Milestone has shown off what could be Hot Wheels Unleashed’s best feature with a couple of new videos. Track Builder is exactly as it sounds: a course creator kit using the famous orange track.
While we recently got to have some hands-on time with HWU, the Track Builder function was locked out. However the new videos show off a feature with some pretty impressive possibilities.
Through what seems to be a relatively simple interface, players can create the Hot Wheels track they always wished they had. You’ll need to start off with a start, as all tracks — whether circuit or point-to-point — need a launch point, but thereafter it looks like you’re free to do whatever you like within the track budget.
There’s a number of modules you can use, from basic track to animated sections like the Spider Trap. That naturally includes classic Hot Wheels loops, with left- and right-hand options, as well as things like the magnetic track sections.
That said, even the “basic” track isn’t all that basic. You can adjust the properties of these individual track sections to make them longer or shorter, curved to one side or the other in whatever severity you wish, and even twist the track to give some horrible camber.
Alongside the shape adjustment, you can also edit the track color, change the properties of the side walls individually to add barriers or leave them open for cars to plunge to their fates, and add special objects like barriers or boost pads.
As well as the visible pieces, there’s also some invisible ones. The invisible track allows you to create gaps — jumps, or drops down into the environment — while still joining the track to make a valid course.
Players can set their courses in any one of the six game environments, or in a special blank canvas area called the Track Room. The budget seems to allow for around 30 pieces — fewer if there’s more complex modules involved — but at the scale involved that makes for a pretty lengthy track.
Once created, you’ll be able to share your circuit with the community and, of course, download and use tracks that other players have created.
To combine with the trailer, which also shows off seven new cars — 24 Ours, Off-Duty, RocketFire, Street Creeper, Supercharged, Surf ‘N Turf, and Tricera-Truck — Milestone has released a short walkthrough of the Track Builder’s possibilities. This includes an eighth new vehicle, which is a tractor specifically for validating your course.
Two years in the making, the Track Builder looks to be really rather versatile. In fact Milestone made the game’s own courses — around 40 or so — using the feature itself, so players can make layouts that match the quality and complexity of the pre-made versions… or even exceed them.
There’s still three months to wait to get your hands on Hot Wheels Unleashed, with a launch date of September 30 across PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and Epic.
See more articles on Hot Wheels.
I like to do that because I got hot wheels