Ferrying a sacred N64 cartridge.
QUEST LOG #24: KEEP DRIVING (DEMO)
This game is still in development, and as such, everything is subject to change, and what I talk about here might not be quite the same in the final release.
Here is another pick from the Steam Next Fest, and one that caught my eye immediately - Keep Driving. Once again, it comes from a developer/publisher (Y/CJ/Y) whose back catalogue I’ve yet to sample. From the off I found the game to be slightly strange… it has RPG/turn based mechanics right out of something like Darkest Dungeon or something, but the theme and aesthetics are completely at odds with them. This is no bad thing, of course, and a unique gameplay experience is certainly had - an quite a treat it is too, and it wasn’t long before the game clicked, and I really began to enjoy it.
The visuals seem to be the driving (no pun intended) force behind it. The game aches for you to feel nostalgic - it needs you to. From the entire premise of driving across the county to play a N64 game (clearly GoldenEye) with your pal on a free weekend, to the various items you find, like a vintage camera, or utilising a fold out map as your method of navigation… the last part might be my favourite bit about the game by the way, the map is delightful, and it’s nice to see some love given to an oft ignored element. Anyway, as you explore Keep Driving you’ll quickly discover that it’s attempting to cultivate a certain vibe, and, to be fair to it, it does it well. You begin by going through a very brief character creation section, then you buy your car (just the Sedan available in the demo). After that you load up on what supplies you have at home and then you hit the road - simple as that!
Despite the apparent simplicity, I was initially a little bemused by the gameplay, and in many ways it’s unlike any of the games I usually play. I mentioned the premise (at least it’s seemingly the only one in the demo), which is to drive to your friends house and to waste your entire weekend there playing videogames and generally slobbing out (you know, like you used to). How much time your virtual driver gets to waste is dependent on how your drive goes however…
In order to make your journey successfully, you must manage your fuel, vehicle condition, tiredness, hunger, inventory, hitchhikers (they have their own issues and quests to consider), as well as a plethora of other bits and pieces. As you drive, you’ll encounter various hazards or events on the road, and it’s these that will (for the most part) make your trip less likely to succeed. These could be a stretch of potholes or surface water, a slow tractor, and abandoned vehicle, or some other similar events that you would associate with driving. When encountering these, the turn based combat mechanic begins, and you have to use your various skills (or those of your hitchhiker chums) to clear the board of hazards. These can cause your vehicle to become damaged, your fuel to drain, your money to disappear, or make your tired. Your skills to combat these hazards are akin to cards, and can, for the most part, alter, move, or (best of all) remove them. If you succeed in clearing the board, and if your various meters aren’t diminished, you can carry on your merry way, but if not, you may need to be towed (which costs money and progress), sleep (which costs time and occasional debuffs), or, worst of all, you might have to resort to calling your parents for help. This is the games last resort, and, depending on your relationship with them (this is set in character creation and equated to a difficulty setting), they’ll either send you some money, or cause the game to end. None of these are ideal of course, and can all eat into your weekend. They can be combatted with careful use of your resources though - for example, downing bottles of coke will combat your tiredness, and keeping jerrycans in the boot of your car will allow you to refuel on the side of the road.
Between stints of driving, you’ll enter towns or services, and these will be your temporary safe havens. There you’ll be able to refuel your car, or top up your stash of driving snacks. You might also find a garage or parts whop too, which will allow for the purchase and installation of upgrades - in my run, I purchased a new set of tyres that switched all damage hazards to fuel hazards at the start of combat. This allowed me to almost entirely forget about the condition of my car, as it wasn’t gaining regular ware, and I just had to make sure I had plenty of fuel instead. Other services you might find between driving sections are thrift shops (the one I found seemed to be run by Bernard Black, strangely) for the buying and selling of oddities (a vintage camera, for example), or a restaurant in which you can buy more substantial food. You can also pick up jobs in towns too, which can yield you extra cash, should you need it. Your hitchhikers might also have specific needs and quests too, so there is plenty to think about other than the driving.
My impression from the demo was of a tightly made game, but perhaps not a very large one. Of course, the demo isn’t entirely representative of the final thing, but on my first run, I failed, and upon restarting, I carried over my upgrades and items from my previous run. The inclusion of rouge-like elements suggests that multiple runs are intended, which would go a long way to adding longevity to the title, especially as the routes are apparently procedurally generated. Various reasons for setting out on a road trip might make the game more interesting in the long run too, but this very well could be something that is in the full release.
I’ve mentioned in a previous post about feeling cosy in games, and this one certainly ticks that box. The stakes are low - as mentioned, you’re trying to get to your friend’s house to play videogames all weekend - an that really makes the game feel rather laid back. There are no world ending catastrophise, there is just the experience of driving to your friend’s house. There are ups and downs along the way, sometimes the stress levels rise a little when you edge towards an empty fuel tank or your car suffers a little too much damage, but the beautiful pixel art scenery, the weather effects, the sounds, the gameplay itself, the variety in items, and the characters, as well as pretty much every elements of the game all combine to create a rather snug and warm atmosphere that evokes a set of memories we can all recognise and relate to in some way.
From the demo I can see this was so lovingly created, and I’m looking forward to taking the full game for a test drive at some point. Have you given Keep Driving a go? If so, what did you think?
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