HOT WHEELS™ Infinite Rush review

It's pretty cool how our favorite plastic has grown over the years. This isn't Hot Wheels' first foray into games, and my wife's and my gaming memories both include the hot orange tracks laid across a digital bedroom. There have been other recent entries, all great, but Infinite Rush offers a new frontier for the series: open-world. Now that I've played Infinite Rush, this latest Hot Wheels title enjoys the same innovative jump that Forza Motorsports got when Forza Horizon released, and it's arguably in the same zip code.

Hot Wheels Infinite Rush throws you into the world with a couple of tutorials and lets you figure out the rest. It's thorough, but off to the races. There is no story to speak of; it's kind of like playing with Hot Wheels as a kid; you just make it up as you go along. While I don't think the absence of a narrative hurts this kind of game, I can say the later parts of Infinite Rush could benefit from the structure and depth a story campaign would have added. It can get grindy out there, but more on that later.

This game is all about the gameplay, and it shines. Hot Wheels’ games are generally a fun time, with smooth and intuitive control over your choice of plastic car. It's crisp, with a weighty feel and well-implemented boost and drift. Depending on your preferred playstyle, you can whip out one of four classes of cars: Versatile, Drifter, Speeder, Titan. The names give them away, but essentially one is a jack-of-all-trades, another takes the curve with more ease, one is fast, and another is better off-road. The coolest thing is the implementation; you choose what model you want from the cars in your garage of each of the four, and then you can swap between classes on the fly while in the open world.

That’s not the end of the tweaks you can make either, as a set of four perks are also available to be unlocked as you level up. Earning each slot is admittedly a bit obscure, but as you do, you can add little boosts like better handling or acceleration. It reminds me of the perk system in Call of Duty to a degree, and each car can have a specific set so you can curate a particular build in order to take on certain missions or tasks.

Infinite Rush takes the above gameplay foundation and lets you enjoy it across four huge playgrounds: different thematic islands, and they are awesome. Only one would arguably be more than enough space to play Infinite Rush in full, but four leads to a wealth of exploration. You don’t have timelines to finish objectives until you actually start them, so if you wish, you can simply drive around to your heart’s desire. This freedom is vibey in the same way Forza Horizon’s zooming around and Marvel’s Spider-Man’s web-swinging are; there’s a zen feeling to just hitting the open road… or going off the beaten path.

They’re also varied and colorful in the best of ways. Each island provides a unique backdrop; the Japan-themed hills of Drifty Temples, the dusty canyons of Gearville, the cityscapes of Wheelswood, and the mish-mash of almost everything in Tentacle Bay make for several locations worth visiting. Similar to real-life playmats, each one feels like something a little kid would build in their room – but the fantastical version that lives in their head. One of my favorite things about each area is that the only thing nailed down is the buildings; everything else goes flying as you hit it: trees, light poles, other cars, and more.

If you like Hot Wheels cars, there is a whole lot to find, collect, and customize in Infinite Rush. The livery sports over 150 vehicles, with plenty of wild designs to go with the classics. It’s amazing to go into your collection and see not only the cars, but the descriptions telling you when they were released and their full names. Besides this, you can take them and fully personalize them in color, interior, wheels, and more. Milestone has a great system here that lets you accumulate dope models and make them your own.

To collect them all, you’re going to have to put in the hours in Infinite Rush. This is where Hot Wheels' grindy nature can rear its ugly head. With so many cars available to grab, there is bound to be a lot of rinse and repeat. Infinite Rush offers an alright amount of variety in order to help you get to your destination, but you will do the same things, same modes, and same tracks over and over in order to fill out your garage.

The best fashion in acquiring new cars is the Daredevil challenges. While it's repetitive, these pop up randomly, requiring you to chase down the marked vehicle and hold down a button prompt in order to start the challenge. From here, it's a quick race through some checkpoints, and if you win, the car is yours. As it's arbitrary what car actually appears, this isn't the way you'll get what you specifically want, but I love the idea.

Other game modes include standard races and time trials, elimination bouts where you try to stay in the lead to avoid a cut after a timer counts down, drift challenges where the better the drift, the better the score, and smashing tires tests which have you hitting big and small tires littering the track over a lap as quickly as possible to build your point totals. These are your main missions, the ones Infinite Rush demands for you to unlock the islands and encounter Rushers: the “final boss car” after you complete a set amount of main races.

Side tasks are scattered across every map and don't take long to finish. Most will take you a couple of minutes at most, which makes for easy coins to use to buy cars and other extras from the dealership on each island. There are photo spots to capture specific cars and points of interest, deliveries where you'll try to get to a spot as fast as you can without hitting anything, and so on. My favorite is the stuntman quest, where you just knock over as much stuff as you can in a certain timeframe and circumference. Thankfully, all of these above are logged on the map, and the greater island map will let you know what you’ve completed so far on it.

You'll find a couple of other bonus objectives, like photographing stickers that pop up in the environment, so it's worth exploring as much of the map as possible. With a smorgasbord of optional content across each island, you won't be at a loss for something to do, even if they run together after a while. One I don't like is the gears, little floating collectibles that are all over the place. They make me think of the Assassin’s Creed II feathers, and there are that many, if not more, in Infinite Rush. I’m sure the reward is there, but the motivation to search for them isn’t.

Maybe you’ve done everything there is to do on the maps available, which could eventually happen. The good news is that’s not the end of where you can race in Infinite Rush. You can build new tracks to race on, and it’s incredibly intuitive in action! If someone like me can figure it out, anyone can. Milestone even has an online library available, allowing you to upload your creations for others to enjoy.

For the more competitive or friendly players, you can dive into co-op or online play. There is, in fact, a ranked mode, letting you fight your way up leaderboards to show everyone who’s best. Even so, if you’re more chill, there is a playlist mode so you can still show your stuff, just in a more casual environment. In co-op, there are five modes available, all stemming from the main missions of Infinite Rush. I spent a bit of time with them after roping my wife in to play, and it ran flawlessly. It’s great to have a game available that lets more people play together, and I’m sure there are plenty of kids who will want to jump in with their friends or parents who’ll use Infinite Rush to introduce their kids to a racing game.

One of my few issues with Infinite Rush comes down to the loading situation. After every main race, you spend a minute waiting for the island to load up. Given that's what you’re generally engaging with, it breaks up the fun. Along with this, Infinite Rush is also logging your stats from your accomplishments online. You can’t control your car when you’re doing this, and I’ve watched my poor vehicle just roll on when it’s a side activity which doesn’t necessitate reloading the map. If some tuning can be done here, it’d be appreciated.

I can’t end this review without praising the sounds of Hot Wheels Infinite Rush. The cars themselves are outstanding, with tons of plastic sounds that feel ripped right from a Hot Wheels car. The first time I landed funny and heard the sound of the wheels clacking, I smiled. Each main race also has a seriously bumping soundtrack. Whoever composed the Infinite Rush music needs a raise right now.