Deliver At All Costs: First impressions of a game full of destruction and absurdist fun

In our last coverage in London, UK, where we had the opportunity to play both Silent Hill 2 and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Gothenburg, Sweden-based studio Far Out Games presented their debut title Deliver At All Costs, an installment full of destruction, fun and absurd situations that will undoubtedly keep more than one person amused for hours.

A game developed in the 1950s

Set in 1958 in the fictional town of St. Monique, Deliver At All Costs follows Winston Green, a hot-tempered courier with a shady past, who appears to be asleep until the phone rings and he notices a notice under his door.

Soon after, he sees an ad in the newspaper for a job at a delivery company, the same offer he hears on the radio.

When he arrives at the company to inquire about the job, Green seeks out Harald Hunter and is told that he no longer has the job because they didn’t get the ad off the radio in time. Nevertheless, Harald takes pity on him and gives him some delivery jobs, which is not well received by Donovan, Hunter’s son, who is a typical perfectionist foreman.

It is important to keep in mind that there is an element in the story that should not be lost sight of, and that is that Green has the taste and ability to build rockets, since his dream is to work for the government and build them (remember that in the 50′s there was already an arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union).

A crazy gameplay

In the beginning, you will be able to interact with a lot of things in the house, but without reaching the level of detail of a game like The Sims.

The control is very simple, since you run with the triggers, you get in the car and it will be damaged if you hit it a lot or if people do the same since it is a mix of Crazy Taxi with GTA where you have to run errands, but on the fly you will have many obstacles that may be merely circumstantial, product of the speed with which you drive or by the villagers who have lost their minds with something they do not like about you... that you steal their peace.

The fun of the game lies in the fact that, for example, if you get a flat tire, you have to get down to fix it, although if there are annoying people nearby, they will make it very difficult for you.

The gravity of the game is a bit ridiculous, but it really makes it a lot of fun, since at times it feels like you’re playing with dummies.

The phone booths are used to reappear in the car nearby if you decide to go down on foot to explore, although you have to be careful not to destroy them on your way because if you eliminate all of them, you will have to leave that “level” to reappear all of them. Another point to take care of is not to lose the goods, as there are some missions where there is a minimum to deliver.

You will also find sub-missions that you can solve as you go, something that will undoubtedly give you longevity.

Something that could not be missing is that we can modify the car with the pieces that we find during the game and this will unlock certain functions that will facilitate the gameplay, for example a crane to load heavier things.

One of the things we liked the most is that the developers confirmed that the game is designed to run on platforms such as the Steam Deck, since they themselves confessed that they are fans of Valve’s portable.

Fifties art

This is one of the best things about the game, because, despite the Easter eggs, they pay tribute to several elements of the era, something that will undoubtedly make more than one of you smile. Another seemingly simple detail, but one that we found to be very successful, is that the arrows that guide you are integrated into the texture of the streets, whereas normally they are some sort of ghosts or floating arrows. Details such as light and shadow effects are also very well done, although they still have a cartoonish touch.

Sounds of Time

Finally, the soundtrack, sound effects, dialog and other auditory elements also have a unique care that makes a perfect match with what we see on the screen.

Deliver At All Costs is already available for pre-order in physical format in some countries and in digital format for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), although the release date will be announced later.