If you like mandatory co-op games, this one’s for you: introducing WheelMates, a new two-player co-op action-adventure where each player controls an R/C car in the house of an eccentric scientist, working together in order to clear challenges and obstacles. It’s in development for Steam for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and it’s due out this year.
This is no sim, though. You’ll have power-ups like jump boosters, magnet wheels, and grappling hooks in order to help you navigate the house and try to find the scientist homeowner, who’s missing. Play in split-screen or online, but you’ll need two players. Check out the announcement trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below.
The developers at FireVolt cite Re-Volt and classic metroidvanias as inspirations for WheelMates. You’ll be able to try it out soon, FireVolt said it’s planning a playtest for next month. Wishlist it on Steam if you’re interested.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our semi-retired interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
