Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged ups the chaos and vehicular destruction this year

Jul 28, 2023

Giving off some Onrush energy

Arcade racer Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is speeding our way on October 19th, developer Milestone have announced. Like the first surprisingly great game, you’ll race over 130 toy cars through real-world locations, zooming past dinner tables, out of windows, and across gardens. Seems like more good fun, whether you’re a five-year-old or a five-year-old stuck in an adult's body.

That above trailer shows off most of what you’d expect from a Hot Wheels Unleashed sequel: ultra-fast boosts, gravity-defying loop-de-loops, and tiny toys that do dangerous things. But there are some new additions in this sequel too, including both motorbikes and ATVs, but all vehicles now fall under five classes: Rocket, Balanced, Swift, Drifter, Off-Road, and Heavy Duty. Each of these excels in a different area and a skill system lets you mod your playstyle further. Despite your preparation though, unfamiliar terrain can add a wrinkle to your races as mud, sand, marble and more all affect your tires. I'm not sure the toys were made for off-plastic performance, after all.

Movement has also been expanded slightly. On top of the boost, you can now jump and dash too. Jumping is of course useful for hopping over opponents and happily discovering new shortcuts. The lateral dash, on the other hand, can be used to evade obstacles or bash foes, causing them to spin out of control and crash. These new abilities are giving me flashbacks to the amazing Onrush, which was a kind of hero racer where the goal was to wreck foes rather than just race. More Onrush-flavoured chaos can only be a good thing, I think.

Finally, a new campaign promises a deeper storyline, but I’m guessing that's not the appeal of making miniature cars go really fast. Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged comes to PC via Steam and The Epic Games Store and consoles on October 19th.