"Barcelona - a sun-drenched urban paradise where beauty and culture can be found on every street corner; but somewhere deep in the city's ugly, criminal underworld a heist of epic proportions is being planned. Now one man has been sent undercover to unravel the mystery; but his only way of getting close is to help everyone else get away. This year; fasten your seat belt; hold on tight; and get ready for the ride of your life. Vin Diesel is Milo Burik - The Wheelman.

Whilst starting a preview with some mock, film trailer wording (which should really be read in that gravelly voice saved specially for such occasions) could been taken as something of a cheap shot at Wheelman - Midway's new action driving game - it's quite the opposite. Instead it's a tribute to the company's attempts to create a celebration of the art of the cinematic car chase; and just because the developers have an apparently blatant desire to achieve the ultimate automotive cliché, it doesn't mean they aren't taking any risks - far from it.

In many ways it's something of a minor miracle that Wheelman has made it so close to release. Even in the current fiscal climate, the severity of the ongoing financial difficulties that Midway has been battling continues to see it grabbing more than enough unwanted headlines, meaning that now probably isn't the best time to be taking a gamble on a new IP - particularly one that looks to combine a set of driving sub-genres that have struggled to find much traction over recent years.

Wheelman's mix of action-film-inspired plot, open world environment, out of vehicle sections and recreated real life city bring back unwelcome memories of some of the reasons that Driv3r suffered engine problems, The Getaway stalled in London and Need for Speed: Most Wanted hit a critical oil slick. The most ominous sign by the side of its road to success, though, is that it's linked to a movie project of the same name - and Hollywood's track record of safe landings in games is about as good as Evel Knievel's in Las Vegas.

There are strong indicators, however, that Wheelman may have a much greater chance of success than many of its peers - and one of these is the presence of actor Vin Diesel, who falls into a small subset of celebrities who both appear in, and are into, games; and an even more exclusive club, possibly limited to just one, of film stars who own game development companies. He has lent his voice, physical likeness and the expertise of his firm, Tigon Studios, who have been heavily involved with Midway, particularly in the development of the title's story and cinematic aspects; and while it's uniquely refreshing to see a movie lead picking up some of the weight of a game's development rather than just his or her pay cheque, the Vinster isn't the main reason that Wheelman may well make it into the V.I.P lounge inside people's consoles; that honour belongs to the game's pitch, which is one of pure Hollywood blockbuster.

The central story of guns, gangs and vehicle-based gymnastics is told over the course of twenty-five missions across the Spanish capital that put you behind the wheel of a variety of two-, four- and even up to eighteen-wheeled vehicles. While the approximate hundred optional side activities will have you driving point to point errands across the city, chasing target cars or trying to escape from them, stealing motors or just doing as much damage as possible, it's the destruction derby style driving of Wheelman where the title really comes to the fore.

It's not that Wheelman does anything particularly new to set itself apart from the pack, it's more that it takes some of the most popular and well-worn stereotypes of the film and game driving genres, homes in on what makes them so appealing, then accentuates these aspects to become the prominent parts of the experience. Collectively these pieces come together to create an overblown and exaggerated style of play, built with fun as its singular focus, which may well earn itself the tag of 'car combat'. The exaggerated physics system turns regular driving into something more closely resembling bumper cars, diminishing the effects of standard collisions so that they almost pass unnoticed and putting all its force into emphasising the special moves that you can perform if you've built up enough focus through fast, risky and error-free driving.

Taking the normal side-on barging that you see in most car chases and turning it into a serious sport, car melee allows you to deliver pounding body checks to rival vehicles whilst, with the cyclone move, you can turn the tables on your pursuers by spinning your car through 360 degrees and then using the precious few seconds of slow motion time your given to try and shoot them, their tyres or their engine, which will cause their vehicle to blow apart in the ridiculous fashion usually reserved for clown cars, before you're whipped back around to carry on your high speed get away. With vehicles taking such a battering it's unsurprising that the game design has planned for them to be used as disposable commodities. If your current ride is running the risk of failing its M.O.T. because it's on fire, or you need or want to switch vehicles, then you can do so by simply leaping through the air to a new one that you've picked out nearby, all while both of you are screaming hell for leather through the streets.

To make the driving as entertaining as possible, Midway are planning to be pretty generous with the allocation of focus power and the amount of traffic on Barcelona's roads - and while the brutal, fast-paced action may mean that you don't have time to stop and admire the spires of La Sagrada Familia or the sites of Placa de Catalunya, hammering up the tree-lined Las Ramblas does have a very definite appeal. Whether the gameplay and frame rate will be able to keep up with the demands of the action remains to be seen and the lack of any multiplayer options is a further concern, but all these worries could well be swept away by the whirlwind of mayhem you can send sweeping through the streets of the Catalan capital. What's certain is that Midway are hoping that this spring, all your driving is going to be Diesel-powered.

Wheelman starring Vin Diesel, coming to an Xbox 360, PS3 and PC near you on 27th March in the U.K. and on 24th March in the U.S.A.

Previewed by James Hamblin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).