At these moments, Wheelman feels like an amazing game, but it’s just a shame that it’s short- at about 6-8 hours for the single player story, and that you spend to much of this time on foot really. Additionally, there’s no multiplayer to uses these moves in, which is another disappointment to be honest.

 

 

Graphically and aurally, Wheelman is a complete mixed bag. Some parts are excellent, others are frankly appalling. Starting with the sound, Vin Diesel delivers his well written one liners with his usual gruff enthusiasm, and that, for me, was the real highlight. The rest of the speech is just fine, without ever being spectacular, but it all starts to go downhill from there. Effects are very cheap- it seems like there is just one engine noise for all cars, and the same with most guns.

 

There is no licensed music at all, which is really unusual today, and the generic composed tunes are just about passable, but to be honest, the fact that there’s no GTA-style radio stations is a real disappointment.

 

 

The graphics follow a similar theme. Barcelona itself has been pretty beautifully rendered, with some great representations of the significant landscapes, buildings and features, and some nice texture work too. Additionally, the frame rate is solid too. Vin himself looks pretty good, but when compared to Riddick it’s not so impressive.

 

The rest of the characters vary from not as good as Milo to frankly terrible, with low poly counts, generic design and terrible animation. Talking of which, even Vin himself is animated pretty badly, looking like he needs the loo every time that you run.

 

The lack of licensed cars also really hurts the game, and the fact that there only about 5 generic models in addition to the 2 licensed models means you get tired of what’s on offer real quick.

 

 

N/A

 

 

"Wheelman" is a really great concept that has been let down quite badly by some obvious budget cuts. The face that there are only 2 licensed cars means that they stand out, whilst the selection of generic cars is too small. The music is poor and there is no multiplayer. It’s also pretty short when compared to most open world games. However, the core racing and combat is a blast, and the special moves are just fantastic. The story itself is also pretty reasonable.

 

'Wheelman' isn’t a perfect game, but it’s pretty fun whilst it lasts, and might consider buying it when it's a bargain. 

 

 

 

+ Feels like being in a movie
+ One liners
+ Car combat

 

- Music
- Lack of licensed cars
- Shooting