Review: UnWheel [Alpha]

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[ Transcript of review for UnWheel [Alpha] | Posted by Vlosk on 2003-05-29 | Score: 5.5 ]
UnWheel Alpha; Review by: Andrew “Vlosk” Czarnietzki

This release is considered an ‘alpha’, and contains 2 vehicles and 4 maps; two different environments with a day and night version.

The vehicles make full use of the karma physics engine, and the controls are very tight. There are a couple of options involving the use of the mouse, but regardless of the selection I have to say I was impressed by how the vehicles handled. There could certainly be something in the damage department, as these cars seem a little on the utterly invulnerable side, but I would assume this is planned for a future release. Otherwise, these cars are beautifully made, in terms of art and dynamics, and the maps included show such off perfectly. As for the maps, that last statement pretty much sums it up; simple, though nice looking, spaces of terrain for the sake of driving about on. Not that you really need much more for a driving game though; a little more size would not be go amiss, but the quality of the maps is easily on par with the visuals for the car, and the quality of the actual driving.

Unfortunately, I cold not find any bots or servers online; again, not unlike the beta of Marble Madness, playing UnWheel was depressingly lonely. I really hope they fix this for the next release, as all the potential in that game type gets stale fast without any active competition. As for other alpha issues, I think that the HUD and pre-game menu could be cleaned up a little bit; though in both cases the information is quite valid and useable (A little more info on the HUD would be nice, and the pre-game menu could be made to look a little more professional). One bug though, its possible to start the game without properly selecting a vehicle; at which point you simply spawn as a ut2003 character in the map, the vehicle spawning ten feet or so in front of you. I should also note that this mod / game type does work quite nicely with mutators though: Balance UT’s gravity controls add a nice dimension to the driving physics… I dare anyone to try on either 200 unit’s worth, or 2000… (The default is 950)

That pretty much sums up all that can be said about this release. Though the content is extremely, even painfully, minimal, I do have to complement it on the shear visual quality and professional quality (also, look at the site to see mouthwatering pictures of a whole lot more!). Unless you want to drive something around other than a bulldog, I don’t really recommend downloading this however; instead, keep checking the news for information relating to any future release, and when one comes, jump on it. Thus, I give this mod 5.5 out of ten, though feel it will eventually get a mark high in the 9 range, perhaps even a 10.