Hot Wheels Infinite Rush takes the wonderfully chaotic racing of the Unleashed games and decides that what it really needs is an enormous open world. Four islands, hundreds of activities and enough orange track to make a road planner reconsider his career choices. Thankfully, underneath all this ridiculous excess is still a cracking Hot Wheels racer that understands the most important rule: toy cars should be stupidly fast.
Gaming Heaven
The four islands are packed with things to do, from races and stunt challenges to time trials, drift events, deliveries and collectible hunts. Completing activities earns medals and unlocks progression towards the Rush Masters, while defeating them opens up new areas.
The 150 vehicles are arguably the star attraction. Speeders are brilliantly quick, Drifters make sliding around corners enormously satisfying, Titans provide some wonderfully chunky bullying and Versatiles offer dependable all-round performance. Collecting and unlocking new cars remains ridiculously addictive.
The racing itself retains the excellent feel of the previous games. Cars are rapid, lightweight and satisfyingly easy to send flying into whatever unfortunate scenery happens to be nearby. The island designs also provide plenty of opportunities for exploration, with hidden tracks, logos, stickers and activities scattered everywhere.
The photography challenges are a particularly nice distraction, giving you something to do when you’ve temporarily forgotten why you were supposed to be racing.
Gaming Hell
There’s perhaps too much going on. The open world occasionally feels like someone emptied an entire toy box onto the floor and called it level design. Progression also resets between islands, which feels slightly odd.
The soundtrack is another weak point, becoming repetitive surprisingly quickly.
Final Judgement
Hot Wheels Infinite Rush is bigger, busier and considerably more packed than its predecessors. Not every addition is essential, but the core racing remains excellent and the sheer number of cars and activities makes this an easy game to lose several evenings to.
It may be excessive, but frankly, subtlety has no business anywhere near Hot Wheels.
