Deliver at all costs Game Analysis

Deliver at all Cost!
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1️. Core Concept
• Game Genre - Driving, Destruction, Simulation
• Core Gameplay Loop - Driving and delivering parcels from point A to point B using any means possible and freely destroying anything in the path.
• Unique Selling Point - The game is a simple delivery game but the only differentiating point is that you can ram your car through any structure in the world and it will satisfyingly break or get destroyed without putting a scratch on the vehicle. Anything and everything can be destroyed in the world.
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2. Mechanics & Gameplay
• Driving – Pickup quirky cargo and deliver it to the customer using delivery truck.
• Roaming and Interacting with the World – You can roam the world and interact with a few things like a store or NPCs. You can also swap or change cars of your choice in the world.
• Upgrading – Parts and upgrades can be bought in the store which upgrades the car and other skills.
• Game Feel – The driving controls are very sensitive using a joystick. The car handling is “bouncy” and tough to get used to it since our brain is used to slightly realistic driving feel even in games, but since the game encourages you to go offroad and cause chaos the handling of the car does not really matter.
• Difficulty & Learning Curve – Very easy controls and easy to learn the game. I did not really play more than an hour to go deep in the game
• Road Rage – Driving recklessly can make the people mad and go absolutely berserk, they can run and dive on your car and get a hold of it, they can even bring a big rod and smash your car. Sometimes they can hit the car so hard that it will explode in one shot.
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3. Level & World Design
• Level Layout – Open world layout with small, separated areas, each area is connected by a route which then loads the next area. Like entering opening a door to a room and then the room layout is loaded separately. Example can be Stardew Valley. This hurts the immersion in the game and can hinder the intensity of the mission.
• Guidance & Flow – Minimap, graphic cues, route pointer, map of the entire area.
• Exploration & Secrets – The game has many hidden areas which needs to be explored by walking and doing small parkours. There are hidden crates of cash which you can destroy and get some quick cash. Are there hidden rewards or meaningful backtracking?
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4. Narrative & Storytelling
• Does the game have a strong story? There is a story which is narrated through dialogue and voiceovers. Not a very strong attractive story, it includes the basics of growing from nothing to something.
• How is the story delivered? Cutscenes only.
• Is the storytelling effective? You mostly feel like skipping through the dialogues and just play the game. The story is very “ehh!” The character lacks depth and the story is very predictable.
________________________________________5. Game’s Economy & Progression
• How does the player improve? Collect parts, complete deliveries, upgrade the car and skills by using the store.
• Is there a grind? The game is all about delivering so that is the only thing you can do.
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6. UI & UX (User Experience)
• Is the UI intuitive? Map does not have any controls except for just looking at it. Should add zooming and panning in the map section to navigate properly.
• Are controls easy to learn? Controls are super easy to learn, since it is a driving game majorly and a few parkour tricks here and there using player movement. A controller or a keyboard works very well for the game
• Is feedback clear? Yes, the feedback is very clear, there is not much except destroying stuff and sometimes easily running away from the police by hiding in a trashcan.
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7. Art & Audio Direction
• The game is based on mid-20th century, retro feel, and all the cars and buildings are designed in the same manner. They have used lowpoly stylized art, with slightly more detailed textures which keeps it more in the realistic category rather than anime or cartoon.
• Super Destruction – The destruction feels super fluid and very satisfying, they have hit the bullseye when it comes to that.
• Animation are not realistic and more work can be put in the cutscenes.
• The music has a retro feel which aligns with the timeline of the game. It is dynamic, based on the situation and the delivery, it changes which gives you a read on the situation. If the police is chasing or the delivery is chaotic or running out of time.
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8. Player Experience & Emotional Impact
• Super satisfaction! You cannot stress this point more but the destruction is so satisfying, it gives a rage room feel when you want to just destroy everything to feel good. Driving on the road is not the way to go in the game! Deliveries are also challenging, which will need all your attention and focus on driving properly, some deliveries need to be handled with care so if you go at full speed into a building that will not work. Some situations get tense when the cops are about to catch you or you are about to fail the delivery if you drop one more watermelon.
• The player has a story which keeps getting better as you progress and you want to know what happens next. There are several upgrades which also keeps you going and get that extra cash and find parts hidden in the world.
• Once again, it is the destruction mechanism. I spent almost 10 minutes in the open world destroying the buildings and experimenting with all the different buildings, if they can be broken or not.
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9. Comparison with Other Games
• Compared to games like crazy taxi, or more recent games like beamNG, forza horizon. The latter are racing games and super realistic racing. It is safe to say that this game has a completely different take on delivery genre and one of a kind. Crazy taxi is a classic game which revolved around taking passenger from point a to b in the quickest possible time without destroying your vehicle but in this game it gives a sense of a casual, relaxing game but also tense and challenging game when on a mission. It has an open world and a story, the destruction is very satisfying and the reward you get is also good. Overall it is a new mechanic in the genre, which is a big USP.
• The animations are choppy and robotic almost, as if the body is missing a few joints. The story could be made richer and addictive. The map should have been one huge map instead of different parts. Though I can understand that with all the destructible parts it is not possible to load it all at once in one big map, it would eat up all the RAM space. The game is quite heavy in size compared to the artstyle, I assume the destruction is taking up all the space.
• I would make the story richer, add a few more elements to the open world part of the game, including giving the player equipment or weapons to destroy the world free hand. Add motorcycle and big trucks, have an option to create “death race” type cars, with weapons attached. If they aim of the game was to create a destructible world and with little to no consequence of it then I would go all in with it. A mixer of crazy taxi, just cause and GTA. Now that would be one crazy game
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10 What Did I Learn?
• Game optimization is more important in making a huge, simulated game. To keep focus on the core mechanics, there can be compromise made in other departments like animation and story. Making one mechanic a USP and perfecting it is more important than making 10 mechanics and half-assing it.
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