Wheel World’s distinctive visible type, 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, boring dialogue, and an empty world left me questioning why Wheel World’s denizens love biking round it.
Wheel World jumps proper into the bicycle owner motion, with protagonist Kat stumbling upon a particular ghost bike chargeable for serving to lifeless spirits traverse from this world to the afterlife through one thing known as the Nice Shift. To take action, Kat should assist the ghost reassemble a motorbike 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, achieve sufficient rep to problem every space’s greatest bicyclist by finishing different races, and earn their legendary half. It’s a easy premise, pushing gamers to work together with the varied 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 – but it surely will get bland quick.
The open world is split into a number of distinct areas, together with a forest location harking back to the Pacific Northwest, a Tuscan-like winery, an autumnal coast, and extra. Other than visible modifications, these areas do little to change the biking gameplay. Certain, going by means of vines within the winery slows you down, and the forest space has extra elevation modifications than the coast, however in case you keep on the primary path of every race, these do little to modify up the system. And that system is rinse and repeat. The assorted query marks in your map grow to be one in every of 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 motorbike elements vendor.
Every race begins by speaking to a bunch 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. Thankfully, bonus targets, like discovering hidden “Okay-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 leap shortcut. And even worse, the programs bounce between uninteresting and annoying, particularly within the sport’s last space, which introduces an abundance of city structure and loads of automobiles that get in the best way.
The physics behind collisions, whether or not with different racers, automobiles, or buildings, typically really feel damaged and unfair. Colliding with a fellow bicyclist mildly breaks the sport, throwing me method off track in a method that doesn’t make sense. Generally Kat bounces proper off automobiles; different occasions, she crashes, and whenever you crash in Wheel World, you’re set again seconds within the race, typically inserting 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 very easy that catching up offered no provocation.
Even the bike itself doesn’t really feel nice; it’s serviceable at greatest, and when its physics really feel off, it seems like biking by means of slime. There are many elements to seek out all over the world (one of many solely causes to discover off the crushed path), and much more to purchase from distributors utilizing tickets you get from finishing aspect gigs like discovering hidden jumps, however irrespective of how I custom-made my bike, I felt little variation in the way it carried out. Selecting elements that made the stat bars go up served me greatest, regardless that Wheel World makes an attempt to push you to rebuild your bike in numerous 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 numerous elements I discovered shortly 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 towards every area’s greatest bicyclists would current one thing extra pleasurable. However nope; not solely did these races really feel like another, I typically 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 function or a bug. I skilled quite a few different points whereas enjoying, 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 high racer, she mentioned 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 high 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, but it surely’s the worst of all of them, and the query marks grow 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 last 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 experience I used to be promised with the Nice Shift.
There may be one vivid 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 unbiased music label Italians Do It Higher, Wheel World’s soundtrack is likely one of 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 infrequently clumsy gameplay that by no means felt nice. Its distinctive artwork type and wonderful soundtrack really feel wasted on what’s right here, and the premise of the sport is extra thrilling than something that really occurs. After I crossed Wheel World’s end line, I felt nothing about what I had completed, as a substitute feeling extra excited to get off this bike for good.
