Hot Wheels Infinite Rush - Switch 2 Review

The last thing I expected would happen to me when I joined Switchaboo was becoming a fan of Hot Wheels. Don’t get me wrong, like most people, I grew up owning a few as a kid but I never really saw them as anything other than toy cars. Fast forward to a few days ago at the time of writing, excitedly waiting for the install to finish on what will be my third Milestone-publishped Hot Wheels review. Hot Wheels Infinite Rush takes the Hot Wheels Unleashed gameplay out on the open road with a new open-world setting. Does this change in gameplay style work for Hot Wheels? Strap yourselves in and I’ll tell you all about it.

The Good

After really getting into the developer’s previous Hot Wheels titles, I ended up checking out their latest original racing game, Screamer, only to really not like that game’s controls. When Hot Wheels Infinite Rush was announced, I was a little anxious at the possibility of Milestone replacing the control scheme that worked for their Hot Wheels titles and making them more in line with Screamer. My fears were very quickly calmed after discovering they went back to Hot Wheels Unleashed’s controls. The simple yet expressive control scheme of the previous titles is back and better than ever, albeit missing the jump from Hot Wheels Unleashed 2, so fans of the series will feel right at home when booting up the game.

Being an open-world game, Hot Wheels Infinite Rush adds a multitude of new content into the series’ formula. Going from what you’d expect, like your typical races, elimination challenges and sprint challenges, to more challenging stuff like drift challenges and checkpoint races and even stuff that takes advantage of the open world, like photo mode challenges, roaming boss races and multiple collectables and new cars to find. With all of this stuff spread over four fully explorable islands, you’re going to have a hard time not having something to do.

TL;DR

• Controls are tight and responsive
• A large variety of open-world content

The Bad

Hot Wheels Infinite Rush has no story, which, to be fair, not all games need, but in a game like this when you’re thrown into an open world with the freedom to do whatever, it's nice to have an overarching goal to remind you why you’re doing all this in the first place. It feels like the devs over at Milestone were going for a more toybox approach, which makes sense; this is a game based on toy cars after all, but personally I prefer having a goal to work towards rather than being dropped into a world and being told to do whatever.

My biggest gripe with Hot Wheels Infinite Rush was one I saw coming right from the announcement trailer: the open world made the track design less interesting. The previous games would have a handful of set locations and each track was made with these locations in mind (e.g a track set in the diner could have you drive on the countertop, out the front door, into an open van and then circle back into the diner through the drive-in window.) But because Hot Wheels Infinite Rush is an open-world game, a lot of the fun and zany track designs are removed in favour of letting the player drive more freely around the world. Some fun set pieces are built into the world but they are scarcely used. Heck, I think there are only three loops in the entire game now that I’m thinking about it. And on top of that, the absolute best feature of the previous two games has been removed for the same reason. So long custom track builder, you will be missed.

Now this is an issue I ran into quite frequently while playing but could be patched out by the time you’re reading this. I would constantly run into a glitch that would cause the pause menu to open up despite never hitting the button. At first I thought it could’ve been an issue with my pro controller but the issue kept persisting after switching to my Joy-Cons.

TL;DR

• Lack of story gives no agency to the player
• Track design is toned down in favour of an open world
• Custom track builder has been removed
• Occasional glitch causing the pause menu to open randomly

Final Score: 7/10

Hot Wheels Infinite Rush is yet another fantastic game by a development team that knows what to do with the IP but the change to an open-world format holds it back from being truly incredible. If you’re looking for the kind of thrill you’d get from their previous titles, you may not get that itch scratched here but if you’re looking for something a bit more laid back, then this is for you.

Thank you for checking out our Hot Wheels Infinite Rush Switch 2 review, thank you to Milestones (via PLAION PR) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

• Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out)
• Bel Cubitt
• Bobby Jack
• Jack Caven
• Nintendo Maniacs
• RedHero