REVIEW: The Wheelman

Developer: Tigon Studios | Publisher: Ubisoft | Format: PS3 Reviewer: Craig Jay Gallagher The Wheelman is the latest from Vin Diesel’s very own Tigon studios, their first since the truly superb The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay which to this day remains this reviewers favourite FPS. Taking a completely different route the Wheelman plays like the bastard lovechild of GTA, Burnout and the Blues Brothers.

Diesel plays Milo Burik, a driver for hire working in Barcelona for various gang bosses. The story takes awhile to unveil it’s self and much like the Fast and the Furious which made Diesel a star the game is more concerned with fast cars, things going boom and copious amounts of shooting people. To say anything more about the story would spoil it for most gamers though anyone with a basic understanding of how Blockbusters work will take no time figuring it all out.

One of this reviewers biggest gripe with many racing games is just how serious they take themselves. Wheelman recognices that the most entertaining car based games are the ones which throw realism out the window. You can hijack cars by leaping through the air in slow motion before casually throwing the driver out. You can race through traffic, leap through office buildings and ignore the laws of psychics as you generally go mad. It’s quite reminiscent of Crazy Taxi only with the addition of weapons.

Enemy AI is seriously lacking at times. One of the most obvious examples is a side mission which involves you surviving for 5 minutes with a 5 star wanted level. Now this may seem quite difficult and it is for the first few attempts. However if instead of trying to escape the cops by driving like a maniac through the city all you have to do is drive around one of many fountains or roundabouts and watch as the cops fail miserably to catch you. Yes, it’s that simple.

Barcelona looks fantastic, it’s bright and vibrant at times looking even photo realistic. Unfortunately the characters all appear fake and  have a plastic tint to them. The audio though is great. Diesel is on fine form though the rest of the cast just seem to be lacking something.

The Wheelman is an enjoyable romp but with a few problems which could have been fixed with a little more polish. While never scaling the heights of Riddick, The Wheelman is a respectable follow up for Tigon and one which bodes well for the future.