Wheel World’s distinctive visible model, laid-back nature, and pleasant soundtrack promise an inviting journey set atop a bicycle in a world the place they’re extra frequent than vehicles. However the gameplay itself, the development, and the barely-there narrative break that promise with an expertise that solely will get extra irritating and monotonous the extra you play. Rote races, uninteresting dialogue, and an empty world left me questioning why Wheel World’s denizens love biking round it.
Wheel World jumps proper into the bike owner motion, with protagonist Kat stumbling upon a particular ghost bike chargeable for serving to useless spirits traverse from this world to the afterlife through one thing referred to as the Nice Shift. To take action, Kat should assist the ghost reassemble a motorcycle able to the Nice Shift with legendary elements, and it doesn’t take lengthy for Wheel World’s system to unfold: traverse the open world, acquire sufficient rep to problem every space’s finest bicyclist by finishing different races, and earn their legendary half. It’s a easy premise, pushing gamers to work together with the assorted query marks across the map which can be revealed after ringing the bell shrine in every space – it’s similar to Ubisoft’s conventional tower system – nevertheless it will get bland quick.
The open world is split into a number of distinct areas, together with a forest location paying homage to the Pacific Northwest, a Tuscan-like winery, an autumnal coast, and extra. Apart from visible modifications, these places do little to change the biking gameplay. Positive, going by way of vines within the winery slows you down, and the forest space has extra elevation modifications than the coast, however for those who keep on the primary path of every race, these do little to change up the system. And that system is rinse and repeat. The assorted query marks in your map turn out to be one among three issues: a race, a drone from the hardly ever talked about Cyclorp firm that rewards your efforts with tickets for purchasing elements, or a motorcycle elements vendor.
Every race begins by speaking to a gaggle of bikers, and although they’re visually distinct with quirky pun-and-pop-culture-filled dialogue, there’s no variation in how they race. I hardly ever misplaced a race and struggled to seek out any problem in them. Happily, bonus aims, like discovering hidden “Ok-A-T” letters all through every race, gave me one thing to do whereas my AI opponents struggled to maintain up. In a sport constructed round racing, it’s particularly disappointing that races by no means challenged or stunned me. Even the programs themselves are uninteresting, save for the occasional bounce shortcut. And even worse, the programs bounce between uninteresting and annoying, particularly within the sport’s closing space, which introduces an abundance of city structure and loads of autos that get in the way in which.
The physics behind collisions, whether or not with different racers, autos, or buildings, usually really feel damaged and unfair. Colliding with a fellow bicyclist mildly breaks the sport, throwing me method astray in a method that doesn’t make sense. Typically Kat bounces proper off autos; different instances, she crashes, and while you crash in Wheel World, you’re set again seconds within the race, usually putting you in final place, even when the opposite seven racers had been beforehand to this point behind you couldn’t even see them. This was the one problem I confronted: crashing, unfairly being positioned method far again, and having to catch again as much as first place. However racing is really easy that catching up introduced no provocation.
Even the bike itself doesn’t really feel nice; it’s serviceable at finest, and when its physics really feel off, it looks like biking by way of slime. There are many elements to seek out all over the world (one of many solely causes to discover off the overwhelmed path), and much more to purchase from distributors utilizing tickets you get from finishing facet gigs like discovering hidden jumps, however regardless of how I personalized my bike, I felt little variation in the way it carried out. Choosing elements that made the stat bars go up served me finest, despite the fact that Wheel World makes an attempt to push you to rebuild your bike in varied methods; for instance, rebuilding my bike for off-roading racing may lower my acceleration however yield higher grip, theoretically making for a greater expertise over gravel and grime. My road-ready bike nonetheless gained off-road races with ease, although, and customizing my bike with varied elements I discovered rapidly misplaced its luster.
Whereas the bog-standard races all over the world, which I accomplished to earn status, bored me, I held hope that the races in opposition to every area’s finest bicyclists would current one thing extra gratifying. However nope; not solely did these races really feel like every other, I usually laughed at these legendary riders struggling to remain forward of the opposite racers. I laughed even tougher after they would hit a automobile or construction and bounce round wildly till they landed off-screen. I’m nonetheless uncertain whether or not that’s a characteristic or a bug. I skilled quite a few different points whereas taking part in, together with egregious pop-in, bizarre and erratic lighting, and extra; I hope the console variations carry out higher than Wheel World did on my beefy PC.
My greatest points with the story and dialogue had been most obvious in these legendary races. After beating the winery area’s prime racer, she stated one thing alongside the traces of, and I’m paraphrasing right here, “Oh wow, you beat me by myself turf. You’re an awesome racer.” After which I’d obtain the legendary half and proceed on to the subsequent area. For all of the buildup of those prime racers, they really feel paper-thin. Wheel World does nothing to justify their authority on this bike-centric place.
A final-minute twist makes an attempt to alter the system with the aforementioned new setting, nevertheless it’s the worst of all of them, and the query marks turn out to be the identical previous races, drones, and distributors. This results in the sport’s finale, which is disappointing and feels unfinished. I used to be shocked when the credit started to roll after 4 hours. It felt like one thing was lacking – the sport was actually over? These had been its closing moments? Admittedly, Wheel World does little to construct up this finale or any of its narrative, to be frank, however the climax of this journey rolled alongside like a popped tire, not the triumphant journey I used to be promised with the Nice Shift.
There may be one vibrant spot in Wheel World, although, and that’s its soundtrack. It’s an outstanding choice of tracks, the spotlight of every legendary race, and one thing I can’t wait to take heed to when it’s accessible exterior of the sport. Curated by Portland and West Hollywood-based impartial music label Italians Do It Higher, Wheel World’s soundtrack is among the better of the yr. It’s a disgrace the music was one of many solely highlights and never a complementary concord to the remainder of this journey, although.
Wheel World is an amalgamation of boring races and exploration, poor storytelling, and sometimes clumsy gameplay that by no means felt nice. Its distinctive artwork model and wonderful soundtrack really feel wasted on what’s right here, and the premise of the sport is extra thrilling than something that truly occurs. After I crossed Wheel World’s end line, I felt nothing about what I had achieved, as an alternative feeling extra excited to get off this bike for good.
