Deliver At All Costs is definitely one of those games you could sell on concept alone. A chaotic courier simulator styled in a way that’s reminiscent of early Grand Theft Auto? Say no more! But as I’ve learned in the past, a game can’t exist on concept alone and the critical…well, delivery can make all the difference.
Thankfully, Deliver At All Costs finds a way to not only present its premise in a unique and interesting way, but it continuously builds on top of it for a game that revels in chaos and is consistently having fun. In a lot of ways, it’s capturing the spirit of the original Grand Theft Auto, but in so many more ways, it feels like a proper parody of the form.
In Deliver At All Costs, players take on the role of Winston Green—a down on his luck tech wiz who might have a few screws loose. Without a dollar to his name, he looks for work at the local We Deliver delivery company, lucking upon a job as a courier for some…questionable assignments. Willing to take whatever he can, Winston begins his new career as a delivery boy, hoping it might help him realize his dream of getting back into the world of scientific research and creation.
I was honestly surprised by the depth of storytelling in Deliver At All Costs. Despite being a relatively small game, it’s got the presentation of something as big as Grand Theft Auto—with several humorous cutscenes enhanced by humorous caricatures of every shade of seedy businessman. Setting the story in the 1960s on an island in the grips of a wave of unemployment allows it to deal with the depths people and industry are willing to go to, but with a kind of silly, upbeat vibe that feels very tongue-in-cheek. But there’s also a really intriguing mystery behind Winston and his past that adds a compelling reason to keep playing.
“I was honestly surprised by the depth of storytelling in Deliver At All Costs. Despite being a relatively small game, it’s got the presentation of something as big as Grand Theft Auto…”
It’s the gameplay that really makes Deliver at All Costs worth experiencing. At its core, it’s an open-world driving game where players are given various delivery tasks to complete. It’s almost got a somewhat arcade-style structure where every level has a handful of deliveries to make before the “chapter” ends and the story progresses a little. But for those who want to drive around and explore the world, there are little side missions to complete for extra cash and building materials—which can be used to buy materials to upgrade their truck.
Deliver At All Costs is a wild and truly chaotic experience highlighted by two key features—physics and destruction. One of the game’s defining features is the way almost the entire world is destructible. Players can drive through barriers, trees and even buildings—with the exception of rockface, there’s virtually nothing to stop you from making your deliveries.
It creates a world that genuinely revels in the havoc you can create and becomes even more hilarious when you try your hardest to stay on the road, but circumstances send you careening through a collection of houses in a comical explosion of wood and drywall. And while people and the police will come after you if you cause too much damage, its not nearly as brutal as it would be in a game like Grand Theft Auto—no ones trying to gun you down, so it ends up feeling more like a Benny Hill skit of pedestrians hanging off your car trying to slow you down.
In addition, the way Deliver At All Costs continuously plays with its physics engine to constantly throw curveballs at you is genuinely enjoyable. One of the first missions involved a snake-oil salesman trying to pass off spoiled melons as good. All it required was a trip to a local farm to borrow a pesticide spray for the smell, and a tool-and-dye shop to give them a nice green shine. I loaded the 62 melons into the flatback of a truck only to notice something incredible—all the melons had individual physics.
With every turn, a few melons flew out of the back, and pretty soon I was driving as carefully as I could to avoid losing more than the 20 I needed to complete the mission. Every turn was tense, every speed bump made me clench, and every moment I was giggling and having fun. A later mission put a giant marlin in my flatback, with every twitch of its head and tail causing me to swerve; and another put a malfunctioning balloon machine in the back that turned my car into a vehicular version of Up—where every bump sent me gently hovering through the air.
“Deliver At All Costs is a wild and truly chaotic experience highlighted by two key features—physics and destruction.”
And while the driving controls themselves are pretty responsive, there’s a certain slipperiness to them that just adds to the chaotic fun. It’s never so bad that you feel like you’re not in control, but you never really feel like you’re totally in control either, and I think that’s very intentional. The game kind of wants you to slip and slide and crash through buildings and just have a fun time.
Visually, Deliver At All Costs looks great, combining realistic textures and environments with a bright colour palette that almost makes it look like a cartoon come to life. The iconography and style of the 1960s add a kind of playful air that makes the whole thing seem much sillier than it would be if it were set in modern times. This also extends to the soundtrack, which changes with every area of the island of St. Monique—shifting from mellow Samba to upbeat Rock & Roll, to funky Jazz and keeping the whole game playful and fun.
If there was one thing I wished about Deliver At All Costs, it’s that it was on the Nintendo Switch. Something so silly and incredibly playable needed to be on a portable system, but honestly, that’s about it. This game is so incredibly fun, I can’t imagine anyone playing it and not enjoying it. It presents itself big and has a lot of heart and charm, and even though it can be a bit goofy at times, it’s so earnest I couldn’t help but love it.
