tasked with infiltrating some of Barcelona's most notorious criminal gangs. To do this you must play the titular wheelman using your skills behind the wheel to gain the trust of the gang leaders by taking on missions they set for you. These can be anything from your standard delivery/pick up scenarios to kidnapping and assassinations. The one thing you can be sure of is that no matter what the basic task set you there's sure to be plenty of action along the way. With roughly fifteen hours of gameplay in the main storyline alone and another ten or so if you complete all the side missions (street races, taxi tasks, police evasion and many more) there's certainly plenty to do and see.

Since you'll be spending most of your time behind the wheel (or handlebars, there's bikes and scooters too) it's key that the driving experience in Wheelman feels right and thankfully for the most part it does. Each vehicle has its own feel and some missions' suit different types so it's always wise to pick and choose your current ride depending on the need at the time. We're firmly at the arcade end of the driving spectrum here and as such you can expect to survive head on collisions with buildings, absorb damage that would destroy a heavily armoured tank and complete jumps that would terrify seasoned stuntmen. Importantly however, as unrealistic as it may be, it's always a lot of fun.

As we've grown to expect these days you can steal and drive any vehicle you come across in the game. Parked cars can be broken into, moving vehicles can be stopped and pinched, blah, blah, blah. The Wheelman however doesn't stop there; it adds the Airjack to the equation. Stealing cars by running around on foot is now a thing of the past, using the Airjack you simply drive along behind the vehicle you want, hold the B button until the symbol over the car turns green, then release the button and watch as Vin climbs through the driver side window, launches himself through the air to land on the other car before swinging himself inside feet first kicking the unfortunate driver out the other door in one smooth motion (now you understand the Pursuit Force link don't you). This allows you to hop from vehicle to vehicle while keeping on the move making sure you're never driving a car that's too damaged and helping the game keep up a relentless pace. Daft? Yes. Unrealistic? Certainly. Fun? Hell yes.