Wheels of Destruction

Every young boy when growing up would have at one stage wanted to drive a real life RC car they had growing up. Some may now have the money to do so. For the rest, the dream remains a dream. However, Gelid Games may not think so. Wheels of Destruction puts you in control of 5 different types of armoured vehicles and realises that once young boy-now a man’s dream and puts a big gun on top.

The aim of Wheels of Destruction is very simple as the title suggests. Make the other cars go boom in an exciting and explosive manner. The title has no story mode just a simple online or offline multiplayer for people to go and enjoy the fun. To do this, there are a number of weapons to get your teeth into. Each weapon of destruction comes with a primary and secondary function such as the standard Gatling gun: it comes with a rapid fire and a shotgun option that does more damage, but is slower to reload.

In Wheels of Destruction there are 5 types of weapons to choose from, which are collected on the field during play. As well as weapons, a plethora of items such as shields and repair items can be found. Navigating around the maps can take a while to get used to as there is no map system to see where opponents are or the layout ahead. This does give an added difficulty to the game however can be frustrating to find out who is hiding in the corner sniping you from a far.

Map issues aside, there are two modes to play: The death match and capture the flag. Death matches can either be played as a team or free-for-all, while flag capturing requires to be on a team. Each game can be selected with ease or if you are feeling frisky, random matches can be assigned. Both can be played on or offline, the latter is suggested to get to grips with the control system and find out which car is preferred.

Choosing a vehicle depends on the style of play, from heavily armoured and slow, to light and nippy with more manoeuvrability each car has pros and cons. Sluggish cars tend to be more of a target, where as lighter cars explode more frequently. While annihilating players is the aim, the game also has a damage system that recognises where damage has been hit. If players or AI have been hit hard enough, that part of the car falls off hindering players, mainly with missing wheels.

To inflict damage can be tricky, as Wheels of Destruction doesn’t have the greatest control system in the world. In fact, it is the biggest downfall to the game. Accelerating and reversing are fine so long as they are done so in a straight line. The left stick steers the car and the right controls the camera angle, this gain is fine until trying to get out of a corner or turn around quickly. It takes time to get used and if perseverance is applied then it is a fun game.

As an online multiplayer game, Wheels of Destruction takes story telling and throws it in the bin. It is a fun game, simple to start and easy to get into. The major downfall is the control system, and is too frustrating to be counterbalanced by all of its merits, it affects the game play in such away if you aren’t 100% used to it, the game is practically worthless. However, sticking with the game does give enjoyment, even if there isn’t much depth to it.