izigame.me

Heading Out has to be one of the best releases this year that I've been able to play, And I didn't expect to see myself writing this review or wanting to care this much about a game i picked up for only $20
Starting out I didn't really know what to expect from this game; I hadn't followed the game's development and looking through the screenshots, game play trailer and earlier reviews my initial understanding for what the game would be like was a narrative based driving simulator with the ability to decide parts of your characters story. I loved the sound of that, purchased the game and spent the first bit of it falling in love with the visuals and aesthetic of it all, the almost comic style of the colors and flashy visuals paired with the 70's setting made the game feel lively all throughout for me even to the end.
Game play wise it isn't anything spectacular, well from a normal persons point of view I'm guessing. To me the driving felt much different than anything I've played in a racing game before. I didn't go into the game believing I'd be able to drive completely all over the USA like in 'The Crew' with how cheap the game was or even expecting complex driving mechanics comparative to most racing games of this era, Instead what I got with 'Heading Out' was loving the game driving for not how it felt to drive but for how it made me feel when driving. The setting is perfect for me, spending countless minutes managing cash and your drivers energy make you feel the rush of being on the run, ducking in and out of cover as a cop nears your location along one of the maps many roads before speeding off to the next blip in front of you; whether that be a brand new story for your character to flesh out their ongoing journey, Road Races that keep you on the edge of your seat to get into first place hearing the cars pass by exclaiming "There he is! The Interstate Jackalope!" letting you know just how widely known and important your characters actions are to the people around you as you gain infamy and reputation. Cash from the races always doesn't seem like a lot but enough to keep yourself moving even just a bit further on your path and running through traffic or escaping police chases combined with those races shows you leaving a trail of increased wanted levels all over the map in your wake, just you and your car managing to escape anything in your path or even behind it as your characters fear follows you slowly filling up the roads you drive and leave behind. You always get to keep the feeling of being on the run, whether it be from the aforementioned police officers wanting to tear you off the road, the fear of your past lingering right behind your tread tire marks or as the game eventually makes you realize, even yourself.
That's where the narrative really comes into play. You start off deciding your characters backstory, or well as much as you can in a game where the mystery really carries the story. From that point on, whenever you enter a new chapter you get to continue building that character and the history they have or traits you want them to have. This was one of my favorite parts of the game, even though the driving felt so rewarding; the feeling of building this driver and making the traits as relatable to myself as i could made certain pieces of the game stick with me more then they maybe should have.
Before I forget to mention this; Jesus Christ this game's score is wonderful. Serious Sim really did do such a great job with everything on the OST, From the games main track of "Same Old Road" to "Aint No Hero" even "Disco Gal" is such a banger for me. No matter what your taste of music is, the songs that were chosen for this title really put you in the place the developer wanted you to feel you were in; listening to some western track or hard rock while I'm gunning down a California interstate anticipating a turn, there's not a single way i could think of being able to make someone feel like a road ruling street racer outlaw then the way it was displayed in this game.
The way the topic of self hatred and running from your issues were approached really hit home for me as well; the way that fear speaks to you through the radio preying on your vulnerabilities and problems you've been through mocking you for the issues you have and belittling you is so reminiscent of what it's like to have depression. No matter what you do sometimes you cant help but doubt and be the one person beating yourself down in any given situation. The one voice you know so well in your head telling you the same things over and over and you just have to deal with that, to keep pushing it off.
The struggle of maintaining that mental escape while trying to distinguish what the good things are around you whether that be the people you meet along your way, the accomplishments you make or even the situations you can decide to aid or hurt. Every single one of these things i experienced in this game made me understand how I could relate to the character I was building and the struggles they faced along their own journey in their own life.
Every step of the way we have so many different voices in our ear; from the doubt and cynicism our fear speaks, Riley giving us adoration and pressing her own problems down, JC venting about his regrets and past decisions, Joy dealing with the pain she had from her ex husband, and even Steve Landry beating us down for anything we decide to do. All of these characters have their own unique and distinct personality, and even if we don't see eye to eye with any of these people about everything they believe certain radio snippets show the relations of problems that our character and these troubled people can all sympathize with. At the end of the day, opinions are opinions. We all will spout and spew what we think and what we believe, shouting into an endless void believing our thoughts will matter more than someone else but our hearts will always empathize with feelings we can relate to. That's what being human is all about.
Even just thinking about the things we go through as people; the things we lose, the people we hurt, the ways we get hurt, there's so much i felt hit home for me in this game in so little time. The feelings i got from this game will not be the same or maybe even close to what you felt, but feeling every single part of the things I was able to describe and even the things i wasn't able to put into words made me adore this little narrative rogue-lite so much. The ending was amazing, your character pushing from day to day reliving the same stuff over and over, very obviously so tired of it but never giving up as he pushes towards his goal. One of the scenes i experienced having low focus and driving over one of the conversation blips showed my version of Jackie so tired, so stressed and so emotional behind the wheel. He pulls over in the rain and he just cant go anymore. It was the one scene in the game i feel that i have felt a million times over in my day to day life. Making the choice between screaming and crying and then being forced to just go back to it, like nothing happened. Being able to let a bit of that pain out before you are forced to do what you have to do.
This game is beautiful, from the driving to the narrative we are able to build and experience to the ending where you finally get to realize that running from your issues only perpetuates the cycle of never escaping them and the only real way to handle the things that we try to escape is by turning around, and facing them. That's the only real way you can get through to that light on the other side.
To every other "Interstate Jackalope" that played this game I hope you enjoyed it more if not as much as I did.
Whenever you hit your lowest of the low, you cant go anymore and you feel terrible about yourself, remember the person you are the things you're capable of and get yourself back on that road to defeat the "greatest driver alive", your doubts!<3