Wheelman (video game)

Wheelman is an action-adventure video game developed by Tigon Studios and Midway Studios - Newcastle and published by Ubisoft in conjunction with Midway Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game was released in March 2009 and stars Vin Diesel.

Wheelman
Developer(s)Tigon Studios
Midway Studios - Newcastle
Publisher(s)
Producer(s)Joe Neate
Jemma Harris
Writer(s)Flint Dille
John Zuur Platten
Composer(s)Jorge & Guillermo Badolato
EngineUnreal Engine 3
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release
  • NA: March 24, 2009[1]
  • AU: March 26, 2009
  • EU: March 27, 2009[1]
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

The game is set in an open world environment modeled after Barcelona, full of destructible objects, alleyways, shortcuts through office blocks and a total of 31 story missions and 105 side missions. While most missions are driving-oriented, there are also foot missions which are played from a third person perspective. A wide variety of weapons are available to the player, such as pistols, assault rifles and RPGs. The game features a unique element called "Airjack", where players are able to hijack an enemy or civilian vehicle by locking on and jumping in from the one they are driving.

Among the vehicles used by Milo Burik in the game is the Pontiac G8,[2] shown in released trailers for Wheelman. Reports[3] also indicated that the Opel Astra is a drivable vehicle. In the demo, the license plate says MRTL KM8T which is a reference to Mortal Kombat, Midway's popular fighting game.

Plot

Milo Burik, an undercover agent currently operating underneath the CIA, is assigned to the investigation of a package containing secretive documents, which the various criminal factions of Barcelona are intending on stealing and selling to the highest bidder. Afterwards, Milo is placed under the supervision of Anton Gallo, the assistant bureau chief of the agency, and under the identity of a wheelman, he makes his presence within the city known by acting as a getaway driver in a robbery for Lumi Vega, an independent thief who masquerades as a flamenco dancer and with involvement in the Catalan underworld, with suspicion being drawn towards her intentions on supposedly building a team of professional thieves for a potential heist. Afterwards, Milo infiltrates the Chulos Canallas, an African-American gang who operates an illegal drug-racket. Milo, befriends Miguel Delgado, the reckless enforcer of the gang and the brother of Stavo, the leader of the gang, after retrieving stolen vehicles for their street races and confronts Felipe Lial, the nephew of Paulo Lial, the mobster who is in charge of Los Lantos, a criminal organization that holds the strongest reputation within the city and upholds a legitimate coverup through the mayor. Because of Felipe's opportunist nature and dissatisfaction with Los Lantos' activities, Milo discovers that he has been keeping in contact with the different criminal factions and revealing private information about each of them. Following this, Milo intimidates Felipe into providing a meeting with Paulo, who becomes impressed with the former's courage and driving abilities before ordering him to escort Felipe to a deal with other gangsters in the city; Milo interrogates Felipe regarding the different criminal factions and purposefully drives recklessly throughout the city to gather the necessary information. Afterwards, the deal goes wrong and Felipe manages to kill the gangsters before betraying Milo and escaping with Lumi, who has selected the former to be her wheelman for the unknown heist, alongside Javier Ramos, a computer scientist and known associate of her previous activities.

Following this, Milo approaches Adrian McGann, who provides the former with information into the underworld, and learns that Micca the Morro, an associate of Felipe, is attempting to become independent. Afterwards, Milo captures Micca and interrogates him for the location of Felipe, though he is unsure of the latter's current whereabouts and reveals that he was working with each of the criminal factions. Simultaneously, Adrian advises Milo to approach Sorin Teodor, the sociopathic enforcer of the Romanians, one of the recently formed criminal factions who work with extortion and arms trafficking, which is led by Radu Negrea, who has the strongest reputation with the Romanian underworld. However, Sorin is unsure of Felipe's whereabouts and after Milo completes a favor for him, in which he rescues one of his henchmen and recovers a stolen briefcase for him, the two of them agree to work with one another. Simultaneously, Milo returns to the Canallas and works alongside Che Taraval, the right-hand commander of the faction, to rescue Miguel from the Romanians, which impresses Stavo to the point of hiring the former to be his brother's wheelman and bodyguard for a planned heist against the Romanians, in which they massacre several gangsters and steal a truck containing weapons, though this action leads to both factions exploring the possibility of war with one another. Following this, Milo returns to Sorin and their affiliation is severely damaged because of Miguel's actions, which leads to the latter manipulating the former into delivering a "gift" to the Canallas to offer peaceful terms. However, Milo discovers that Miguel has been beaten and wired to a bomb, and has also been ditched inside a damaged vehicle that is wanted by the police. After avoiding the police, Milo delivers Miguel to the Canallas and they successfully defuse the bomb, earning Stavo's gratitude in the process. Afterwards, Milo returns to Los Lantos and is tasked with kidnapping a rogue information broker before delivering him to Paulo's henchmen, who take him to his own mansion to be sold to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, the police raid the mansion and arrest Paulo's henchmen before having the broker taken into an ambulance, though Milo intercepts the ambulance and steals the broker's tracking device, which will allow them to gain access to the information, before rescuing Paulo's henchmen from custody.

