Totally Reliable Delivery Service is a physics-based sandbox game for 1-4 players. It releases on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, The Epic Store and Mobile Devices on April 1st. Joseph Pugh conducted this review on a standard Xbox One console.
Overview
Totally Reliable Delivery Service is a wacky physics game where you and a few friends struggle to control chubby delivery folks with some hilariously intense butt jiggle physics.
You will take on various delivery missions, some are based on speed while others simply require you to deliver a package intact. Alternatively, you can ignore the missions altogether and just goof around the open-world sandbox.
Vehicles of all shapes and sizes litter the world and they can help or hamper your deliveries, or you can just drive them off-ramps and into your friends. Simply controlling your character is half the challenge as your meaty little porter arms flail around bonelessly.
Totally Reliable Delivery Service can be played solo but that is missing the entire point. It is meant to be played with friends either online or up to four-person local split-screen
Gameplay
While the controls are simple, the game is intentionally clunky. You can run, jump and flop on the ground. Each arm can grab and lift objects individually, but you don’t directly control your arms. They flail around with the physics of the game. The key is to utilize physics in a way that helps you accomplish your goal.
The game’s world is completely open from the very beginning with no restrictions, you are free to waddle around at your leisure interacting with objects, driving vehicles and taking on deliveries. Completing missions rewards you with new cosmetics to outfit your character with and money to spend on vehicle skins.
The deliveries themselves come in two flavors, deliver something fast with no regard to its condition, or take as much time as you need as long the package is intact. Packages can be regular boxes, rocks attached to balloons that float away, explosives and more.
Each delivery usually presents you with a vehicle you can use, but your free to do it your own way. There is a huge amount of vehicles from standard carts to planes and pirate ships and each one is governed by the silly physics system.
As I mentioned before, the controls are intentionally clunky. Simply picking up a package and placing it on a truck can be an exercise. Vehicles share the same concept and the world is rife with obstacles. This combination usually leads to a delivery going horribly wrong as you crash your aircraft or flip a truck sending the package tumbling down a mountain. Or worse, detonating an explosive.
The enjoyment you gain from these shenanigans is going to vary wildly. I found it hilarious
The world itself is full of vehicles and toys, it’s clearly meant to be a place where you and your friends can goof around. You can grab a fire extinguisher and be launched skyward, bounce on a trampoline or subject your friends to extreme G-forces as you take control of the carnival rides.
In fact, I feel like contrary to the game’s name, the delivery aspect feels secondary. With a few exceptions, the missions aren’t that interesting. In fact, there were many that spawned me a vehicle and the delivery point was only a short distance away. I simply lifted the box over my head and waddled over to the destination on foot rather than fight the physics system to load the package onto the
I had more fun picking up a hammer from a museum and knocking out my partner with it, or falling down a mountain as with both tried to use the same hang glider. Yet that kind of entertainment is short-lived. Simply goofing around is entertaining for a few minutes but the gag gets old fast. That kind of describes Totally Reliable Delivery Service in a nutshell. It is chock full of one use gags that are funny precisely once.
Flopping on the ground and farting to knock out your friend is amusing the first time, it just feels juvenile after that. It doesn’t take long for you to start to crave the actual game aspect when you are done messing around, but all that’s left is low effort delivery missions with little to no substance.
Verdict
Totally Reliable Delivery Service doesn’t really feel like a game. It’s more like a giant toy box to goof off with friends. The idea is initially appealing but tapers off quickly. The intentionally frustrating controls mixed with physics only take the game so far when most of the fun appears to be found just messing with stuff.
Playing online seems to carry a decent degree of input delay which makes the already rough physics system that much more aggravating. Split-screen worked well enough, but the frame rate does take a hit for it.
In most party style multiplayer games, laughter and comedy happen in a more organic fashion. Totally Reliable Delivery Service on the other hand simply tries too hard to be funny. This is evident in its mechanical design and its presentation, such as keister island, which is shaped like a butt with a green gas vent between the cheeks. If Totally Reliable Delivery Service were a movie, Will Ferrel would be cast in the leading role.
The lack of meaningful gameplay, try-hard humor, and day one DLC make it hard to recommend. You could get some laughs by getting some friends together and goofing off in the open world, but there are much better alternatives out there you could spend your money on.
A copy of Totally Reliable Delivery Service was provided for Gideon’s Gaming by TinyBuild Games.
Want some other co-op options? Check out my reviews of Unrailed and Out Of Space.
Pros
- A large variety of vehicles and do-dads to interact with
- The physics system antics can be amusing for a bit
- Plenty of unlockable cosmetics
Cons
- Very little gameplay substance
- Poor Mission design
- Intentionally clunky controls can be frustrating
- Tries too hard to be funny
- Online lag issue or input delay compounds the frustration
- Day One DLC packs which include new missions
