As the game industry has grown over the years, more and more games are coming out that are movie tie-ins, with almost every major film release having a game released alongside it. Then there are occasions when a game will be so good that it will inspire a film to tell the story, such as Doom or Hitman. Rarer still are the games that are seen as sequels to a previous film, such as John Woo's Stranglehold (with Hard Boiled being the film prequel). Wheelman starring Vin Diesel doesn't fall into any of these current categories. It hasn't used a film for inspiration, and there is currently no film being done about the game. Instead, the game is set up to play out like a film, with a Hollywood star in the leading role and a storyline that they hope will grip you and pull you in. Unfortunately however, following the story can be as difficult as trying to follow a foreign film that doesn't have any subtitles.
Wheelman feels like a huge missed opportunity for me. While the driving side of the game can be quite fun, the way the rest of the game lets it down is bordering on unforgivable. With a much tighter story, better on foot action and a greater variety of side missions, Wheelman could have been an enjoyable and over-the-top experience. As it stands, it finds itself outgunned at virtually every turn by the rest of the games in the sandbox genre. With a story that's near impossible to follow for the 8 hours or so that it lasts, I find this very hard to recommend to anyone except the die hard Vin Diesel fans who are desperate to play another game starring the big man.
From Xfire: "Video game enthusiast and Hollywood superstar, Vin Diesel, has taken his talents to video games numerous times. We've decided to rank all of his games from the worst to the best."
“Ranking every game with Vin Diesel from terrible to bad”
Fixed the title for you.
Obviously too young or ill-informed to pass judgement. Honestly, Orchard. You just mugged yourself off. Starbreeze Studios' The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a very well-known classic.
Butcher Bay was great. From the prolog, fist fighting, knife fights and story. The immersion of the whole package really uped the criteria of what a cutting edge game was back then. I would like another adventure with Riddick, but it would have to be triple A status to live up to Butcher Bay.
In this episode of InRetroSpect RAW, Dan, Pete & Kris argue over which games demand a sequel. Hear Pete confuse us with Prince of Persia timelines, Kris drops the ball with an unprecedented late swap and find out which game makes Dan threaten to leave if it isn’t included.
Remember everyone, Sega thought it was a better idea to invest in Aliens: Colonial Marines than Shenmue 3.
I never played the Shenmue games, but I've always wanted another Valkeria Chronicles on a main console. So I'd be happy to lend you all my pitchfork when you rise up against Sega.
Game Informer - When Wheelman was announced back in 2006, the project was full of promise. It had big star Vin Diesel attached along with his boutique development house Tigon Studios (which also worked on the great The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay). It was tied to a film of the same name and the stories would weave together. Over the years to its 2009 release, however, publisher Midway's financial problems kept getting worse, and the film counterpart never got off the ground (much like Midway's failed attempt to tie a movie to 2006 game Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run). Out of all the turmoil, primary developer Midway Studios - Newcastle somehow managed to turn in a fun popcorn flick of a driving game with ridiculous, yet exciting Hollywood-style action around every turn.
