Deliver at all costs - The lovable oddball
Howdy, sport! Michael here, and recently, we found that a game that we had on our Steam Wishlist for ages was on sale.
It's one of those games that looks interesting, but you don't really know what to think, because the marketing doesn't really give you a clear idea of what it is, and on top of that, the reviews are only "mostly" positive.
Still, we found ourselves somewhat compelled, so we went for it.
What we found was a weird, bizarre game with a bit of an identity crisis and odd vibes.
..... it also entirely infected our minds and became one of those games that'll you'll fondly think back to for all time.
So much so that i was practically burning up for us to write about it and share it with you. So, without further ado, let's talk about...
So, Deliver At All Costs is a 2025 isometric action-driving game made by Far Out Games, a Swedish development house which actually debuted with this title.
It's also published by Konami, which is weird. But well, we'll gloss over that.
The game is set in the 50's and 60's and has you playing as Winston Green, a young man who gets a job at a courier service called "We Deliver". Winston, however, has a.... "colourful" past, and things soon begin to unravel...
Now, i called it an "isometric driving game", there, but that doesn't quite sum it up. See, this game's very identity is kinda hard to pin down. But let's try it, by talking about....
-Gameplay-
So gameplay-wise, this game is a bit of a hodge-podge. In terms of basics, it's an isometric game with a focus on driving, but also some on-foot sections, similar to games like The Precinct or American Fugitive.
Or, of course, the original two GTA titles, though both of those were fully top-down, not isometric.
Now as for what you actually -do- in this game, well, that's where things get a little funky and fuzzy.
See, something i've not mentioned yet is that this game....
And we mean like, -full- destruction. You're able to ram straight through buildings, and most of them can outright collapse. You can absolutely shred any scenery objects. Absolute havoc!
There's even a crafting system, allowing you to create upgrades for your company pickup truck, which is your main vehicle throughout the game.
Why?
The thing is, this -isn't- a destruction sandbox sort of game. It has a bunch of the systems it would need to function like that, but really, this game is a fairly story-focused adventure game.
And curiously, the story never actually asks you to destroy anything, as far as we recall. There's a pretty wide variety of missions, and you get in a lot of situations where destruction and carnage will happen, but it's always incidental, never the objective. Arguably, the entire game could still fully function if buildings were indestructible objects, like in most games.
The truck upgrades have some similar stuff going on. You can add wheel spikes to your truck, for instance, but we can only really think of a single mission where those might be practical. Other than that, it's just for the giggles.
There's nothing wrong with adding fun elements to a game of course, but something as fundamental as full destruction physics on most objects and buildings? We figure that including this as a feature actually skewed expectations of the game, where people will have bought it expecting something different. That's also kinda reflected in the reviews, where some people are complaining about too much story..... in this story-heavy adventure game. They were clearly expecting something else, and we think the ratings suffered as a result.
So, going forward, let's keep in mind that this game is really built for the story and the mission gameplay. The destruction and chaos are there, but they're really not the focus. At least not from our perspective.
So, the game is kinda-sorta open world. The story goes through 3 acts, and each act takes place in it's own region, with previous regions staying accessible via train. Each of these regions has a few different maps to visit, divided by loading screens.
There's crafting materials and money crates to find, a few special vehicles to drive (though you don't collect them in a garage or anything. They always spawn in a fixed location), and a very small handful of side missions, or "encounters" as the game calls them.
A bit of a curiosity is how the game rewards these side missions: Mostly, you get crafting blueprints for truck upgrades. Might sound about right, but the thing is, all of these upgrades can also be bought at the shop.
That feels kinda off. If we can get something as a special reward for completing optional missions, why can we also just buy it at the shops? And what happens if we buy the thing at the shop first, then do the side mission after? (We don't know, we did all the side missions, first.😜)
There's some vehicle upgrades that are relevant to the story missions, like the crane or winch, but these simply unlock as and when the story requires it. Crafting these is basically a formality.
Beyond those, the upgrades are entirely optional. There's some which are entirely for fun, like a foghorn and hydraulic doors, while others do actually have some practical applications, like a jet engine for more speed or a slow-motion time control device for better reaction time.
You can find crafting materials in chests hidden throughout the game's world, as well as buying them from the shop.
There's also 3 special rather curious items you can buy from the shop:
For one, you can buy a bicycle. It always spawns at Winston's home, you can't spawn it in anywhere else and it's just kinda pointless.
Second, you can buy a gramophone. And this thing actually changes the game's soundtrack from the 50's surf-rock style to a more 30's, bluegrass/blues-style. Not sure how many songs are featured in this "alternate" soundtrack, but it's an interesting feature.
And then the third thing: You can buy the ability...... to hitchhike. Now, we're not talking about fast travel. That exists with trains and boats in fixed locations on the map, but hitchhiking literally just means that you get into an NPC car and let it take you for a ride. No specific destination or anything, just riding along. Very odd.
Speaking of NPC vehicles, here's something curious: You cannot carjack traffic vehicles, but you -can- steal any parked car as you see fit, including the aforementioned special vehicles that are spread through the game world.
Though for the most part, this game is quite heavily focused on the company pickup truck. It's required for all missions, all the upgrades apply specifically to the truck and you can spawn it from any phone booth, which are placed on nearly every street corner. That truck is basically an extension of Winston as a main character.
