Glitches make the best videogame moments. Everyone looks back fondly on the open-world bugs in the early GTA games and the Hunter grabbing you through a wall in Left 4 Dead, but most games don’t truly embrace the jank. Videogames not working as they should is too often seen as a negative but as The Long Drive continues to prove – as it soars on Steam – jank can make a good game great.
The Long Drive is a simple game. You’re going on a road trip across a randomly generated post-apocalyptic desert, with the focus on player freedom and vibes. You can be driving for hours only to see nothing, then swerve out of the way of a rabbit, hit a pebble, and helplessly watch on as your convertible corkscrews through the air before shattering into a thousand pieces.
As you travel along the 5,000 kilometers of road you’ll need to stock up, stop off for gas and supplies, spruce up your ride, and maybe even fight for your life. It’s part open-world survival game, part driving simulator, and part immersive sim. There’s minimal car maintenance in favor of player expression and the jank is purposefully part of the appeal. This is what makes The Long Drive an alluring game to unwind with at the end of an especially busy day.
Players love The Long Drive, too. With over 30,000 lifetime reviews since the Steam Early Access launch in 2019, a whopping 91% enjoyed the game giving it a ‘Very Positive’ rating. “The decision to put one extra wheel in your car could be the thing that causes the entire world to implode, and it makes no sense but it’s just funny,” one player says in the Steam reviews.
“This is a very weird game. It looks like some unfinished prototype, it has some very wonky mechanics, but it has so much soul in it that I can’t help but enjoy it,” ‘Bob The Mad Man’ writes. “I just drove 1600 miles in 3.4 hours then I tried to open my door and I died. Ten out of ten best game I’ve ever played,” ‘PagMan’ adds.
Over the years patches have added motorbikes, multiplayer, guns, the ability to play your own music on the radio, and plenty of vehicles for you to cruise across the Mad Max wasteland in. The Long Drive isn’t the most polished game, but it oozes charm, character, and immaculate vibes unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.
The Long Drive is available at 75% off until Thursday July 11, so expect to pay $3.99 / £3.37 in the Steam summer sale until the price goes back up to $15.99 / £13.49 right here. Genesz currently plans for early access to end sometime this year.
We also have the best racing games and indie games you need to check out, if survival isn’t the only reason you’re intrigued by The Long Drive.
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