izigame.me

Let me get this out of the way first. If you are using a Linux based system (that includes the Steam Deck) DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! I have had countless crashed and twice it locked up my computer completely. Otherwise let me get into the actual review.
So Heading Out appears to be a comic like The Crew game on the store page. Well its not... Yes you will be going across America but, in the context of a map and not actually driving. The driving sections don't exceed more than 4 minutes in length per session and are rather short. They aren't very in-depth but, its...fine. The car handles either like the twitchy model out of Gmod or like a brick in molasses. The handling lacks consistency and often times causes you to take turns incorrectly. Bump's can often times be a 50/50 gamble of weather you'll be fine... or darting off the road. But, I'll save me thoughts about this later. I want give a breakdown so, that I can give people a proper decision. The very bottom will be a TLDR of my overall thoughts of the game.
So... what did I like:
- First off I wanna give props for having a dyslexia mode. As someone who suffers from dyslexia a great deal. And often times has to just cope with the fact of re-reading the same line 5 or more times till I get the real context... this was awesome. Sure it makes the game look off but, if it allows me to follow along with the story... I'm cool with it.
- The art style is awesome! I love the cell-shaded comic book like theme going on here. A nice mix of Initial D meets The Fast and The Furious.
- Car section is nice. I will give a small breakdown. (Note you unlock a new car every act upon completion. You need to use the left analog stick to oddly wack your way over to the section to make a choice.) The cars (year not withstanding) are as follows.
1973 Dodge Challenger (You will have this by default)
1952 Chevrolet Bel Air with Blower (1st Act Finished)
1964 Ferrari GTO 250 (2nd Act Finished)
1970 Nissan Skyline GT-R (3rd Act Finished)
Now while I think some of the choice of cars are a bit odd (The GTO and GT-R due to one only ever having 34 made and the other never being sold in America) I like the selection. Naturally they don't go by the licensed names but, that's not a strike against them.
- Finishing a chapter is great to see. It shows you your choices and events performed. Like a highlight reel!
- Music may not be the best. But, I have heard way worse.
And that's all the likes I have to say... So lets get into my gripes that are not game crashing issues. Now mind you these comments are coming from someone who was playing on "Balanced." They may not reflect other difficult levels.
- About the driving... Beyond the lack of feel it has it can be boring... Often times you are left unchallenged. Detours feel like a no-brainier instead of a risk/reward situation. Get fame in a Burnout like style is often touchy at best (You could dive a few inches from a car and get a near miss one moment. The the next time nothing happens.) And the car really likes throwing a hissy fit with the slightest of bumps.
- The Cops... or the lack there of... For the most part the cops (apart from being the bad guys for the most part but, we will get into that later) are terrible. If you end up in a chase with them it is often Speed + Detour + Something Else + Repeat = Win. Seriously they are so bad at posing a threat it makes the cops in NFSMW 2005 look like they are cheating. Better yet if you get arrested instead of it being a failure condition its a reset. No drawbacks, no getting held up, no needing to panic about fear, and defiantly no major issues. Just... drive.
- FEAR... Well more like fear... It's meant to be the games way of making you move forward and be a fail state but... I never once had an issue with fear. Sure it would shut me out of a city once or twice but, whats the big deal? Didn't stop my run and overall just felt like some pointless fail condition to keep me from thinking about going somewhere else... speaking of which...
- The East Coast! Or better yet the lack their of. The roads exist on the map but, you can not go to any of the states that line the Atlantic Ocean. They don't even have the abbreviation on the map! Why do you hate the East Coast Serious Sim? WHY?! (Mind you I come from Texas that is in the game... But, the point stands.)
- Game length is a bit short. Wanna do another run? Too bad... start from the beginning! Sure you don't really need to worry about unlocks as this is more of a rouge-lite than a rouge-like. But, I wanna be able to use the other cars still!
- It's re-playable! Or not... Look once you've done one run thought the entire game. It's highly unlikely you will want to come back. Perhaps that's an issue with the game wanting to have a story but, I doubt it.
So... without further ado... lets take about the one major opinion I have that makes me not want to recommend this game to someone else.
So I hear you like politics..? Let me set a president I was more interested to get into the muck of the mess of the 1970's America but... one big issue. You only get to do what the developer thinks the good side is. I don't need to tell you the America in the 70's wasn't a nice place to be if you were a minority or at the very least not white. Sure it may have came after the Civil Rights Act was passed but, that only meant civil liberties were protected. It had no control on how people had to behave personally.
But, here's the rub. The developer doesn't let you do remotely anything right of Stalin as a good thing. Or at least it feels that way. People have pointed out that Disco Elysium does a better job of letting you see the pros and cons of political ideologies over this game (Mind you that DE was made by actual Communists) and I will have to agree. Personally I will most likely never play DE as it's just not my game (but, kudos to the guys and gals who made it.) I wanna give a breakdown of this games outlook in the 70's. And if you wish to skip to the TLDR by all means go right ahead!
-So... the game wants you to focus on 4 radio stations. I will not really name the people manning them beyond one (as the name of the person is also the station but, not?) And is somewhat important to the story... Somewhat. At the base level they will comment about the world and some of your actions. Good or bad and the spin they have on them. I wanted to comment on each one in depth but, I hit the text limit. XD
In a nutshell all of them have the vaguest of political views minus two. One who is very left wing (even for the time) and one who is basically Alex Jones without the aliens and the waters that turn the frogs gay. The other two stations; while meant to have differing political views from the two extremes, really spend the time for the most part taking the piss out of Steve Landry. Even the game wants you to know that Steve Landry is a douche-bag. It's a tip actually... The issue is... I actually like Steve. How did you succeed in making the person whose meant to a douche into the one I am glad to hear from? Well mostly by having a horribly set up world. The politics of the 2020's in the 1970's. Look I'll keep it short. I wanted a bit of historical accuracy but, you won't find that hear beyond the style. So my advice. just take it for what it is and assume this world takes place with a really progressive society. For god sake they called the Iron Cross for a Nazi marking. And they don't let you deal with him nicely. I could go into a rant but, I'll pass.
TLDR: Game fine, story bad, choice do not matter, right wing bad.
STEVE LANDRY FOR PRESIDENT 1974!
I can't refund it so I'll just enjoy what I can.
Edit to fix errors. Again Dyslexic.