Wheels of Aurelia review - An enlightening narrative game that lacks drive
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iOS
| Wheels of Aurelia

In my first ten minutes with Wheels of Aurelio I've discussed European sexual politics, found out the history of the town of Bracciano, and picked up a Juventus-supporting hitchhiker on an epic road trip along the west Italian coast.

I also found time to lose a road race to a smarmy jerk and promptly had to hand over the keys to my nippy sports car. Fortunately, a passing hippy gave me her camper van, which I've since used to rush my squeeze to hospital with suspected pregnancy complications.

You've hopefully realised that Wheels of Aurelia isn't like other mobile games. That's both the game's defining strength and its key weakness.

Alfa female

Wheels of Aurelia is essentially a road trip game that celebrates conversations and driving - in that order of priority.

Punky protagonist Lella is forthright, intelligent, and frustrated by the stifling political climate of 1970s Italy. This informs the tone of the conversations you partake in through her with a string of traveling companions.

You get to choose your responses, but all reflect Lella's enlightened outlook. Whatever topics you alight upon, you'll gradually amass a small book of reference material to keep you appraised of what's being discussed.

Whisper it: Wheels of Aurelia is educational. But it's rarely dry, and there's a fair amount of zest and pop to the back-and-forth.

Missed a gear

It's the driving part of Wheels of Aurelia that really drags it down.

All of these conversations take part as beautifully hand-drawn talking heads while your little car automatically tootles through a scenic European vista. You can swipe to move between lanes, allowing you to overtake slower cars, take junctions and stop to pick up hitchhikers.

The trouble is, the driving feels clunky and completely uninvolving. The general driving physics feel completely off, while bumping into another car causes your ride to flash disconcertingly and slow right down.

It clearly wasn't the developer's priority or area of expertise, but its presence is impossible to ignore.

If you're enthralled by the atmosphere and the conversation you'll be irritated by the intrusion of the shonky driving, while if you're looking for a chilled-out driving game you'll come away even more dissatisfied.

It's the journey that counts

There's an awful lot to like about Wheels of Aurelia, from its distinctive subject matter to its appealing art style and evocative soundtrack.

There's a surprising amount of replayability too, with each run lasting a brief 10 to 15 minutes, plenty of routes and multiple endings.

But there's no escaping the fact that a considerable chunk of the game's interactivity simply isn't up to scratch. The fact that you're forced to engage with the driving while simultaneously scrolling through your dialogue options only adds to the annoyance.

It's still well worth playing for those seeking a new narrative-based game with a fresh angle, but it feels like it's being held back by a dodgy engine component.

Wheels of Aurelia review - An enlightening narrative game that lacks drive

A bright, intelligent narrative game that splutters with some dodgy driving
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.