Review: Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush (PS5) – A Solid Arcade Racer with an Open World It Doesn’t Need
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Push Square's PS5 review of Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush concludes that developer Milestone's move from the series' previous circuit-based racing to an open-world structure is an unnecessary change that weakens rather than improves the experience. The reviewer felt the simpler format of the earlier Hot Wheels Unleashed games better suited the toy-car licence, arguing that the game's four open islands feel bland and repetitive, seemingly added for marketing appeal rather than genuine gameplay benefit, and that the realistically scaled maps undercut the intended charm of racing dinky toy cars.
Progress is made by completing campaign events on each of the four themed islands to unlock racing gang challenges and further maps, while extra Hot Wheels vehicles can be bought at in-game dealerships, won by beating rival drivers in short races, or earned through open-world challenges. The review praises the handling and drifting mechanics inherited from the Unleashed titles as genuinely fun, and notes the game runs at a steady 60fps with generally strong visuals, only marred by occasional inconsistent textures and longer-than-ideal load times, concluding it is a decent but flawed arcade racer overall.
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In short
- Push Square reviews Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush on PS5
- Open-world format criticised as unnecessary, weaker than earlier games
- Handling, drifting and stable 60fps praised as highlights
How this story developed
- 2 months ago Push Square's PS5 review of Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush finds that developer Milestone's shift from the series' previous circuit-based racing to an open-world structure is an unnecessary addition that weakens rather than improves the experience.
- 2 months ago Push Square's review of Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush for PS5 concludes that developer Milestone's decision to move its arcade racing formula into an open-world structure adds little value and, if anything, weakens the experience compared with the earlier Hot Wheels Unleashed games.
- 2 months ago Push Square's PS5 review of Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush concludes that developer Milestone's move from the series' previous circuit-based racing to an open-world structure is an unnecessary change that weakens rather than improves the experience.
Full account
Milestone, the Italian studio behind the well-received Hot Wheels Unleashed series, has moved its arcade racing formula into open-world territory with Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush. Reviewed on PS5, the game keeps the toy-car driving model that made its predecessors popular but restructures progression around free-roaming exploration rather than the tightly built, track-based circuits fans had come to associate with the licence.
The game is built around four separate islands, each with its own visual theme, which players can explore freely from the outset of each unlocked area. Progress is driven by completing campaign events scattered across the map, building up to a showdown with a leading racer from that island's driving gang. Beating these rivals opens up new islands and further events, giving the game a loose sense of forward momentum even without a conventional circuit structure.
Alongside racing, collecting Hot Wheels vehicles forms a central pillar of the experience. Most cars can be bought from in-game dealerships using currency earned through play, while others must be won by challenging rival drivers encountered out in the open world, or by completing specific side events and challenges. The review found this collection loop enjoyable in isolation, but was less convinced by the islands themselves, describing them as visually flat and repetitive, with scattered activities and collectibles that struggled to make exploration feel rewarding. It also noted that the open-world environments are scaled to realistic proportions rather than emphasising the toys' small size, which undercuts the novelty of racing miniature cars through oversized everyday settings such as gardens or living rooms.
Despite these reservations about the open-world layer, the core driving is judged to be a clear strength, carrying over the responsive handling and drift-focused arcade feel that defined the Unleashed games. Zipping between rivals, pulling off drifts and crashing through traffic and scenery is described as consistently satisfying, and the car models themselves are praised for their detailed, toy-like rendering, even where some other visual elements are said to be less polished. Overall, the verdict is that the driving and car collection remain enjoyable enough to outweigh an open-world structure that feels like an unnecessary addition to a formula that worked well in its original, more focused form.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
Only one of the two supplied source texts (Source 1) actually concerns this headline and game; Source 2 is a hands-on preview of an unrelated title, 'Ananta', and contains no information about Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush, so it could not be used to compare coverage or note differing emphasis.
Within Source 1 itself, there is an internal tension worth noting: the reviewer is critical of the open-world islands as bland and only present for marketing purposes, while simultaneously praising the underlying arcade handling inherited from the Unleashed games — the piece is best read as a mixed verdict rather than a uniformly negative or positive one.
The source text is truncated at the end (mid-sentence, discussing visual inconsistencies), so some detail on the game's technical shortcomings could not be included.
Explained simply
Milestone's Hot Wheels games are arcade racers built around the toy car brand, letting players race exaggerated, physics-defying versions of the die-cast vehicles on loop-the-loop and stunt-filled tracks. Earlier entries in the series, known as Hot Wheels Unleashed, used a circuit-based format, meaning players raced on individual, self-contained tracks rather than a connected world.
Infinite Rush is the newest instalment and marks a change in direction, moving to an open-world design spread across four themed islands that players explore and unlock as they progress. This is a common shift in racing games, intended to give a stronger sense of place and freedom, but it is not always well received if it comes at the expense of the tighter, more focused racing the series was known for.
The game is being assessed by reviewers weighing up whether this new structure adds genuine value or simply serves as a way to showcase more content and merchandise tie-ins. Such reviews matter to fans deciding whether to buy the game, and to the wider industry as a gauge of whether open-world formats suit every type of racer.
Coverage · 3 sources
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