"The majority of the side content in Deliver At All Costs isn’t very enticing."

Not that the side missions are worth doing anyway. The majority of side content in Deliver At All Costs isn’t very enticing. The rewards aren’t worth it and the fetch quest design doesn’t warrant the effort. I’d only recommend going out of your way for the side content if you’re already keen on exploring the various maps. The treasure chests and small boxes hidden throughout the game give cash that is used on materials for vehicle upgrades; however, a majority of upgrades can be purchased from the main story mission rewards anyway.

I expected to have fun with the vehicle upgrades, but ended up sorely disappointed in their limited application. This is because upgrades cannot be used outside of curated story missions; bummer. Not that the crane attachment or extreme hauling capacity upgrade aren’t fun to play with; they are rather fun, but exclusively used for their particular missions. Again, if you’re expected a zany vehicular sandbox with a lot of options and unlockables, Deliver At All Costs isn’t that.

The reason I keep associating the game with sandbox playability is due to its map design. It has an old-school 2D Grand Theft Auto style of isometric driving. In between story missions, you’re given the leisure to roam around town freely. All of your driving and running around is done through a top-down isometric camera angle that gives the environments a nice diorama look to them, and what’s more, you can move the camera between two different angles in case it’s difficult to see something.

"Speaking of scenery, there’s a surprising amount of activity going on while you’re driving around delivering stuff."

All the unique shops and landmarks of this diorama give off a classic vibe well. Oh, and the soundtrack fits the setting wonderfully. Lounge jazz and instrumental surfer rock accompany your deliveries, and it rarely gets repetitive. Tying it into GTA even more is the radio, with infrequent broadcasts that add flavor lore to the setting. Each town has multiple districts, each with their own theme, which helps vary up the scenery just that much more.

Speaking of scenery, there’s a surprising amount of activity going on while you’re driving around delivering stuff. NPCs go about their business, birds glide across the sky, and plenty of vehicle traffic accompany the streets. In fact, there’s often a tad too much activity. Streets are so packed with cars and people that collisions are unavoidable.

"NPCs roam the streets and become aggressive when threatened."

I like how populated the game is, but it’s tuned a bit too high, getting in the way of enjoyability a lot of the time. Perhaps, it would have been better balanced to up the street traffic the further you get into the game, especially since the towns progress from rural to metropolitan through the course of the narrative. At the very least, there’s an attractive mini-map with well designed labels and indicators. Navigation is aided with helpful arrows showing the way to a mission destination too.

But you aren’t merely delivering parcels to a destination in a given time limit; there’s a variety of ways the game mixes up its missions. Part of the game’s initial draw is its physics-based driving, which manifests in hilarious ways. One of the first missions tasks you with delivering a truck full of rotted watermelons. The first step is to bring them to a sanitizer, then you paint them so they look presentable, all while avoiding traffic and trying not to knock them over as they roll around in the back of the truck. It’s one of the enjoyable missions in the game, and one that demonstrates the physics gameplay best. I like how the missions get progressively more wacky and clever as you progress too. You even become a UFO hunter during one late-game job. It’s just too bad the very high traffic and wonky controls hamper the overall experience.

"I like how the missions get progressively more wacky and clever as you progress."

The driving controls are rather simple. Just aim in the direction you want to drive and hold the accelerate button. It’s the high sensitivity of the acceleration and the hard braking and turning that contribute to a somewhat frustrating experience. The high traffic just further compounds the controls to make for a somewhat clunky driving experience. Vehicles don’t differ in how they drive either, though you really only have the one truck for a large majority of the game anyway, so it doesn’t really make a difference. And the cars aren’t great to look at either. Heck, nothing looks particularly nice in the game, especially the characters. Facial animations are frankly bad and the bland art style doesn’t make up for the graphical shortcomings. What’s worse is there’s still some pretty substantial load times in-between regions, which hurts the flow of the open-world.

But the element that gets hurt from graphics the most is the mixed story. It’s hard to take the drama seriously when its presented so poorly. There’s an attempt at cinematic camera angles during cutscenes, but textures are featureless and close-ups of people’s faces are serious PS1 quality stuff. Thankfully, a handful of characters are quite likable despite what their low poly models suggest. Winston’s delivery mates have surprising depth and a good amount of backstory. And Winston himself is a fully fledged personality and someone you can imagine working with.

"Winston’s delivery mates have surprising depth and a good amount of backstory."

Characters like Norman are instantly likeable while Winston’s arch-nemesis and hardline boss, Donovon, is perfectly punchable. I’m also impressed with a majority of the dialogue writing. Characters speak with a down-to-earth tone and level of informality that makes them realistic, even if they look like untextured Unity assets.

