14 DAY TRIAL // 
A few gaming genres are currently dominating the market. Besides the ever so popular music games, we also have racing and sandbox titles, which try to offer the player a great, adrenaline-filled experience in an open world.
As Midway couldn't convince movie star Vin Diesel to take up singing, it settled with two of his hobbies, car racing, as seen in the Fast and Furious movie franchise, and adventure, as seen in titles such as Triple X or The Chronicles of Riddick. This is how Wheelman was born, a game with a pretty troubled past, as it was developed by Midway in cooperation with Diesel's Tigon studio and was picked up and published by Ubisoft when Midway filed for bankruptcy.
After some troubled conception and quite a few delays, the game has finally arrived on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. We took the PC version for a spin and here is our full review of our adventures through the streets of Barcelona.
Story
The story of the game plays out like a typical Hollywood movie, as Vin Diesel, playing CIA agent Milo Burik, appears in Barcelona as a wheelman looking for work. After befriending a local thief who also works part time as a flamenco dancer, he makes contacts with all of the three criminal factions in Barcelona. The Chulos Canallas street racers, the Los Lantos mafia and the Romanian arm dealers share bitter rivalries, and it is Vin... Burik's job to get involved and gain information about an upcoming weapon transfer.
The game carries out the same Hollywood-inspired story into the actual missions as you are essentially playing out a big blockbuster made in Los Angeles. The story doesn't try to offer insight into the motivations of the criminals present, limiting itself to the fact sheets you unlock after meeting each of them. It doesn't try to be very deep because Wheelman is a game similar to a summer big budget movie, which offers you some interesting thrills but isn't a carefully laid out or well orchestrated masterpiece like The Dark Knight.
Diesel plays his part quite well, that of the stereotypical government agent who goes undercover with the criminal organizations. He doesn't show any big emotions, but it's the kind of role we got used to seeing him play. Sadly, the plot is paper thin and you will see the big twist at the end of the game from a mile away.
Gameplay
Gameplay-wise, Wheelman plays its part quite solidly. You can think of it as a cross among Grand Theft Auto IV and Saints Row 2 in terms of driving and gang warfare, and Burnout Paradise, in terms of car versus car warfare. It borrowed all of these elements and managed to intertwine them quite well and delivered a very polished product.
The controls are as solid on the PC as on the consoles, and will certainly entertain a lot of people who want a good sandbox game, which looks great and has an arcade driving mechanic that will make the roads through the streets much more enjoyable.
The shooting mechanic also fulfills its duties quite well, but a very annoying feature is also present, as each time Diesel kills one of his enemies, a special effect appears, shaking the view; plus, a noise is heard. As one of my colleagues pointed out, it might be the fact that Vin Diesel is sorry for each virtual villain he kills.
The vehicle melee options are very interesting, as you can use your own car as a weapon by flicking it towards your enemies until their cars are reduced to a burning hulk of crushed metal, each time playing in slow motion so you can enjoy the carnage that you are responsible for.
Another interesting feature is the Air Jack maneuver, in which Diesel jumps from his current car and onto the roof of another one, then, by a single movement, kicks the driver out of the car and installs himself into the driving seat. It is pretty interesting, but sadly it doesn't work all the time, as you need to be lined up with the car in front of you, and, in some missions, they even restrict the cars you can get into. Also, the fact that there are few cars on your current direction of travel makes it very hard to jump out of a flaming vehicle that is on the verge of blowing up.
The AI is pretty smart, but a bit too trigger happy for my taste, as each time your enemies see you, they won't stop firing their weapons until they need to reload. This is especially frustrating when you are driving - if you don't fulfill all of the side missions, your car's health will go down quite fast after they empty out a few rounds in it.
Speaking of bonus missions, their main objective is to either increase your or your car's health and to secure your new weapon stashes around the city. They consist of either street races, where you can destroy your opponents, escape events, where you need to get out of territories dominated by one of the gangs, contracts, where you need to take out a target vehicle, collection events, where you need to gather packages spread across a wide area in as little time as possible, and the classic taxi missions.
Concept
The concept of the game isn't very original, but gets the job done. It is just what you would expect from a Hollywood summer blockbuster, with high speed car chases, stereotypical heroes, lots of explosions and a plot that barely holds things together. The action is pretty diverse, but doesn't strive to take game design to new levels.
Given the troubled development cycle and the fact that it was partly published by a financially struggling Midway, you could say that it is much better than expected. All in all, with such a short gameplay and the fact that you can easily complete it in one session leaves a lot of potential unexploited. Hopefully, with Ubisoft taking care of it now, we might see something very good come out of it.
Visuals and Audio
In terms of graphics, the game looks very good, reaching a midway point between GTA IV and Saints Row 2. The buildings and all of the historical landmarks are very detailed, with the game being a good substitute for a Barcelona city guide sometimes. The cars are diversified, as you can find a variety of licensed and unlicensed vehicles in which you can Air Jack.
The character models are detailed but you will always see them in the cut scenes that are played before missions. The cars handle damage quite well, with all of the bruises acquired in vehicle melee being shown on the body work. It is the same as the whole game up until now, as it looks good but won't knock your socks off.
Audio-wise, the game offers a pretty good experience, with the cars sounding extremely good. The Latino soundtrack goes really well with the theme of the game, and the whole looks of Barcelona kinda makes you want to jump out of the car and take a stroll down the seaside.
The voice acting is also quite good, with kudos going to the team that created the taunts, as all of them are very well done in the Spanish or Romanian languages and the Catalan dialect. The cars sound well, differentiating between high-powered convertibles and small and smart cars.
Conclusion
I started Wheelman with very low expectations, but to my surprise, the game is pretty good. Don't go buying it and expect a Grand Theft Auto IV experience in terms of realism or a Saints Row 2 in terms of pure fun. The game has taken these two titles, mixed them up with a few other elements, and revealed a decent product.
All in all, the resemblance of this game with a Hollywood summer action flick is quite fair, as it offers us big actors, a wonderful setting, a pretty good plot, all coupled with many explosions. If you want to unwind with a game that doesn't require too much effort to play, until you get to some of the more annoying missions, then this title is for you.
