
We could control all the aspects and tune the gameplay the way we wanted.

It's also very powerful for creating physics. It's quite evident on next-gen consoles that display these amazing visuals at 60 FPS. What made Unreal Engine a good fit for Hot Wheels Unleashed?Ĭaletti: Unreal Engine is very powerful for visuals, so we could achieve top-level graphics, and this is very important for players, but also enabled us to recreate the realistic look we wanted. These are the real Hot Wheels cars, down to the details, and you can play with them like never before. It all feels very real, unlike all the other video games from the franchise. So, real cars obviously, real sets, and we made the cars like the real toys. Were there any particular video games, television shows, or movies that you drew inspiration from when coming up with your approach to the game?Ĭaletti: We took inspiration from the Hot Wheels clips that Mattel makes you can find them on YouTube. It had to be fun to play even alone, so that races feel always on the verge of chaos, yet in control. Also, we focused on some mechanics like boosting and didn't want weapons that would overcomplicate the game. In Hot Wheels Unleashed, instead, the core gameplay-driving the cars-feels substantial and rewarding.

The cars behave on scripts, so there is little feeling of weight and reactions are always the same. How would you describe the approach you took to Hot Wheels Unleashed?Ĭaletti: As I was saying, most kart-like games don't have actual physics. There is a wide variety of approaches to racing games, even arcade racers. We expect some amazing creations from players. Also, the track editor is very complex, being the same the designer used to create the built-in tracks it's very powerful because it allows you to twist and bend road pieces. This added to the challenge-keeping the cars on the track, making handling fun, but managing jumps and ramps.

We didn't want a scripted feeling, so it's all actually physics-based. Milestone has been making authentic racing games for more than 25 years what was it like to transition over to an arcade racer based on toy cars? Were there any particular challenges you ran into?Ĭaletti: Gameplay is a key factor so we had to develop a new physics system for the title.
