There’s something so satisfying about combining genres that really shouldn’t be compatible together. Games like 2022’s stellar Neon White successfully combined a visual novel into a deck-building first-person shooter. When it works, it’s magnificent, as you get a truly one-of-a-kind experience. Or what about Hades taking a narrative-driven approach to the roguelike genre? Integrating its very story into the gameplay loop. Heading Out is the latest game to really combine genres. A game that is part driving, part roguelike and part visual novel. It’s a mixture of styles that we really haven’t seen before so I was very much interested. It tries to do a lot, sure, but Heading Out is not a perfect experience.

You play as the Jackal, a popular driver running across America. You’re making your name whilst running away from your past. It’s a simple premise for a roguelike but a fairly effective one. Every run has you selecting from a small variety of backstories that help flesh out the world a little bit.

So what exactly is heading out and how does it combine genres? At its very core, Heading Out is a narrative-driven driving game. You will start out plotting your route across America on the map. Taking different routes will get you different story beats, radio talk shows, racing events and narrative decisions that will impact your run and how things will play out.

You will be spending quite a bit of time on the map, choosing the routes that you are going to take. Make it to the destination and completing the race will progress you to the next area. Completing an act will send you back to the start only for you to make a fresh run. It’s a compelling enough roguelike premise with pseudo-randomisation. From what I can tell, the routes are scripted, but the events aren’t. All of this whilst slowing down to avoid police and escaping from your fear indicated by the red lines that begin to swallow up the roads behind you.

As mentioned earlier, the game also acts as a visual novel. At key moments in the map screen or towns, you will encounter narrative events. These will give you the option to get involved with citizens around the world. These feed into the overall narrative of the game, with stories that will impact how the game plays out with some consequences. Starring in a local movie production may get you fame, but will cost you time to the point your fears will catch up to you. It adds a layer of strategy. There are A LOT of these moments throughout the game and I was always engaged and looking forward to the next one.

Every stop you make provides something different. And these choices are backfed into the progression on top of that. Your character must pay attention to their focus, vehicle health, wanted rating and fame. All of these have massive impacts on the gameplay, and depending on your choices throughout, this will open up or lock you out of certain choices that will impact your entire run. It’s an engaging system that keeps every run of Heading Out feeling unique.

Let’s not forget one of the last aspects about the game as a whole: driving. It’s funny, as even though the game features a lot of it, it’s not its central focus. The main focus is the visual novel aspect. If you wanted a narrative racing game, this might let you down a little bit. Mechanics behind driving are simple. It can be awkward and takes some getting used to, but once you do, driving is an absolute breeze

Driving AI at best can be incompetent; at the best they seem to be barely noticeable. At worst, they are able to smash into you without much consequences. Not only that there is a distinct lack of variety in the races or tracks. Most races boil down to being ahead of your opponents on a fairly linear road by the time a song ends. There are some detours and shortcuts but that’s about it. Everything functions competently enough but in the end I was just hoping for a little more variety. I actually end up finding the narrative choices to be the better aspect of Heading Out whilst being let down by the driving.

On top of every thing else, there’s the striking visual design. It reminded me of Sin City, with its black-and-white imagery coupled with just a slight amount of colour. Barreling down the highways with the red skies representing your fear was a surprisingly stunning choice. It’s a simple yet effective aesthetic that pulls you straight in. That’s not to mention the small details. Changing gears will cause a comic book panel to appear, for instance. There is an annoying issue, however, which is the striking amount of pop-in which takes you out of the experience at imes.

The sound design also matches pretty well with the great presentation. It features a suitable Americana-esque soundtrack, all being blasted through a radio station, which really nails the road trip aesthetic the developers were aiming for. There are also radio hosts adding a moody edge to the game, as they comment on your actions and other events. They are well-performed, but occur way too often, which made me skip a handful of them after a while.

Heading Out combines genres and styles which might sound incompatible at first glance, but did so in a very interesting manner, resulting in a truly unique roguelike experience. I, for one, really liked the presentation as well, with its slick visuals and soundtrack. It’s not entirely perfect, as the driving could have been more polished, and the pop-in glitches really took me out of the experience at times. That being said, it’s a game unlike any other out there, which wlll definitely keep you engaged through a good few runs.

Graphics: 8.0 A Sin City-esque visual style which is quite striking, but lacking in detail. There’s also quite a bit of pop-in.	Gameplay: 7.0 Driving mechanics might not exactly feel as polished (it’s not the main focus of the game), but every else works well in tandem with each other.
Sound: 8.0 Solid sound design with a great soundtrack that fits with the themes, as well as some decent radio voice acting.	Fun Factor: 7.0 A unique mixture of genres which results in an engaging roguelike, which, sadly, doesn’t quite hit its full potential.
Final Verdict: 7.5

Heading Out is available now on PC.

Reviewed on PC.

A copy of Heading Out was provided by the publisher.