Gelid Games has developed Wheels of Destruction as a downloadable title available exclusively for the PS Store to satisfy players’ needs to crash and burn their cars. Watch out as the things going on in this game is not for the faint at heart. You’ll have to face plenty of craziness peppered with explosions and crashes. Hey, sounds like fun!
Wheels of Destruction will have players driving their cars as their implements of mayhem. In terms of the number of modes available, you have the Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag, which is typical of what you’d expect in an online FPS type of game.  There may not necessarily be enough content to keep you occupied within first glance, but you could potentially be addicted if you’re the type of player that likes combat driving. Deathmatch involves a free-for-all where you’re trying to get as many kills as possible. The one who ends up with the highest number wins. In Team Deathmatch, you’re working in a group effort with other cars to get the highest number of kills. Finally in Capture the Flag, you’re also working in a team setting but with an objective of stealing your opponent team’s flag and returning to your base to get a point. The team with the most number of flags captured within the time limit wins the match.
In any case, when you die, the time to respawn is just a matter of a couple of seconds.  Compared to a majority of FPS games I played before, this feels very fast and therefore makes the action more worthwhile as there is very little waiting time. And you can even quickly change your car class during the respawn to change up your strategy.
You have various vehicle classes to choose from. First you have the Soldier which is your standard middle-of-the-class type that is usually a good one to choose if you’re starting out. But if you can sacrifice speed for strength and power, then you’ll want to have a look at the Heavy class. On the other hand, if you prefer to be lightning quick, you’ll want to step into the Scout with its sporty look. Then you have the Engineer which is more of an off road buggy that is best suited if you’re looking for a good defensive shield as well as a boost. Finally, you have the Assassin which is very fast and can pull off some true damage, but here you’ll be more vulnerable amongst the other classes. Having a number of vehicles to choose from helps to keep the game lively. However, it would have been nice if we can a little more variety in terms of the cars available. Perhaps having more options for changing the look of the cars other than just having blue and red colors would be stellar.
Any of the modes can be played either offline with a bunch of bots or online with up to 12 players. It’s a lot more entertaining playing against others online rather than on your own. In addition, the game runs without much lag and feels quite smooth. However, I have experienced some hiccups while communicating via voice chat.
In Wheels of Destruction, you’ll be battling in your car across different geographical locations including London, Tokyo, Paris, Seattle, and Rome. While the map themselves are pretty massive, they also have an apocalyptic atmosphere attached to it. These futuristic environments also have a few areas with traps that can easily have you falling to your death.
In terms of the graphics, Wheels of Destruction looks striking amazing with all the on-screen driving action. The vehicles move very smoothly as the game’s frame rate moves at a constant pace when even all the explosions are happening. Furthermore, the audio works brilliantly with the graphics. The music feels quite energetic and full of life while the crashing noises of the cars help to ensure that you realize you’re in a combat type of setting.
In Wheels of Destruction, there is a major drawback that can easily deter players from enjoying this game further: the controls! Looking at other driving/combat games out there, maneuvering your car in this case is the most difficult I’ve come across. Instead of moving your car directly, you’re controlling the camera. Basically, your car responds based on your point of view. This is problematic especially when trying to get around tight areas as well as backing up. Consequently, you can get stuck as soon as you crash into walls and have to drive in reverse. So the responsiveness is pretty bad here. You do have the ability to allow your car to drift, but it won’t be a saving grace to such cumbersome controls.
Step into the arena of Wheels of Destruction and you’ll find that it can be a fun little game as long as you get used to the controls. In fact, if Gelid Games fixes this up in a future patch, it would be an even uplifting combat driving title to consider. The $9.99 is a good price but you may want to wait for a sale if you’re expecting the amount of content to be equivalent to that in Twisted Metal. Otherwise, if you’re a die hard fan of the genre, it’d be a good idea to take this for a test drive.