Though with that said, the game isn't 100% driving. You -can- get out of your vehicle and walk around, and sometimes you need to do so in order to get into buildings, up onto a rooftop or suchlike.
Mind you, this isn't GTA, so you don't have guns or anything. There's no combat as such, except for the odd pedestrian getting angry at your behaviour and trying to push you over. You, in turn, also have a "push over" button to "defend" yourself, but that's it.
It's generally a relatively non-violent game. NPCs you run over always get back up, and even story-wise, Winston never kills anyone or anything. There's plenty of cartoon-violence, but murder is just not part of the game's vibe.
So then, let's talk story missions.
And these, to us, really are the meat of the game. You get all kinds of zany, weird and wonky objectives, and every mission has some funky gimmicks of it's own. Some highlights:
Don't worry, i've not spoiled all the good stuff. The game's got plenty of weird and creative missions, along with a few more serious, plot-oriented ones.
We found it a real joy, not knowing what's next in store for us, mission-wise. Combine that with an equally unpredictable plot, and yeah, the game really had us hooked.
So again, the gameplay is an odd combination of things. It's arguably like a much more light-hearted, isometric GTA, but it's also got full destruction physics, for some reason.
It's also open world-ish, but beyond the main missions and picking up collectibles, you've got like 5 or 6 side missions throughout the whole game?
There's also a wanted system, where the police do in fact show up and try to ram you into submission/arrest you if you cause -loads- of chaos, but it's a very basic system and you pretty much always escape by hiding in a dumpster.
Speaking of getting arrested, there's also the question of difficulty, or the lack thereof. While some objectives can actually be somewhat challenging to achieve, if you die/get arrested/fail in some way, you just..... respawn nearby, or the mission resets to a recent checkpoint. There's never really a deep failure state where you have to restart the entire mission or anything. It's a very low-friction approach to difficulty.
But yeah, i think i've touched upon every aspect of the gameplay we could think of, so let's get into some other parts of the game, starting with....
-Graphics and sound-
Well, visually, the game is quite pretty to look at, actually.
The lighting is often moody, the colour palette muted. But then, that mainly serves to increase the contrast when colourful things stand out from the picture!
On a technical level, it -is- an isometric game, so when it zooms in for it cutscenes or tilts the camera up, you can usually see how the detail fades, but overall, it's quite a good-looking game.
Also, it runs quite well, considering you can literally tear down most of the buildings!
As for the sound, well, i'd argue that the sound is actually the secret star of the show, here!
Now i will say, the voice acting is a bit of a mixed bag, here. It's quite passable in places, but this is one of those games where you can really feel that the voice actors all recorded their lines in isolation, so during conversations, it often doesn't really feel like the characters are actually reacting to one another, but just..... well, saying their lines.
But on a more positive note, the game's soundtrack:
The music often did a -huge- part in setting the mood in this game. It's an absolute A+ soundtrack, and one we won't soon forget.
Now then, i've been swooning for a while, so why don't i hand over to Amalia and let her regale you for a while?😉
I'll see you next time!
-Story-
Right, hi there, folks! So, without going into spoilers, lemme touch upon the story, here.
It starts off innocently enough, with the main character, Winston Green, being introduced as just some young guy who needs a job. He gets one at "We Deliver", a local courier service and it goes from there.
For a little while, things seem quite normal, and Winston is just meeting his new colleagues, doing zany delivery missions and settling in. Though it's one of those cases where the story never quite acknowledges the fact that just traveling from A to B, Winston has a tendency to demolish entire city blocks. A bit of cognitive dissonance, you might say.
Now, the biggest strength of the story is how long it builds up it's mystery. As you play, little things start to happen. Little hints at Winston's past, suggesting there's something more to the main character than meets the eye.
And for a lot of the game, that's how it pulled us in. It builds up the protagonist as the game's main mystery, and makes you curious to find out just who you're actually playing as.
However, well... again, not gonna spoil anything, but suffice it to say that by the third act, big revelations happen, and to be honest, while it's nice to have the payoff, the actual substance of the story feels a little.... off?
It's interesting enough, but there's a few elements there that just seem kinda cobbled together. One of those cases where even when the whole truth is revealed, you still have a number of questions.
But still, with all that said, for a solid 80% of the game, the mystery of Winston's past did a good job of keeping us engaged, and for the remaining 20%, we were perfectly happy to see things through. So all in all, i'd say we rather enjoyed the plot. Even though we still have questions lurking in our minds.
..... or maybe we just didn't pick up on certain things we should have.😉
Anyway, let's round things off with our....
-Conclusion-
So this game felt pretty special, really. It has the weirdest vibe, often feeling kinda off-kilter as to whether it's supposed to be serious or not.
It's also incredibly charming, from it's 50's soundtrack over the quirky missions all the way to the cartoony NPC behavior. It feels light-hearted, like it's a good buddy who just wants you to have fun.
It's not a perfect, shining gem by any means, but it feels quite cozy to play. The largely nonviolent nature of it, the varied gameplay, keeping you engaged by introducing new mechanics for just about every mission, the story drawing you in with the odd, curious mystery of "who is this guy i'm playing as?"
Ultimately, it all comes together to create a whole that certainly leaves an impression. Not a flawless one perhaps, but a fond, memorable one.
...... besides that, it's just a bit of an odd game, so go play it and find out what we mean.😜
In the meantime, stay safe, listen to some cool surf rock and have a good one!
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