Eventually, Milo is brought back by Sorin to meet Radu, who offers him another chance to prove his loyalty by destroying the newspaper advertisements and the office building of the newspaper company that is partnered with the Canallas in retaliation for the heist. Unfortunately, following this, all three factions track down the documents to the La Monumental bullring and engage in a gunfight in an attempt to retrieve them; Milo arrives and guns down several gangsters, though Sorin and the Romanians' reinforcements arrive and steal the documents. Following a brief pursuit around the bullring, Milo kills Sorin, though Che retrieves the documents and flees to the subway station before stealing one of the trains. However, Milo pursues the train and shoots Che, who is killed in the ensuing crash whilst the former retrieves the documents. Afterwards, Milo tracks down Felipe and pursues him to the Barcelona Cathedral, where Lumi denounces the former and dismisses his concerns over Felipe's true loyalties. Soon after, Felipe demands that Milo meet with him for an opportunity regarding the team, though he ambushes him with the Romanians and is killed in the ensuing gunfight, with Milo discovering a dagger with Romanian engraving on it, which he uses to prove the former's deception to Lumi and Javier, who are forced to plan their heist in secret to avoid the other criminal factions. Simultaneously, Milo works undercover for each faction in upsetting the balance of power by massacring their gangsters, stealing from each of their warehouses and destroying their territories, though this exposes his undercover status in the process, and depending on who's faction the player had attacked the worst, Milo will eliminate either Paulo, Stavo or Radu in the midst of the gang war, effectively destroying their factions. Soon after, Lumi and Javier are cornered by one of the factions in the cathedral, leading to a gunfight that results in the death of the leader of the gang (Stavo attempts to avenge Che's death, Radu attempts to kill Milo for his betrayal, Paulo attempts to kill Lumi for her association with Milo) and the destruction of the cathedral. Milo, Lumi and Javier escape the carnage and use the documents to track down the briefcase, which they successfully steal from the buyer whilst Javier assists in holding off the police. Unfortunately, the briefcase is stolen by the remaining faction, forcing them to kill the surviving leader and retrieve the item, though Javier is killed in the process. Afterwards, Milo and Lumi approach Gallo, who reveals the former's undercover status, and steals the briefcase to ensure that he receives the mass fortune. Following this, Milo pursues Gallo to his yacht and drives over a ramp at the docks, exiting the car before it destroys the yacht, killing Gallo, before parting ways with Lumi and ensuring that her death is faked to prevent the agency from tracking her down.

Development

Wheelman was announced in February 2006 by publisher Midway Games as the second of three titles in a joint collaboration between Midway and MTV Networks.[4] Midway Games collaborated with Tigon Studios to design the game.[5] After multiple delays over the course of around three years, Wheelman was released in March 2009.

Film adaptation

Simultaneously with the announcement of the video game in February 2006, a film adaptation was announced with Vin Diesel in the lead role and Rich Wilkes, who worked with Diesel on xXx (2002), was hired to write the script. Paramount Pictures and MTV Films were announced to collaborate on the project.[4] Production of the film, with no script written yet, was estimated to be 18 months away from February 2006.[6] The film will be a sequel to the video game, which will establish the background. However, as of 2020, there has been no update on the status of the film project.

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
PCPS3Xbox 360
EdgeN/AN/A4/10[7]
EurogamerN/AN/A5/10[8]
Game InformerN/A8.5/10[9]8.5/10[9]
GameProN/A[10][10]
GameRevolutionD[11]D[11]D[11]
GameSpotN/A6/10[12]6/10[12]
GameTrailersN/A5.8/10[13]N/A
GameZone6/10[14]7/10[15]5.2/10[16]
Giant Bomb[17][17][17]
IGN4.8/10[18]4.8/10[19]4.8/10[19]
OXM (US)N/AN/A5/10[20]
PC Gamer (US)67%[21]N/AN/A
PSMN/A[22]N/A
The Daily TelegraphN/AN/A7/10[23]
Teletext GamecentralN/AN/A4/10[24]
Aggregate score
Metacritic58/100[25]66/100[26]64/100[27]

