Vin Diesel Wheelman
Producer: Ubisoft
Release Date: March 2009
Platform: PS3
Rating: Teen
Genre: Mission-based Driving
Buckle Up, It’s Gonna
Get a Little Bumpy!
Written by Andrew Gates
Vin Diesel stars as Wheelman (Milo Burik), an undercover operative and highly skilled driver who must infiltrate the criminal underworld of Barcelona to gather information about a covert heist. Posing as a driver for hire, he must raise the tension between the bitter rival city gangs whilst staying one step ahead of local law enforcement.
The game begins with an aerial tour of Barcelona. The camera comes down to street level to reveal you behind the wheel of a Pontiac G8 GT. With the engine running and the look in your eyes it appears you’re waiting for something, not sure what though. As you look around you spot the Policia rounding the corner in front of you. Their eyes are glued to you and as they come closer you lock eyes and time seems to slow as you think they may know what’s to come.
Appearing from the Paca De Catalunya is a very attractive woman dressed in all black with a look of determination. All of a sudden an alarm sounds signaling the Policia that just past you and many more. You throw the car in reverse and flip a 180 (Rockford) whipping the car around perfectly to pick up this woman, Lumi Vega. She jumps in the car shouting, “Venga, Venga, Venga!” That’s your cue to hit the gas and make a break for it as the Policia are hot on your tail with guns blazin’.
Wheelman is a very entertaining game with many Hollywood style stunts. The graphics and sound effects are amazing. It’s similar to GTA only it has its own personality. With this I mean you get the action and adventure with a few extras. The story is unclear at the start so if you haven’t read the synopsis you might not know exactly what you’re suppose to be there for, however you will catch on as the game progresses.
There are some great features to the game that I thoroughly enjoyed using the melee attack, side swipe, and the air jack (very Hollywood). It may be unbelievable, but it’s a video game. Once you get into the game and become familiar with its controls and missions you will find yourself spending many hours in front of the TV wanting more. There is another feature, I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing, on the missions page you have the option to jump from mission to mission without having to drive there. You can decide whether you like it or not. I found myself both jumping to the missions and driving to them. Some of the missions are a bit more difficult, but I think this helps keep it interesting, besides who wants to play a game that’s too easy. I don’t know about you, but I like a good challenge and Wheelman is right on the mark for that.