Wheelman 101

Published April 7, 2009

Midway's Wheelman for Xbox 360®, starring an undercover Vin Diesel in the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain, is a serious innovator in the vehicle action genre. Whether it's the game's clever use of the Right Thumbstick as a tool for vehicle melee attacks, its ridiculously satisfying Air Jack ability or the slow-motion, mid-chase Aimed Shot and Cyclone attacks, Wheelman brings a lot of well-crafted, fresh ideas to the genre.

Vin's wheelman isn't to be trifled with.

With new ideas come new challenges, and these beginner's tips and tricks should help you get comfortable behind the wheel in no time.

Constant Air Jacking
The ability to race at suicidal speeds hanging halfway out the driver's side window to ready yourself for a thirty-foot leap through the air to jack the car ahead of you, is not only a ridiculously satisfying feature, but one with enormous strategic benefits.

Use Air Jacking to ensure you're never caught on foot, wasting precious seconds while you scramble to take over a car and continue your pursuit or evasion of nearby enemies. Whenever your car starts billowing smoke, don't dilly-dally. Start casting your eyes about, looking for the nearest available vehicle to Air Jack.

Melee Toward Obstacle
Whenever you're readying a vehicle melee attack with the Right Thumbstick, take a moment to consider your surroundings. Look for buildings, vehicles, or other obstacles you can use to bash your opponent. You can inflict damage on them and keep them off your tail for a few seconds. This is particularly useful when attempting to evade capture.

Getting pinched. Hit the brakes and break out Aimed Shot.

A or Better
When tackling any of the side missions (such as Fugitive, Made to Order, or Rampage), fix your eyes firmly on an A or S grade. Sliding by with a B or lower grade just isn't worth your time, as you'll only unlock new abilities by earning at least an A grade.

To this end, take note of your position in a challenge after the first thirty seconds or so. If you're lagging behind in any way, hit Start and retry the mission.

Recon the First, Win the Second
You can further enhance your odds for earning a high grade in side missions by paying attention to your opponent's behavior, which is almost always predictable no matter how many times you attempt the mission. For example, the first car you chase down in any Made to Order mission will always turn in the same places every time.

Make a note of where they turn and how you can change your own angle of pursuit to cut down the distance. This will allow you to make a play for the car earlier.

Rearview Alignment
Never underestimate the importance of knowing precisely where your enemies are, particularly if they're right behind you. Press down on the Right Thumbstick to glance behind you and get a read on your opponents. Use this intel, and line up immediate vehicle melee attacks, slowing down as needed to bring your targeted enemies alongside you. Use this feature only when you're confident you're not about to crash into anything directly ahead of you.

Your local repair shop will fix that right up.

Lose the Line of Sight
Unlike many driving games, you can rarely count on your own vehicle's top speed and superior handling to easily outrace enemies. More often than not, your opponents will be driving similarly engineered cars. You must use misdirection, sudden turns, and line of sight to shake off pursuing vehicles, especially the police.

No tactic is more effective than breaking your opponent's line of sight. If you can put a building or obstacle between you and them, half the battle is over. Losing the pursuit is often a two-turn process. Once you make your initial move, look to make an immediate second turn to permanently break off the chase.

Always Crouch
When tossed out of the car and into a firefight, there's almost no reason to be standing upright. Crouch at all times. Maintaining a crouched position will allow you to take refuge behind small bits of cover as well as offer a smaller target profile for your enemies.

What's more, because the game will automatically pop your character up into a standing position whenever you shoot, there's little reason to manage your crouch. Just tap B at the beginning of combat and let the game take care of the rest.

This is going to end badly for someone.

Grey Shortcuts
Whether you're embarking on a core storyline mission or passing time in a side mission, you can be sure that shortcuts offer the quickest route to success. Luckily, you don't have to rely solely on your twitch reflexes to identify valuable shortcuts.

Glance down at the mini-map and look for the grey colored pathways off the main road. Provided these grey paths connect with jet-black roadways, you can duck through these alleyways, pavilions, courtyards and parks, and come out the other side a few seconds faster than you would have.

Bash, then Shoot
The Aimed Shot and Cyclone special abilities can turn the tide in a losing battle, but only if you use them intelligently. Specifically, in order for either of these abilities to take down a car with a single bullet, you need to have already inflicted a healthy dose of damage upon the desired vehicle. Use Aimed Shot and Cyclone then towards the end of a battle rather than at the outset.

Likewise, if you're being chased or chasing multiple enemies, be sure they're all good and bunched up before triggering either ability. You don't want to engage slow-motion only to waste it on one car just because the rest of the enemies haven't rounded a corner yet.

With these suggestions in hand and all the tools Wheelman so generously offers, you should be well on your way to making a name for yourself in Barcelona's criminal underworld.

Article by Ryan Treit