*I know there have been quite a few discussions on this already, but having initially been completely opposed to this DLC, I thought I could give some objective feedback for anyone interested from that perspective.
So having just returned to the game after several weeks away from it due loss of interest from the typical FH5 frustrations, I decided to give the HWs expansion a chance despite my previous reservations.
(Platform: XSX Console, playing in cockpit mode. Ultimate edition, so DLC already included. Demographics: 54yo male, gaming since the first Atari 2600 was released lol. FH play history limited to FH4 & FH5. Main focus in FH games has been car designs.)
Pros:
•Graphics & visuals are great. Initial intro gameplay was well done & helped to build the interest to play on.
•Narration during qualifiers/story related to HWs history was interesting & I found myself reminiscing of childhood & the impact of HWs over the years.
•Bioms are interesting, though limited.
•Some decent cars obtainable through achievements.
•Player progression/ranking was pretty straightforward & easily obtainable.
•Race diversity integrating routes outside the tracks.
•Track hazards (ice, water flume, etc) & variations of track.
Cons:
•Gameplay is short to reach the final stage & complete the main objectives.
•”Pin-balling” is somewhat unavoidable given the track layouts.
•Activities are limited & quickly achieved for the most part. (Haven’t tried event lab yet, but given the variety of the tracks already in place, not sure how much more new territory could be covered.)
•Server disconnect messages seem much more prevalent during my experience, not sure if this is specific to the DLC though.
Overall, I’d say it was worth playing & at least appreciate that it wasn’t Legos, which I would definitely have not been able to stomach lol.
I think there was a decent amount of value in the DLC for the most part, so if you’re on the fence, I’d say give it a try.
I had a good time working my way through the challenges, but your 1st con is spot on. I wish they would have sprinkled in some hardcore challenges that would have taken more time to complete and given more incentive to keep returning to Hot Wheels park.
I’m a bit disappointed in there only being two festival playlist challenges. I would have liked a Trial like playlist event to return to on a weekly basis.
My biggest disappointment is with eventlab. Not including the special track types like magnetic, water flume, etc. is kind of a kick in the balls but hopefully it’s something they eventually add.
Snappable track pieces aren’t all I’d hoped for either because thus far it’s been a rather unwieldy experience trying to make smooth and varied tracks but maybe that’s just a me problem.
I know I might sound a bit negative but all in all I think it’s worth the price of admission if you’re thirsting for new FH5 content.
The races are enjoyable and the beautiful environment is fun to explore.
I’m also really enjoying most of the new car additions included in this expansion.
Yup, initially I though it was great but it only took me 2 days to do everything. I recall the Lego expansion in Horizon 4 took me several months to complete the house as there was a ton of achievements etc to knock out.
I was also surprised that in the weekly playlist there’s just one championship and 1 PR stunt. At least give us 2 and as suggested a trial / coop type event.
For me the best part of the expansion is not the track but the off road events. I’m enjoying these a lot more than the track racing which is pretty much who’s got the fastest car.
My biggest disappointment so far are the players. We have a new map with cool biomes and event labs. Where are all the crazy awesome creations? I got so desperate I ended up creating my own which turned out to be quite cool. Maybe I’ll publish but yeah kinda sucks how there’s not many if any cool creations yet…
The biggest non disappointment for me personally are the biomes. The biomes are awesome and what Mexico might look like if someone squashed everything together into a tenth of it’s current size. Flat maps don’t do it for me. I prefer maps with shape and nice curves.
Those two are related imo and a double failure of the expansion. I was quite willing to pace myself and enjoy the expansion at my pace… and then in the FIRST week up pop the HW Playlist challenges REQUIRING expert academy rank or whatever silly hoop. So grind grind grind. Take all the fun out of exploring HW at any kind of leisurely pace to be sure to get to the required level to do the playlist.
Why couldn’t they have put a couple brain cells together and made the FIRST week playlist challenges at Rookie level and advance from there each week ? Or even better each series ? Maybe even repeat that cycle for people just jumping into the expansion over the next while ? Nooo…
FAIL !
Worth the price of admission ? I’ll disagree with you there. Nope. At least not on it’s own and at full price. I’m not even sure I got value buying it on sale as part of the whole Premium package.
I’m surprised they didn’t add back stories from FH4. It wouldn’t make the expansion that much more better but it would be a decent chunk of additional and challenging content. It would also come with a reward in the form of a weekly payout based on your total stars/difficulty.
Yep. And that reminds me of another fly in the ointment of enjoyment. The “achievements”… or are they Accolades ? Oh wait ! They’re both ! No. Originality. And far too easy to get. I think I got a dozen in days. Yeah. I’m predicting ZERO replay value very shortly unless something changes, a lot.
No need to predict. There is no replayability outside of online racing, rivals, the weekly chorelist, event labs or just cruising around. Basically nothing new that doesn’t already exist in Mexico.
On a positive note I have enjoyed my experience in hot wheels online racing and rivals so far. I believe I’m enjoying it because racing is quite different and refreshing.
Now that I’ve finished all the Races and Accolades in Hot Wheels I can’t say I feel any desire to revisit Hot Wheels Park, unless there is new content/stories I won’t be interested in rerunning anything on orange tracks.
Gone back to do mostly freeroam and long Races on the Mainland, only annoyance being that the AI now shows up in Hot Wheel Vehicles and in those unspeakable Extreme E cars.
To sum it up for me Hot Wheels was/is ‘meh’ don’t care that it’s there, don’t mind that it’s there.
The gameplay structure was only slightly better. The main appeal was the races themselves. There were some duds (unlike Fortune Island) but the racetrack was excellent, the desert biome was great for CC, and the track on the south of the expansion was this truly great dirt circuit that had both a forward and reverse option.
In spite of some excellent ideas, like the special surfaces, there was not a single race in the Hot Wheels expansion that I’m motivated to play again. They were roller coaster rides. Experiences. There was nothing to appeal to a driver.
Very well said. I actually ended up at the HWs site inadvertently last night so decided to just take a drive & your comment was exactly what came to mind for me, particularly when in cockpit view. It’s like a roller coaster ride in a pinball machine lol
As for the Legos, back in FH4, I used to hate joining a race & there’s a Lego car. So much for any semblance of realism at that point! When I was in solo free roam, I tended to make a side game of running them off the road when I encountered them
