Comprehensive Cost Analysis: Mad Cap Driving Games Aren’t Fast Anywhere

DEliver places you in the role of a delivery driver set in the late 1950s, and it visually impresses. Almost everything on the map can be destructed, allowing you to immediately indulge in chaotic escapades—whether it’s shaking your beach chairs, driving straight through a diner, or witnessing it spectacularly fall apart behind you. However, at the core of this game lies a void that could have served as a compelling hook.

You catch a glimpse of that potential during missions where you race against a rival delivery truck to reach your destination first. Your task is to press and hold a button, allowing the crane at the back of your truck to cleverly lift packages onto itself. Meanwhile, your rival attempts to force you off the road. After securing the package, you must deliver it while evading other drivers. This leads to amusing scenarios where you’re relieved to receive your commission while the hotel owner stands amidst the wreckage of his once-new establishment: collateral damage from your effort.

This one frantic mission stands out as the highlight of the game, and if subsequent deliveries followed a similar chaotic race against time, it might have thrived. Unfortunately, the quality and variety of each mission varies greatly. Some are enjoyable, like those capturing UFO images while dodging lasers, whereas others come across as tedious, such as balloon deliveries tied to a truck. Zany antics cannot compare to genuinely fun experiences.

While these side missions have their charm, they only serve as distractions. If the main game focused on rapidly delivering parcels, it might have resonated better. However, the sporadic enjoyment is overshadowed. By the storyline’s latter third, the premise of delivering goods fades away, replaced by uninspired narratives told through lackluster cutscenes. The protagonist, Winston Green, is a character weighed down by a murky past, facing off with his boss, Donovan, before the game veers into outright sci-fi absurdity involving Poe. Honestly, the perpetually irritable Winston ranks among the least appealing video game protagonists ever crafted.

Similar to Grand Theft Auto, you can jump out of your vehicle and explore the environment, but you’re likely to find little of interest aside from a few vantage points and some side quests. These quests range from enjoyable (like racing against parachutists down mountains) to mundane (tracking down a mayor lookalike). Although there are some unique vehicles to discover, most missions require a delivery truck, rendering the novelty of driving, say, a hot dog van short-lived. There are even wooden frames filled with cash waiting to be found, but they’re hardly worth the effort. The shop offers spare parts for truck gadgets, but apart from a jet engine that provides a speed boost, they’re largely unnecessary.

This situation is deeply frustrating. All the emphasis on delivery focuses on odd, half-baked stories that present a visually stunning, destructible landscape but fail to fully utilize it, leading instead to courtroom dramas. It feels akin to a conspiracy theorist at a lavish champagne reception, spending eight hours discussing the plot of their lame science fiction novel. What a waste.