Note: This game was kindly provided by Far Out Games, together with Konami, for review purposes.
Deliver At All Costs was one of those games that piqued my curiosity at first sight. The idea of stepping into the shoes of a courier in a highly destructible world, where practically anything can go wrong at any moment, seemed to have the potential to create memorable situations. After spending a few hours with the game, I can say that promise is delivered... at least for a good part of the adventure.
Developed by Far Out Games, the game puts us in the role of Winston Green, an engineer with an unclear past and a personality that seems permanently on the verge of exploding. His new job seems simple: make deliveries. However, we quickly realize we're a long way from a traditional parcel-hauling experience.
Each mission presents a different situation, often a completely absurd one. From unstable cargo to objects that defy all logic, the game makes a constant effort to surprise the player. That early variety ends up being one of its greatest qualities. We never know exactly what awaits us on the next delivery, and that creates a sense of curiosity that helps enormously during the first hours.
A large part of the fun is born precisely from the chaos. The cities we drive through are highly destructible, and the game clearly encourages a less-than-careful approach to driving. Instead of avoiding obstacles, the fastest solution is often simply to plow straight through them. Watching poles, fences, street furniture, and even parts of buildings being destroyed during a delivery is genuinely entertaining.
The exaggerated physics contributes a lot to that feeling. Vehicles react unpredictably, accidents generate absurd situations, and sometimes the simple act of trying to reach your destination turns into a sequence of disasters completely out of control. It's precisely these moments that end up generating some of the best stories you take with you after turning the game off.
Visually, Deliver At All Costs presents a very pleasant identity of its own. The isometric perspective works well and helps showcase all the destruction happening on screen. On top of that, the 1950s inspiration is present in practically every aspect of the art direction.
The vehicles, the buildings, the advertising billboards, and even the way characters are presented all help create a very distinctive atmosphere. This isn't a game that impresses through graphical fidelity, but there's evident care in building its visual identity.
The three cities we visit over the course of the adventure have different styles, which helps stave off any immediate sense of visual repetition. Although none of them is particularly deep in terms of exploration, they fulfil their role as a stage for all the destruction and chaos that define the experience.
The audio also accompanies the action well. The soundtrack fits the era's theme and helps build atmosphere without becoming intrusive. The sound effects for destruction, impacts, and vehicles are competent and help make the chaos more satisfying. They aren't elements that will particularly stick in your memory after finishing the game, but they do their job well.
However, it was also over the hours that some of the experience's limitations began to emerge.
Despite the creativity present in the early missions, there comes a point where the formula starts to show some wear. Many of the tasks end up following similar structures, and the sense of novelty gradually fades. The game keeps presenting interesting ideas here and there, but no longer with the consistency of its opening hours.
That repetition becomes more evident because some mechanics don't evolve significantly over the campaign. What initially feels chaotic and fun begins, at certain moments, to feel predictable. It never quite reaches the point of becoming boring, but it clearly reduces the impact the first hours manage to generate.
The narrative is probably the element that divided me the most. The opening sets up an interesting mystery around Winston and his past. There are several clues and strange situations that spark curiosity and make you believe there's something bigger behind all that madness.
Unfortunately, I felt the development of that story didn't live up to the expectations it created. As we progress, the narrative starts heading down increasingly unexpected paths, introducing science fiction elements that don't always integrate naturally with the rest of the experience.
The result is a story that seems to lose focus. The initial mystery gives way to increasingly strange events and, at least for me, the resolution didn't manage to deliver a particularly satisfying conclusion. It isn't a disastrous narrative, but there's a lingering feeling that there was potential for something more interesting and coherent.
I also felt that the enormous destructive potential of the environments could have been better used. Although the destruction is fun and visually impressive, it rarely influences the missions or the progression in any meaningful way. It ends up working more as a visual spectacle than as a mechanic truly integrated into the game's design.
Even so, it would be unfair to ignore what Deliver At All Costs does well. At its best, it delivers genuinely hilarious moments. There are missions that stand out for their originality, completely absurd situations that arise unexpectedly, and a level of chaos few games manage to reproduce.
It's the kind of game that works particularly well in shorter sessions. Dropping in for half an hour, causing widespread destruction, completing a few absurd deliveries, and logging off can be a very fun experience. The problem arises when we try to play for many hours straight — that's when the formula's limitations become more apparent.
In the end, Deliver At All Costs leaves me with mixed feelings. On one hand, it presents an original idea, an excellent destructive component, and several genuinely fun moments. On the other, it suffers from a narrative that loses direction, some structural repetition, and a potential it can't always fulfil.
It isn't a game I'd recommend to everyone, but there's clearly an audience that could have a great time with what it offers. Anyone looking for a laid-back, chaotic experience without much concern for realism will find several reasons to smile here.
It may not deliver everything it promises, but during its best moments it manages to remind us why, sometimes, causing chaos can simply be fun.
out of 10
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Game Deliver At All Costs Released 2025 Available on PC · PlayStation 5 · Xbox Series X|S Reviewed on PlayStation 5 |  Cover: IGDB |
| PL | Pedro Lopes Writer · Portugal |
A games writer from Portugal running on a highly irresponsible amount of coffee — his blood type is officially "espresso". He has been a content creator at Lisbon Games Week, a jury member at Over & Out ’25 and an attendee of DevGAMM Lisbon 2025 (mostly for the free coffee). He has a Pac-Man tattoo on his finger, which contractually obliges him to chase ghosts forever.