Wheels of Destruction: World Tour Review

Wheels of Destruction: World Tour is developed and published by Gelid Games Inc for the Playstation Network (PSN). There are precious few things that you can say are good about Wheels of Destruction….. Its cheap! it CAN be fun and its running on Unreal tech! It’s not like the game itself is bad, it’s just that it’s decidedly average. There is a growing trend in the market for shoot-em-up driving games and this latest entry sees you choosing a car from a selection of five with miniscule differences (do you want to be slightly more durable, or slightly faster?).  The “soldier” is the car of choice, offering you the most balanced of stats .The game pits you against opponents in an arena of your chosing, either online or offline, and your role is to score the most points by damaging the other vehicles. Vehicular damage is not handled by where the car actually hits something, causing a dent, but rather by how much damage youve taken ( 30% dmg = you lose a wheel etc.)

Graphics:

It’s all a bit  Twisted Metal, gameplay wise,  but lacks the visual quality of its rival. Going as far as to say that the game’s graphics are as bad as late generation PS2 titles is a bit too far, but it certainly lacks the visual polish of even PS3’s launch titles. Environments look quite nice from far away, however up close the textures really show up for what they are: Bland, being set in areas such as paris which is nothing more than a toppled Eiffel tower surrounded by trash. A very cold colour pallet also does nothing to warm up the visual appeal. Even with such a small budget, it could have been better.

Gameplay:

It’s very  arcade like, and one of the good things you can say is when you’re playing online it doesn’t take long to get into a match, but what breaks the fun is the awful control system. The game expects you to control your vehicle by pointing the camera in the direction you want to go and by simply accelerating and turning the car. This kind of system worked well in Battlefield vehicle combat, but this game’s imitation of it pales in comparison. Whether it is the lack of sensitivity, in-accuracy or just plain frustration, the controls may lead to  you rage quitting after you drive straight into a wall for the hundredth time when trying to turn left. Besides this, there is not a lot you can say, with no career mode, no vehicle progression to speak of and nothing to unlock save a few pieces of concept art.

Multiplayer:

Online, the game fares slightly better but this is more due to the rivalry that you’ll stack up with other players. As far as game modes go,  you get three modes of play; Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. Offline against AI and online against other people. The ranking system leaves you nothing to aim for, but it can be fun at times when you outwit your opponents. As far as sound goes, yes it has sound, the same repetitive techno music overshadowed by 80’s style gunfire sounds and explosions, occasionaly drowned out by rage filled teenagers over mic when you are online. This reviewer cant decide if it is a an improvement or not

Altogether, it is a lack-luster title that will only be suitable for a niche player, in a world with many alternatives. Die hard genre fans may find it a blast, but I’ll save my money for petrol. 2/5.

Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.