Milestone Games appear to be on quite a run with their Hot Wheels license. With the original Unleashed garnering a 10/10 from us and its sequel bettering it in nearly every way, it’s fair to say the trajectory is strong heading into their third title, Infinite Rush. Expectations are high, though this one is an entirely different beast all told, and because of that, doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of its predecessors. 

As is customary with a long running linear franchise, it was only a matter of time before the move to open world was the big selling point. Here though, there are four brand new open world locations to run your tiny Hot Wheels cars around in, all stuffed with collectibles, races, time trials, drift attacks and all manner of racing goodness to keep you satiated.

Of course one of the biggest draws of Hot Wheels is that ‘small but big’ feel that was absolutely nailed to the wall in the Unleashed games. That the courses were in bedrooms, living rooms, garages and gardens gave the game an immediate charm offensive, a nice reminder of when we used to build our own Hot Wheels courses. It clicked with nostalgia bait along with the need for speed, and tearing it around the tracks was always an absolute delight.

In Infinite Rush then, the open worlds certainly have lost that aspect, and as such don’t feel quite as interconnected to our memories as the original two did. The open worlds are full of life, but still feel oddly flat in comparison to the creativity and uniqueness of those classic courses in Unleashed 1 and 2. The city – its first location – doesn’t do an awful lot to sway the fact that Hot Wheels doesn’t belong in giant cities, and instead should be recreated in your front or back garden if you must take it outside. It certainly turns the joy of Hot Wheels into something far more generic and not quite as giddily exciting. 

Still, there’s a ton to like about Infinite Rush and that’s primarily about the sheer number of vehicles you have at your disposal. The Hot Wheels roster is seemingly Infinite(!) at this point, and as such, IR has taken that and ran with it tenfold. With over 150 cars at launch across Versatile, Speeder, Titan and Drifter classes, you’ll have to choose carefully before heading into particular races in particular locations to get the very best out of them. Boost and drift are still just as important as they were in Unleashed and mastering them will make the difference between first and, well, not first. 

Fortunately each open world location is drenched in orange racetracks to ensure each area has that unique Hot Wheels racing. Large courses, wide segments and plenty of boost pads to turn you upside down with little effort. It’s only a small part of each course, mind, as the open worlds do encourage exploration as you’ll be driving around finding all sorts of fun things to unlock other fun things to make the fun you’re having even more fun. Hey, nobody said it was original. 

It certainly feels a little more LEGO 2K Drive and a little less Forza Horizon. Whilst the latter has clearly influenced Infinite Rush, its execution falls way behind. The cities are large and full of ‘things’, but none of it captures the fun of the original two games for my taste. There’s something so exciting about tearing it across a Hot Wheels track in a bathroom, seeing the giant bottles of soap as you drift past them and giving you not only Hot Wheels nostalgia but damn Micro Machines. It all works cohesively to endure that feeling, Infinite Rush just feels a step too far away from that magic and does little to remind you that these are just toys running around a track – which is all Hot Wheels ever needs to be. 

There are fun challenges though. As you’re quietly driving around a city collecting Hot Wheels logos you’ll spot a ‘Daredevil’ racer, whose car you can win as your own if you beat them in a head to head race. These scarce moments were undoubtedly the highlight for me – away from the primary races – of what’s available in these open worlds. The races certainly weren’t easy, and if you don’t get a good start you won’t stand a chance.

Visually is where Infinite Rush nails down the Hot Wheels aspect better than anywhere else. It certainly looks like it belongs in the same series as Unleashed. The colours are brash, vibrant and loud, the cars look like toy cars with their tiny wheels and no driver. The open worlds are alive and kicking and it all runs impeccably smoothly (granted I’m reviewing the game on a PS5 Pro). No complaints from a technical standpoint, it’s all very shiny.

And boy do the cars feel good. OK, not ‘good’ in a Forza Horizon sense but ‘good’ as in ‘these cars are toys so lets not pretend they need to be particularly realistic when it comes to handling and understeer ok’ kind of way. One of the many, many highlights of the original two games comes from the fact the races are so excellent, and the cars feel fantastic to control and there is no difference here. The focus on drifting and boosting brings that classic arcade feel to proceedings and is all the better for it, and allows you to feel like you’re tearing around these glorious Hot Wheels tracks with little effort. The ‘drifter-class’ vehicles are so fun to play with, and it’ll be a while before I get bored of tearing them around my custom made racing tracks. 

So yes there are definite highlights in Infinite Rush and as a standalone racer, it’s a blast. As someone who adored the Unleashed games, though, Infinite Rush doesn’t hold a candle to them in any real way, and feels unnecessarily expansive when it never needed to be. The game looks, feels and plays great, and is certainly worth the asking price – there’s a ton of game here -, but a lot of it feels overly familiar, and away from the custom tracks and the driverless toy cars, it doesn’t much feel like a genuine Hot Wheels experience, and that’s a huge disappointment.

Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush is available on September 10th on PS5 (review platform), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.

Developer: Milestone
Publisher: Milestone

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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