After leaking out last month, Mattel and Milestone have confirmed that a sequel to 2021’s Hot Wheels Unleashed will be coming along later this year.
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged builds on the original game but brings new vehicle types, new driving mechanics, more game modes, an improved livery editor, and some fresh environments in which to build your perfect Hot Wheels track — which also includes new specialized modules.
At launch, HWU2T will feature over 130 vehicles, and that will include motorbikes and all-terrain vehicles for the first time. Milestone hasn’t yet provided a full car list, but we can see fan favorites like Deora II and Twin Mill among newcomers like Canyon Carver, Quad Rod, and Tiger Shark.
The vehicles fit into three categories — Stock, Powered, and Ultimate — and can be tuned with Skill Points and Perks to make for even wilder rides. There’s two new abilities too, with a lateral “dash” allowing you to quickly move to either side to knock opponents off course or correct your own, and a vertical jump.
In addition you’ll be able to customize the cars through a new livery editor which will introduce a “Sticker Editor”. That will allow you to make your own stickers in the game, which you can share with other players.
This is further enhanced by the inclusion of cross-platform sharing, which will see players on any of the four platform ecosystems able to share their creations with the entire HWU2T community from launch.
That includes circuit creations too, with five new environments within which to create your own Hot Wheels tracks. It’s not clear if the original game’s environments will carry over, but the five new ones — Arcade, Backyard, Dinosaur Museum, Gas Station, and Mini Golf Course — will be joined by a “Track Room” free space.
Your tracks can include new special modules, although at the moment Milestone is keeping the full scope of that under wraps. The trailer does include the Rolling Boulders piece, which was a paid add-on for the first game, though we don’t yet know if this will be included as standard in the sequel.
The game will also feature a new “story-driven career mode”, which will include four original characters, each with their own personality and background, as well as animated cutscenes as you progress through the story.
New multiplayer options include online and offline events, with drifting and games like Demo Derby, Elimination, and Grab the Gears. Online modes will also be fully cross-play enabled, with the exception of the Nintendo Switch, and local two-player split screen returns.
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged will launch on October 19 2023, and is available for pre-order now, on Nintendo Switch, PC via Epic and Steam, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox One/Series.
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