Wheelman (video game)

Did You Know?

• In the demo, the license plate on a vehicle reads MRTL KM8T, a reference to Mortal Kombat.
• The game was the second of three titles in a joint collaboration between Midway and MTV Networks.
• The budget for Wheelman was believed to be north of $15 million.

Gameplay

The game is set in an open world modeled after Barcelona, with destructible objects, alleyways, and shortcuts through office blocks. It includes 31 story missions and 105 side missions. Most missions are driving-oriented, but foot missions are played from a third-person perspective. Weapons include pistols, assault rifles, and RPGs. The Airjack feature lets players hijack vehicles by locking on and jumping from their own car. Vehicles used by Milo Burik include the Pontiac G8 and Opel Astra.

Plot

Milo Burik, a CIA undercover agent, investigates a briefcase of classified documents sought by Barcelona's criminal factions. He works under assistant bureau chief Anton Gallo and poses as a getaway driver for independent thief Lumi Vega, who is assembling a heist team. Milo infiltrates the Chulos Canallas gang, befriending enforcer Miguel Delgado, brother of leader Stavo. After retrieving stolen vehicles, he confronts Felipe Lial, nephew of Los Lantos head Paulo Lial. Felipe, dissatisfied with Los Lantos, has been sharing information among factions. Milo intimidates Felipe into arranging a meeting with Paulo, who is impressed and orders Milo to escort Felipe to a gang deal. The deal goes wrong; Felipe betrays Milo and escapes with Lumi, who has chosen Milo as her wheelman for the heist, alongside computer scientist Javier Ramos.

Film adaptation

A film adaptation was announced in February 2006 alongside the video game, with Vin Diesel in the lead role and Rich Wilkes, who worked with Diesel on xXx (2002), hired to write the script. Paramount Pictures and MTV Films were to collaborate. Production was estimated to be 18 months away from February 2006, with no script written yet. The film was intended as a sequel to the game but was cancelled after no updates since 2009.

Reception

The game received mixed or average reviews on all platforms according to Metacritic. Critics noted the story mode fell short and the game lacked multiplayer functionality. Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann said it had great ideas executed well but underwhelming peripheral content. GamePro called the PlayStation and Xbox 360 versions a GTA-meets-Burnout romp. GameSpot stated it offered movie-style thrills but was hamstrung by terrible on-foot gameplay. Hyper's Darren Wells commended cool special driving moves and a genuinely new locale, but criticized meaningless vehicle handling, cheating AI, poor on-foot level design, and bland graphics. Tom Hoggins of The Daily Telegraph gave the Xbox 360 version seven out of ten, calling it possibly the dumbest game he had played but a guilty pleasure aware of its absurdity. 411Mania gave the PS3 version six out of ten, suggesting it as a rental or clearance purchase. Teletext GameCentral gave the Xbox 360 version four out of ten, calling it a technically inept Driver wannabe.