Going back to where I started the review, the game goes surprisingly hard on the story axis, but it doesn’t fully land for me. The wacky yet earnest tone is great, but the execution of the plot doesn’t wrap up in a satisfying way. Winston’s mysterious past and the true motives of the delivery company’s executives had so much potential for an intriguing narrative thread. But alas, the finale just kinda falls flat without the payoff that the game was teasing.

"The game goes surprisingly hard on the story front, but it didn’t fully land for me."

As a whole, Delivery At All Costs delivers a zany and fun, though frustrating, isometric delivery experience with a story that tries a bit too hard. I can easily see this game being a cult classic, but for a majority of gamers, it won’t deliver a truly stunning experience. If you’re looking for a game with a wacky and inventive premise that experiments a bit, and don’t mind gameplay and graphics from three generations ago, give Deliver At All Costs a try and it might just deliver.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Deliver At All Costs is a game that takes place in 1959, with players taking on the role of Winston Green. While the game kicks off with Green partaking in regular deliveries to make a living, things quickly spiral out of control, with deliveries getting stranger and stranger.

On the gameplay side of things, Deliver At All Costs makes use of an isometric perspective with the camera staying high above the ground to give players a look at all the chaos and mayhem they end up causing during the course of regular gameplay. There is plenty of environmental destruction in the game, and players are encouraged to take down buildings and rival vehicles in the course of their deliveries.

The title also offers a form of progression where players can slowly start getting upgrades for their vehicles. These upgrades can range from ones that improve the vehicle’s performance, to more absurd things, like spikes that help you take down delivery rivals.

“One of the most rewarding parts of making Deliver At All Costs has been building this world from the ground up,” wrote the studio in a statement leading up to its release. “We’ve poured our hearts into crafting an environment filled with purpose. Whether it’s a hidden encounter down an alleyway or a quiet story told through the setting itself, we wanted this game to feel alive. Watching it evolve from a scrappy idea into a world you can explore has been nothing short of magical.”

In its post celebrating the game’s launch Far Out Games has also stated that it will start working on more content for the game in the form of DLC. The studio has also teased a potential sequel, depending on how well the game ends up doing. “We can’t say for sure yet,” it wrote. “What we can say is that this is only the beginning. Our notebooks are full, our coffee’s hot, and our passion is stronger than ever.”

A trailer released by the studio back in March showed off some gameplay. Along with some of the more standard-looking stuff, the trailer also showcased some unique missions, including one where the player was seemingly in charge of making a delivery in a miniaturised version of their vehicle.

Originally announced back in September 2024, Deliver At All Costs has been described by the developers as having a semi-open world. This likely means that, while there will be some parts of the world open for exploration, players will likely have to progress through the game to unlock more parts of the world. The game will also have NPCs that players might have to deal with, each one having their own reactions to the destruction and mayhem caused by the player.

Alongside revealing the release date, the trailer also gives us more of a look at the manic gameplay of Deliver At All Costs. A host of different deliveries are shown off in the trailer, including a strange one where the player is controlling a miniaturised version of their vehicle.

There will also be a form of progression in the game, with the player being able to upgrade their vehicle with new capabilities, including spikes jutting out of the wheels that cause even more damage. The trailer also shows off a mission where the player has to use a crane on the back of their vehicle to steal a delivery from a rival.

Deliver At All Costs was originally announced back in September 2024. The game takes place in 1959 and puts players in the shoes of Winston Green. Throughout the game, players will be tasked with carrying out strange deliveries that sometimes even includes unconventional cargo.

Played from an isometric perspective, Deliver At All Costs will allow for some frantic gameplay thanks to its emphasis on environmental destruction. Players will be able to take down buildings and rival vehicles during their deliveries, and there will even be some on-foot sections that will likely include even more strange gameplay.

The title has been described as having a semi-open world, and players can explore the world at their leisure on foot. There are will also be NPCs that players might have to deal with, since they will tend to have their own reactions to the complete mayhem caused during a particularly insane delivery.

Taking place in the year 1959, Deliver at All Costs puts players in the shoes of Winston Green, who is tasked throughout the game’s various missions to deliver strange and unconventional cargo. As players deliver their cargo, they will leave behind a trail of havoc and destruction.

The game, seemingly played through an isometric perspective, will have players roaring through the streets, crashing through buildings and other structures, and constantly being on the verge of some sort of doom or another, depending on their cargo which can also be an atomic bomb.

The studio describes the game as having a large semi-open world, which can be explored by players on foot, as well as in a vehicle. The game will also have responsive NPC citizens, who might start responding to player actions in strange ways.

Along with the wacky tone, Deliver at All Costs will also have a story of mystery and intrigue, complete with a 3-act structure, and a cast of characters that players will get to know better over time.