Parcel Corps Impressions: Crazy Taxi meets Sunset Overdrive

Have you ever wondered how food couriers manage to get your meal to you before it gets cold? How do they manage to cross a city, rivers, mountains, and do it all within the allotted time? If you, like me, have been pondering this question, then BillyGoat Entertainment's Parcel Corps is set to be the perfect game for you. During my time at Gamescom this year, I had the chance to sit down and to check out the game in a hands-off presentation, and while this game often came across as a weird fever dream, I'm also absolutely taken by it and can't wait for the game to make its debut sometime in the future.

Essentially, Parcel Corps is the strange lovechild of Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and Sunset Overdrive. The idea is to suit up as a bike courier and to then zoom around a colourful and vibrant world to complete a bunch of delivery tasks. The catch is that this game is not a rooted and realistic title, no, it's set in a wacky world and you play as what can only be described as Superman on a BMX. You can wallride, bounce on cars, grind on rails, trick and style, and pedal absurdly fast, and this is all within a level that is designed to feel like a giant playground with plenty of ways to get around that are far more exciting than simply following the roads.

The actual courier tasks are also strange and weird and fit the tone of this game. You'll meet all manner of kooky characters and individuals throughout the world and they will task you with delivering their goods all so that you can increase your reputation with their company all to open the door to better contracts and opportunities. Why are you doing this in the first place? This is where Parcel Corps gets even more peculiar. The story revolves around you looking to stop a massive corporation taking over the delivery world, all by stealing contracts and taking away their clients. The repercussions however will mean that your courier finds themselves the target of law enforcement, with cars and helicopters sent after you to impede you and slow you down.

While I haven't had a chance to actually go hands-on with Parcel Corps myself yet, what BillyGoat Entertainment showed to me in the preview session made it clear that the gameplay is set to be fluid and fast-paced, and that you can really tackle the challenges and the world in the way that suits you. This isn't a Skate type of game where the aim is more realistic movement, it's Sunset Overdrive on a bike, and you will be leaping and grinding all around the world in an incredibly smooth and exciting manner.

The question with Parcel Corps will be how the developer looks to keep iterating the gameplay, as while the movement looks fun, the nature of simply delivering parcels for hours upon end will no doubt start to feel a bit repetitive after a while. There were a few glimpses at how the developer intends to tackle this problem, as your courier, for example, will always be livestreaming their journey and you can interact with the audience by completing tricks and the likes to be rewarded with donations and more money, which can be used to customise and improve your bike and grow your courier business.

From what I have seen, BillyGoat Entertainment is onto something special with Parcel Corps. This comes across as a very fun and daft game, packed with witty and silly humour, and built with a gameplay style that looks to give the player a lot of options with how they make their way around the world. I can't wait to see what else will be offered in this game in the run up to launch, and to learn how BillyGoat is going above and beyond in its wackiness.