Chaos on Wheels

Holy CoW! Yes, I went there! Chaos on Wheels is a hidden gem that brings back that glorious old school car combat feeling I had growing up. I've been watching the game for quite awhile after discovering it on Youtube and later on the Unreal Engine Forums so naturally I was intrigued. Later the Demo released recently I think and after playing that it perked my interest enough to buy it. I certainly was not disappointed and here's what I think of it so far after playing a short while... + PROS + ++++++++ + Good Story, I like the direction + Good Audio, I like the sounds and voicing and great music + Good Gameplay, I like the unique gameplay style that pays homage to Twisted Metal, Vigilante, and Carmageddon games of the sort + Tutorial + Story/Campaign + Difficulty Options + Controller Support, thank you for this + Destructible Environment, I love this + Lots of Explosions + Lots of Cars + Lots of Customization + Lots of Upgrades + Lots of Weapons + Singleplayer and Localplay + Replayable with Bots, theres a mode you can play against bots so that's good + Can be Very Challenging, I have died quite a bit - CONS - ---------- - bot cars are kinda easy to kill at times and other times annoyingly somehow impossible, and yet almost too easy compared to the turrets, feels like it needs more balance between the two - Controls are very clunky, yes they work okay, it's tolerable, but it feels so slow and not as responsive. I have a very hard time trying to aim while driving around and with the shooting in there no less trying to toggle through weapons and whatnot as it's really off and doesn't quite feel right yet as a lot of the time I had to pretty much stop where I was at just to try to get a shot in almost like I need to turn up the sensitivity slightly to make it feel a bit smoother and looser for a better arcade feel...idk...it is a different game though so not knocking it entirely just doesn't feel the same as the old school games. - I got stuck in the mud several times, I do love that idea, but there was a couple times where even with the starter car ability the car still struggled to move out of it almost like it was completely stuck there for much longer than it should have been even though I guess realistically that might make sense I suppose but it was still kind of annoying and frustrating at the same time. - Cycling through the various missiles can feel very confusing because I have no idea what any of them actually do or are for other than hearing about it in the tutorial, firing them to see what they do since none of them are labeled to indicate hey this is a homing missile and this is another missile, only the icon looks different and that is very frustrating. - There's lots of pickups on the map but again its the same confusing problem as the missiles and I have no idea what any of the pickups are actually for except the wrenches which are obvious and the missiles are obviously weapons but anything else not a clue, please fix that with a new tutorial section for each, or put a name above them so we know what each is! - The Homing Missiles don't seem to regenerate even with pickups which makes having them totally useless as I cannot seem to target or home in on any cars or turrets after using them all at the start of the campaign or a local match against bots which I can see both fire these quite often throughout the entire match which makes me believe that this should regenerate or fill back up with pickups therefore I think it's broken. - No Online Multiplayer, I don't have friends that live near me to play this game with and my family really isn't all that much into gaming except for me, therefore, the local play is totally useless imo. I am glad there is bots in there but without the Online Multiplayer which I am hoping to see in the future as I am rather disappointed about that part. I think having that would help this game thrive more if it does get added. - The Localplay with Bots should have armor pickups and it doesnt or maybe its just not working, I see the bot cars repairing everything with armor and yet I can't find any and die a lot even on easy - Game Crashed on me once so far. = VERDICT = ========== = Chaos on Wheels in a nutshell is a riveting Car Combat game that tells a great story while bringing back that wonderful old-school arcadish feeling that existed back in the days of Twisted Metal and Vigilante 8 as I played the hell out of both of those constantly! The game plays really well already right out of the box though there are a number of issues that I would hope to see improved upon with hopeful future updates that I think should eventually be addressed over time so that it can grow into something successful! We despirately need a successful car combat game like this here on PC and this could be the one! After playing the game just a little while, yes I will be playing a lot more, I feel in the game's current state my interest in the game is enough to keep playing it and recommend it! I don't have any doubts about the game, I love it and everything it has to offer so far! I do hope to see more from the developer!