Totally Reliable Delivery Service

Totally Reliable Delivery Service - Run, Drive, and Deliver!

A Delivery Service Simulation Like No Other

Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Snow

Most people have had to make a delivery at one point or another. Whether it's dropping something off at a friend's house or it's your profession, the experience of getting something from one point to another as efficiently as possible is universal. Totally Reliable Delivery Service (TRDS), a game by We're Five Games, takes that basic concept and turns it into a sort of timed puzzle adventure game that puts players to the test as they deliver important packages from Point A to Point B.

A Big Fetch Quest 

Fetch quests are an annoying part of many games. They're a very simple way to direct players from one area to another, of course, but repeated fetch quests can get boring unless the developers can figure out a way to make them exciting. Making these quests work as something more than just distractions seems to be the main point of this game, and it's something that shines through virtually every choice made here.

The game puts the player in the role of a delivery person. This rag-doll physics simulation game can be played solo or in a team of up to 4 players. This gives you a great reason to deliver packages, which allows the game to function blissfully free of major story beats. Instead, everything is about moving on to the next destination and seeing how well you can get your job done. While this might not be the most mind-blowing premise ever, it seems to be very well thought out.

Concept Rating: 4/5

Out for Delivery 

Cute is probably the key term here, at least where graphics are concerned. There's absolutely no effort here to make the game look realistic or to have it line up with the usual AAA graphics; instead, this game takes a page from other cutesy indie games like Overcooked or Gang Beasts to create a bright and colorful animated world. That's a fairly great decision here, given the nature of the gameplay. After all, the cartoony graphics help to take away some of the stings that come with repeatedly crushing everything in your field of view.

The audio here is likewise cute and inoffensive. While the soundtrack is reliably solid, it's also fairly easy to ignore. There's a good chance that you're going to turn the volume off here if you're playing multiplayer, especially when yelling at your friends becomes far more important than listening to the background score.

Graphics & Audio Rating: 3/5

Handle with Care

Totally Reliable Delivery Service is part of the simulation genre of games that are based on making simple tasks much harder than they should be. If the game controlled anything like a normal game, it would be nothing more than a series of fetch quests that could each be completed in a matter of moments. As it stands, though, the bulk of the game is more about you fighting against physics to complete some fairly basic tasks.

Virtually every mission is the same - get a thing from one point to another. The big problem is that the controls for the game are achingly imprecise. You'll control each arm on its own while raising those arms is likewise controlled with another set of buttons. Figuring out how to load a package onto a truck is hard enough this way, but learning how to do so in a speedy manner takes a fair bit of skill and patience. This can be very frustrating for some players, but it's very clear that this is a feature and not a bug. As such, the degree to which the gameplay works depends on to what degree the player is in on the joke.

Gameplay Rating: 3/5

Still Tracking 

At the end of the day, Totally Reliable Delivery Service is only going to be fun for certain types of players. If you like challenging yourself to work with controls that are purposefully finicky and imprecise, you're going to fall in love with this game. The saving grace of the game is that it feels like the game wants you to be in on the joke, so all of the frustrations are doled out with a wink and a nudge. If you're a fan of silly games that might make you throw your controllers, this might be the game for you.

Replay Value Rating: 2/5

TL;DR

Totally Reliable Delivery Service is a purposefully frustrating physics-based simulation game that's fun when you know what you're getting into.