Wheel World is an open world biking title with a transparent love for all issues biking. Whereas it is extra of an arcade racer than some kind of bicycle simulator, it manages to seize the fun of pedalling like only a few different video games have.
You play because the comically unbothered Kat, a silent protagonist who units out on a quest to assist Skully — a floating skull-shaped spirit who must restore his legendary bike. The surface-level story’s pretty charming whereas it lasts, however Wheel World’s all in regards to the gameplay.
Following on from a quick introductory chapter, you are free to trip by the open world, which is made up of a number of districts. The concept is that as a way to rebuild Skully’s bike, you must acquire the all-important components from the continent’s finest cyclists, every of whom reside in several components of the map.
So, you pedal from place to position, steadily customising and enhancing your trip with new frames, wheels, deal with bars, seats, and kit chains that you just both purchase, stumble throughout, or win in races. And as soon as your bike’s in fine condition, you begin taking up more and more troublesome challenges.
There is a very nice development curve to Wheel World. The sport’s solely round six or seven hours lengthy, however the close to fixed rewards and tangible bike upgrades make it really feel like a correct journey to the highest. Coming again to earlier races — which as soon as appeared fairly tough — and totally dominating together with your a lot improved trip feels nice.
The races themselves are dotted throughout the map. Some characteristic quick routes that reward velocity, whereas others are made up of tangled roads and filth paths that require extra dextrous dealing with.
You possibly can win most races simply by ensuring that your bike’s construct is suitably well-rounded, however as a way to set file occasions and declare victory on the user-based leaderboards, you may have to assume a bit of more durable about preparation.
With satisfyingly tight controls and a few implausible haptic suggestions on PS5, really enjoying Wheel World is usually a pleasure. The DualSense rumbles and whirls in several methods relying in your velocity and the kind of floor you are overlaying, which actually provides to the title’s already tactile really feel.
Churning uphill, hurtling downhill, braking and virtually drifting into hairpin bends… Wheel World will get a lot proper that it stings when the sport finally drops the ball. It is not a dealbreaker, however the title’s final couple of hours or so undergo from a dip in general high quality.
Racing routes change into an increasing number of finicky, with particularly slim tracks forcing conditions the place your AI-driven opponents begin bumping into you. This does not sound like an enormous subject on paper, however in apply, taking a knock often dampens your management over Kat to a big diploma, sending you off target or, in case you’re going at velocity, careering into the closest wall.
By this level within the sport, only one bump will be sufficient to destroy a complete race, and given how erratic your AI adversaries will be, there is not any definitive approach to counteract their randomised bullying. With how wonderful every thing else feels, the collision system — or lack thereof — looks like a bizarre misstep (and we’re hoping that it is tweaked post-launch).
Sadly, extra missteps are made in the case of the title’s efficiency. Even on PS5 Professional, there are some fairly heavy body fee drops in dense areas, just like the traffic-laden metropolis part of the map. The sport’s tight and responsive controls save these dips from being an entire catastrophe, however they’re nonetheless tough, and display screen tearing out within the extra open environments is an annoyance as properly.
Conclusion
Wheel World is a delightfully tactile indie title, and an actual celebration of biking. It feels implausible to play and it is beautiful to have a look at, nevertheless it’s held again by a finicky finale and poor efficiency on PS5. We’re hoping that a few significant post-release patches will handle our complaints, as a result of at its core, Wheel World is joyous.
