The prospect of yet another original IP published by Konami was already quite interesting in its own, but once I read about Deliver At All Costs and its premise, I found it to be borderline ironic… Konami releasing a story-driven game about doing deliveries in an open world. Sound familiar? Well, thankfully, this is where the similarities between Deliver At All Costs and Death Stranding end, as both titles couldn’t have been more different in terms of tone and gameplay feel.

Deliver At All Costs feels more like a less violent, less controversial, 1950’s-themed take on old-school Grand Theft Auto. And by old-school, I don’t mean Vice City or San Andreas, I mean the original ones on PS1. It’s an open world exploratory game set in a fictional American island city in 1959, in an admittedly odd isometric perspective. You play as Winston Green, a young genius who, for some reason, isn’t building rockets and acting like the engineering savant he’s supposed to be. He starts off the story by getting a job at a local delivery company because he’s late on his rent.

The plot unfolds at the end of each new mission. You get to know a bit more of Winston and his past whenever he reminisces about it in his apartment. You’ll meet a lovely cast of characters, ranging from Winston’s easygoing boss to a hippie neighbor who believes you shouldn’t walk on the ground because worms will eat your feet. The missions, as you might already expect, are based around picking cargo and delivering them to your customers. Your trustworthy truck and Winston’s engineering skills are what will help you complete these tasks.

Driving the truck around town is what you’ll do the most in Deliver At All Costs. Go to a place, pick the goods, then go to another place to deliver them. It sounds basic, and it kinda is, but I do think that the developers did add some creative conditions in each mission in order to make them feel less boring, besides the dialogue between Winston and a bunch of NPCs he’ll interact with. For instance, one mission might have you deliver a mutated marlin to a fisherman, but you need to constantly feed the marlin by running over barrels of fish food scattered around town. In another mission, you will have a balloon machine attached to your truck, which will make you float throughout the stage.

By far, what makes Deliver At All Costs stand out is its physics engine. Let’s just say that the game’s map just gives you a mere suggestion of how to get to your destination; if you want to, you can run over a house without an issue. It doesn’t feel realistic, it’s actually quite stupid, but it’s fun. That’s what matters. The house will be destroyed by your ungoverned truck, in a way that reminded me of Blast Corps for the Nintendo 64. The game doesn’t punish you for acting like a total imbecile, to be fair. It’s just for fun, for spectacle. To be fair, I’m fine with that.

Running over people doesn’t raise any kind of wanted level, either. The same can be said about hijacking vehicles. Deliver At All Costs isn’t about being a criminal lunatic – your goal is clear, being the best deliveryman in town. There are small sidequests scattered throughout the map, as well tons of boxes with additional wads of cash for you to collect, but all in all, this is a small game in terms of scope. It’s fun to wreak havoc with your truck in between missions, but that gets a bit repetitive after a while. The game actually shines when it gives you an idiotic condition for your delivery.

The game basically revolves around its gameplay loop and setting, as I honestly think its overall presentation was… a mixed bag. Let me clarify that I loved the soundtrack (it’s exactly what a game set in the 50’s should sound like), and the visuals look cool from afar, even if the camera is just terrible. What hinders it, however, are its cutscenes. Up close, character models and their animations feel like they came straight from the PS2 era. Their facial animations are awful. And I honestly can’t say good things about the voice acting other than, well, people gave their best, but it just wasn’t good enough.

Deliver At All Costs is filled with creative mission ideas, an awesome physics engine and an emphasis on an above-average story, but it’s also marred by technical and design issues, as well as an overall repetitive nature. Its presentation is also a mixed bag, but then again, I don’t think the game is that bad. In fact, there’s a lot to enjoy in it. It is a very unique experience, and it’s so devoid of urgency, it almost feels relaxing at times. You can’t say no to driving through entire houses, destroying them in the process, whilst listening to some good old surf rock from the 50’s.

Graphics: 6.5 From afar, when you’re driving a truck, the game doesn’t look half bad. The physics are impressive, and the lighting effects are solid. Up close, character models and their animations feel like they came straight from the PS2 era.	Gameplay: 6.5 A (very) simplified take on old-school GTA, hindered by a cumbersome camera angle and some mechanical issues. The destructible environments are easily the highlight.
Sound: 7.5 I really liked the soundtrack, comprised of surf rock and standards from the late 50’s. Now, when it comes to the voice acting… they sure tried. It’s just a bit too amateurish.	Fun Factor: 7.0 It is filled with creative mission ideas and an emphasis on an above-average story, but it’s also marred by technical and design issues, as well as an overall repetitive nature. Then again, it’s so devoid of urgency, it almost feels relaxing at times.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Deliver At All Costs is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Deliver At All Costs was provided by the publisher.