Ever wondered what it would be like to have a career as a courier? Curious how the lives of delivery service people differ from yours? Liked the idea of Death Stranding but want something a bit more silly? Well, welcome to the Totally Reliable Delivery Service. For those of you who remember Human Fall Flat and thought, “I wish I could deliver fragile packages with this chaotic physics-based gameplay and lack of precise controls” this is the game you should check out. Welcome to our review for Totally Reliable Delivery Service.
It’s In The Mail
The controls at first are both simple yet a nightmare, as you can move each of your characters arms independently just like in Human Fall Flat, having to get used to something like this again lead to a lot of moments of hilarity where I’d be laughing and screaming at the character to do something as simple as walk up a staircase while holding a package, eventually though you do get the hang of it… but not entirely. Driving or piloting a vehicle is a mission that would make the most dedicated Mission Impossible enthusiast sweat. Vehicles have joysticks you grab onto and once your arm connects you control it and move it around, often with all the grace and accuracy of a newborn. You will inevitably, have many arguments with the scenery and massive open roads that you swear had nothing on them as you rocket back to the ground after the explosion of your vehicle likely hurled you into the stratosphere. If you have a parcel with you, it’s highly likely that it will get catapulted out of said vehicle meaning you will lose valuable time. It is possible to quit and restart the mission, which frankly, you are going to be a lot, to begin with.
When playing the game for the first time I brought some friends along and it was complete carnage. We started off trying to deliver packages and very quickly realized we are not very good at it. This game is designed with multiplayer in mind and you can have up to 4 people attempting these deliveries at once, but in my experience teamwork did not make the dream work, it did, however, lead to some hilarious moments where no one really knew what was happening. When delivering packages you are rated both on how quickly you make the delivery but also on the condition of the parcel. At first, this seemed reasonable enough, until we came to a delivery where in order to complete the task we needed to have hold of a package attached to a helium balloon and jump over a lake using three trampolines with characters that can’t swim. It is a fine line between insanity and hilarity.
Taken about 3 seconds before the barrel exploded and we experienced flight.
You Won’t Actually Be Reliable
Completing deliveries with the highest standard will earn you a gold trophy and getting good scores nets you rewards, from cosmetic items that you can equip your character with to vehicles that can be found at your companies garage. The vehicles seemed a tad odd though as so far all the vehicles seem available to simply pick up and use while exploring the world. Still, it is nice to have them all in one place I suppose.
Graphically speaking, TRDS won’t win any awards for breaking your computers with next-gen tech. Instead, it opts for a cartoony look that suits the tone of the game perfectly. At times I even found myself comparing it to an episode of Looney Toons. I felt like the Acme corporation trying to make a delivery with everything either exploding, flying off the road, or soaring through the air disappearing into the distance, often never to be seen again.
The sound effects of the game also compliment the over the top nature of the game, characters hit the ground with a splat and rise from the fall like it was nothing. The music in the game is nothing to write home about and I’ll be honest, I can’t even remember any of the music and I only had the game open 20 minutes before writing this review. It is pleasant enough but I doubt you’ll pay it much attention over the sounds of laughter or the screams of anarchy, whatever you’re more inclined too.
Overall, TRDS is a fantastic game that offers you a great distraction from the more dark and gritty games you might be getting a little bored with. Given its cooperative nature as well this is might be the perfect game to grab at the moment and let yourself have some good-natured fun, either with the kids or friends you can’t currently go out and meet. I know it certainly provided us with a great excuse to smile for a few hours on our first go. Sometimes you need a game like this, right now I think we could all do with it.
