Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged Review

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is now available on consoles and PC. We had the chance to check out the PlayStation 5 version of the game.

What is Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged? What’s this game about?

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is the sequel to the original Hot Wheels Unleashed video game that was released in 2021. 

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is an arcade racing game that allows players to drive dozens of Hot Wheels vehicles in a wide variety of driving events across multiple single-player and multiplayer game modes.

How do you play this game?

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged offers lots of game modes and event types. Here’s a quick look at what’s available:

• Hot Wheels Creature Rampage – This is the game’s single-player story mode, which we’ll talk about more in a bit.
• Quick Race – Compete to come in first place in traditional, multi-lap races.
• Time Attack – Race against the clock to finish a lap within a certain time limit.
• Drift Master – Earn as many points as possible by drifting around corners.
• Elimination – During these events, vehicles race through timed segments, with the player(s) in the final position(s) at the end of each segment being eliminated until only one racer remains.
• Waypoint – Rather than taking place on a race track, these events allow players to freely drive around the game’s racing environments and challenge them to drive through a series of checkpoints as quickly as possible.
• Livery Editor – Players can design and share their own custom liveries (appearances) for vehicles, as well as download liveries created by other players.
• Sticker Editor – Players can design and share their own custom vehicle stickers, as well as download stickers created by other players.
• Track Builder – Players can create and share their own race tracks using a wide variety of track pieces and other elements, as well as try tracks created by other players.
• Online Multiplayer – Compete against other real players in real-time multiplayer events.

In addition to these events and game modes, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged supports local, split-screen multiplayer gameplay for two people in the same room. This split-screen mode allows players to compete in Quick Race, Drift Master, Elimination, and Waypoint events.

Players start with only a few Hot Wheels vehicles available to choose from, but they can collect many more over time. Some of these vehicles are realistic and are inspired by models from real world automobile manufacturers, like Chevrolet and Aston Martin, while others are more unique. For instance, the Street Wiener vehicle is shaped like a hot dog. The game also features branded vehicles, like the “Time Machine” DeLorean from the Back to the Future film series and K.I.T.T. from the Knight Rider television series, among others.

Each vehicle has its own stats for “Speed,” “Acceleration,” “Braking Power” and “Handling.” Each vehicle also has an overall “type,” based on its specialty. For instance, some vehicles are considered “Drifters,” while others are considered “Off-Road” vehicles, and so on.

As players complete racing events, they’ll have the option to try lots of different vehicles to find the one(s) they like the most. Players can also upgrade their vehicles over time to alter their performance or make them immune to certain obstacles while driving, like barriers and spider webs, as two examples.

The game’s story mode is a great place for players to try out the many vehicles they’ll collect. The story challenges players to help the Hot Wheels Racing Team defeat five creatures after they’re accidentally unleashed by the Professor.

The story mode allows players to complete a variety of racing events in multiple themed areas. These events come in the form of Quick Races, Drift Master events, Time Attack events, Elimination events, Waypoint events, and Boss Races. A number of “Challenges” are also available, which will ask players to complete other events with certain stipulations. 

While many of the game’s story events allow players to compete using any vehicle in their collection, some events require players to use a vehicle of a particular “type,” like a “Swift” or “Powered” vehicle.

In addition, each racing event has a list of one or more requirements that must be fulfilled before the event will be considered truly “complete.” For instance, one Elimination event has the requirements: “Reach the podium” and “Reach 1st place and eliminate opponents.”

So long as players complete the main requirement for each event, they can move onto the next event in the story. Players can also replay events in an attempt to fulfill any requirements they previously failed to complete.

At the end of each area in the game’s story mode, players will compete in a Boss Race that will challenge them to drive through targets on a track to lower the boss’s health. During each Boss Race, the boss’s “rage” meter will automatically fill up over time. Driving through targets empties the rage meter, but if players miss a target or take too long to reach the next target, the rage meter may fill up entirely. If players allow the rage meter to remain full for too long, they’ll lose the race and will need to try again.

The game’s tracks are located in fun, themed areas like an arcade, a house, and a dinosaur exhibit at a Natural History Museum, among others. Tracks are made of a variety of Hot Wheels track pieces, including loops, ramps, and more. Players can drive over special track pieces that make them temporarily speed up or slow down, and each vehicle also has a “Boost” ability that players can activate to temporarily speed up while driving.

In addition to drifting and boosting abilities, vehicles also have jump and double-jump abilities that can be used to avoid obstacles or cross large gaps in the path. Players can also “dash,” or slam their vehicle into opponents’ vehicles on their left and right sides in an effort to mess them up while they’re driving.

Since the game features toy Hot Wheels vehicles and Hot Wheels track pieces, all of the vehicles and tracks are quite small compared to the surrounding environments. Many track pieces are suspended in the air, and some don’t feature side walls, which means players are allowed to accidentally drive off of the track. Players can also miss jumps and land on the ground beneath the track.

When players miss a jump, drive off of the track, or otherwise need some help, they can hold a “Respawn” button to quickly respawn their vehicle on the track and get back into the action. Each track also features a series of checkpoints for players to drive through.

Turbocharged allows players to choose from multiple difficulty levels to create an experience that best suits their play style. Players can also switch to a different difficulty level in between events if they ever want to make the game easier or harder (even for a single event).

As players complete racing events, they’ll receive experience points that will help them level up their in-game profile, as well as coins that can be spent on new vehicles, “Boost” sounds for vehicles, and “Boost” colors for vehicles. Only a few vehicles are available to purchase in the shop at one time, but this selection changes regularly. The shop will also update if players purchase all of the vehicles that are currently available.

Players can also collect spin tokens as they play, which can be used in the game’s spin wheel to receive rewards like coins, vehicles, and items that can be used to upgrade vehicles. Unfortunately, we never received a vehicle reward from the spin wheel while playing the game, so we’re not sure if the spin wheel can provide duplicate vehicle rewards. Like the shop, the prizes available in the spin wheel will automatically change at certain times.

Finally, players can complete a wide variety of missions, or achievements, as they play to receive rewards, such as different profile icons and words or phrases that they can use to customize their in-game profile. The customization options a player selects can be viewed by other players when they use the game’s social features.

Is this game fun to play?

We really enjoyed playing Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged, and were happy to see the improvements that have been made when compared to the first game.

For one, we really appreciate that the blind boxes from the first game aren’t in Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged, since players could receive duplicate vehicles from those blind boxes. In Turbocharged, players have much more control over the vehicles that are added to their collection over time.

In addition, the game’s “Easy” and “Medium” difficulty settings feel more balanced in Turbocharged than they did in the first game. In the original Hot Wheels Unleashed, the Medium difficulty setting felt far too difficult. In Turbocharged, the Medium setting provided a decent challenge, while still allowing us to regularly win races.

Is there anything else parents need to know about this game?

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged features options that allow players to turn on “Steer assist,” “Brake assist,” “Acceleration assist,” and “Jump assist.” Players can also alter the game’s speed when playing offline, as well as choose between the imperial and metric measuring systems.

In addition, players can reconfigure the game’s controls to customize which buttons complete which in-game actions.

Finally, parents should know that additional content will be released for Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged in the future. Some of this content will be free, while some will be available for purchase. This means families will have the option to spend more money on the game after purchasing the base game.

What’s the final verdict?

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged offers fun, high-speed racing and driving events and an interesting selection of gameplay modes. We recommend checking this one out.

Hot Wheels Unleashed is now available for $49.99 on Switch, PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, and PC. The game is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.