Fans of indie video games are already well-acquainted with a certain aesthetic. A somewhat cartoony look complementing comical animations to lighten the mood of otherwise heavy subject matters. Quirky sound effects added to the subtitles when expositing the narrative. If gold strikes, a timeless soundtrack by an inspired composer that takes a life of its own. Without trying to sound reductive, games with small teams need to have this frame of reference to appeal to their core audience. So what truly stands out in each of these examples? The individuality of it all. Wheel World lands somewhere squarely within these parameters, passionately making a cycling game that knows exactly what it wants to be, even if it struggles with its performance.
Broken Down Bike
Playing the role of Kat, this unassuming cyclist finds a flying skull called Skelly in a meadow that goes on to tell her that the world is in danger because he has not performed the Great Shift. To do so, you must obtain four legendary bike parts niftily placed in beautiful locations all over the main island. Starting in a tutorial area where you get your bearings and learn how cycling and changing parts work, these lessons ease you in through the brief ins and outs of Wheel World.
At the beginning, your bicycle will be nothing more than a run-down piece of metal in dire need of repairs, with hardly any maneuverability. Luckily, there are scattered bike parts throughout the world to replace your vehicle with something more decent. And exciting. By the time you realize it, you will be cutting corners and going at speeds previously unimaginable. That sense of progression is one key aspect of the gameplay loop. Just as your bike becomes the stuff of legend, so will your skills adapt to the advanced power.
Pushin’ To The Limit
Wheel World does not pretend to be more than what it is. Focused mainly on paying homage to cycling as a whole, you will spend most of your time racing against other cyclists against gorgeous backdrops. Greeted by a drone when arriving on the mainland, there are several side quests you can do in exchange for coupons to buy more bike parts. One of them is racing “lone wolves,” solitary cyclists who, by ringing your bell, a short race will initiate to reach a goal. These are cleverly situated as they make the journey from point A to B more entertaining.
You unlock fast travel by driving through porta-potties, ingenuously called “Portal Pottys.” There are puns just like that sprinkled all across the game, making you chuckle in otherwise brief conversations with every character. The fact that nothing is voiced keeps things moving in line with the ethos of the experience itself. Of course, the bread and butter of Wheel World is how extensive your bike customization is.
Pro Cyclists Know
As bicycle enthusiasts know, there is more to just hopping on a bike and pedaling. There are city bikes, mountain bikes, BMX bikes, and high-performance road bikes. And each of them serves a specialized purpose, be it for cycling on rough terrains, making sharp turns, or reaching the highest speeds known to man. Wheel World knows this, and that is why every race on offer is an opportunity for you to change your possessed bike to reach the best race results. To have a friend leaderboard to compete with just adds a spiciness to the challenge.
Regarding difficulty, Wheel World feels like a breeze, for the most part. All races are described as Easy, Medium, and Hard, to know what to expect. Bike parts are given for increasing your reputation, bought with vouchers after completing certain goals, or found in the overworld. This makes the progression natural to improve your bike’s abilities in sync with the more complex races that are presented in the latter half of the game. If players have issues with certain tracks, however, the other cyclists usually give straightforward advice, such as “this race is not about speed,” to tweak your parts according to the race presented.
Stutters Galore
Alas, something that is instantly noticeable as soon as the game boots up is the significant performance issues. Frame drops abound during the whole game, and even more so during the third act. This is especially disheartening considering the goal is to be as fast and precise as possible at all times, and some late-game issues do not help. Some cyclists run wild on the road. Perhaps too wild. Stumbling upon cars and obstacles, they never fall and may interfere with your path and mess up a 4-minute race just at the very end.
That said, the attention to detail in the DualSense’s haptic feedback pays in dividends, as cycling through wood, rocks, or water is reflected in the controller’s vibration. The ringing of the bell also feels livelier through the controller speaker. And, to wrap up, the Adaptive Triggers do an excellent job of portraying resistance when cycling uphill.
Conclusion
The musical curation is impeccable in each race. Exhilarating electronic music in tune with the atmosphere allows you to lose yourself in the thrill of the moment, if for a few seconds. When racing, that breathtaking feeling of being a cyclist about to win the Tour de France is inspiring. Wheel World, ultimately, is committed to the unparalleled sensation of freedom. Hampered by performance issues, it does its best to recreate the joys of cycling.
Thank you to our PR partners and Annapurna Interactive for the Wheel World code. You can find our review policy here.