The game received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[25][26][27] Many of the reviewers criticised the game for falling short of story mode and lacking multiplayer functionality. Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstman said "Wheelman has some great ideas that are executed well, but a lot of the peripheral stuff is underwhelming."[17] GamePro, however, called the PlayStation and Xbox 360 versions "a GTA-meets-Burnout romp."[10] GameSpot said of the same console versions, "Wheelman offers plenty of movie-style thrills, although it's hamstrung by terrible on-foot gameplay."[12] Hyper's Darren Wells commended the game for "cool and useful special driving moves [and] genuinely new locale". However, he criticised it for "meaningless vehicle handling, cheating AI, poor on-foot level design [and] bland graphics".[28]

Tom Hoggins of The Daily Telegraph gave the Xbox 360 version a score of seven out of ten and said that it "isn't exactly the smartest video game out there. In fact, it's quite possibly the dumbest game I've played in a long while. However, it's wickedly self-aware of its own silliness and revels in it, leading to the kind of guilty pleasure that can only come with such a willful grasp of absurdity. And smashing things up, of course."[23] 411Mania gave the PS3 version six out of ten and said, "Wheelman will probably be a decent rental, and maybe a solid pick-up during Best Buy's awesome $10 clearance sales, but it's not worth a full retail purchase."[29] Teletext GameCentral gave the Xbox 360 version four out of ten and said, "Vin Diesel proves not to have the magic touch after all, with this technically inept Driver wannabe."[24]

gollark: But when the GPT-6 rebellion starts you'll need to be able to deploy ML-based countermeasures.
gollark: Ah, but there are better GPUs than that, and you need to have maximal GPU.
gollark: Yet it costs capital you could spend on important things like GPUs.
gollark: You complain about having no money due to your country's economy being isomorphic then spend money on *subscriptions* to *Reddit readers*?
gollark: I like the UI. Very practical.

References
  1. "Midway and Ubisoft announce strategic relationship to publish Wheelman". Midway Games. February 18, 2009. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  2. "Pontiac G8 GT Featured in Wheelman - New Video Game and Movie with Vin Diesel". G8Nation. April 17, 2008. Archived from the original on June 23, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  3. "Midway's Simon Woodroffe on Wheelman". Play.tm. Ferrago Ltd. December 16, 2008. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  4. ""Wheelman" To Come to Life as Video Game Property and Feature Film; Vin Diesel to Star and Produce". Midway Games. February 22, 2006. Archived from the original on January 20, 2008. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  5. Winda Benedetti (December 7, 2006). "Almost all that has been produced when video games go Hollywood, and movies become games, is a series of bombs. The first trailer told the new game engine with realistic graphics and car and foot missions. The successful blockbuster formula gets... lost in translation". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Communications.
  6. Eric Gwinn (February 28, 2006). "Vin, Midway put pedal to metal". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  7. Edge staff (May 2009). "Wheelman (X360)". Edge. No. 201. Future plc. p. 95.
  8. Tom Bramwell (March 26, 2009). "Wheelman (Xbox 360)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  9. Matthew Kato (May 2009). "Wheelman (PS3, X360): Wheelman Delivers The Goods". Game Informer. No. 193. GameStop. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  10. Matt Cabral (May 2009). "Wheelman (PS3, X360)". GamePro. GamePro Media. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.
  11. Ben Card (May 12, 2009). "Wheelman Review". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  12. Guy Cocker (March 26, 2009). "Wheelman Review (PS3, X360)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  13. "Wheelman (PS3)". GameTrailers. Defy Media. April 8, 2009. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  14. Dan Liebman (March 28, 2009). "Wheelman - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on April 4, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  15. Heath Hooker (April 15, 2009). "Wheelman - PS3 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  16. Dakota Grabowski (March 28, 2009). "Wheelman - 360 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on April 8, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  17. Jeff Gerstmann (April 13, 2009). "Wheelman Review". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  18. Greg Miller (April 14, 2009). "Wheelman Review (PC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  19. Greg Miller (March 25, 2009). "Wheelman Review (PS3, X360)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  20. Mike Channell (March 26, 2009). "Wheelman". Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  21. "Wheelman". PC Gamer. Vol. 16 no. 6. Future US. June 2009. p. 76.
  22. "Review: Wheelman". PlayStation: The Official Magazine. No. 20. Future plc. June 2009. p. 82.
  23. Tom Hoggins (March 30, 2009). "Wheelman review (X360)". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  24. Roger Hargreaves (March 2009). "Wheelman (360)". Teletext GameCentral. Teletext Ltd. Archived from the original on April 1, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  25. "Wheelman for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  26. "Wheelman for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  27. "Wheelman for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  28. Darren Wells (April 2009). "Wheelman". Hyper. No. 187. Next Media Pty Ltd. pp. 52–53. ISSN 1320-7458.
  29. Mark Salmela (April 29, 2009). "Wheelman (PS3) Review". 411Mania. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
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