PREVIEW – If Death Stranding bored you to death, this (almost) GTA-style open world, with a ridiculous physics engine and Michael Bay-inspired mayhem, might be just what you’re looking for. Deliver at All Costs is still fine-tuning its gameplay, so there’s no official release date yet, but you can already try out an impressive demo on Steam.

Video games have a unique way of evoking emotions, from the raw, unfiltered carnage of DOOM to the eerie, oppressive atmosphere of INSIDE. Yet, we rarely talk about the kind of games that exist purely to entertain without deeper meaning. Deliver at All Costs embraces that philosophy completely. In an industry that has been leaning more toward serious storytelling in recent years, it’s refreshing to see a (semi) open-world game that turns package delivery into absolute chaos, set against the backdrop of 1950s America, with a physics and destruction system straight out of a fever dream. This game proves that sheer lunacy still has a place in gaming.

After playing its first Steam demo – which you can download for free right now – I can confidently say that I’m even more excited for the full release. That said, I also have some reservations about this *Michael Bay-directed Death Stranding*, mixed with a pinch of Just Cause-style insanity.

Think Crazy Taxi, but With Couriers

The more I played the Deliver at All Costs demo, the more it reminded me of other iconic games. While the influences of Death Stranding and Just Cause are obvious, in terms of gameplay, it feels closest to the legendary Crazy Taxi. That classic SEGA game arrived at a time when video games were all about grand, impossible narratives, and it completely flipped the script—putting you in a taxi with one simple mission: race against the clock and have a blast doing it.

And what made that game special? Pure, unfiltered chaos. Deliver at All Costs takes that energy and runs with it. You’re thrown into a vintage American coastal city where rock and roll is king, and everyone’s obsessed with UFO sightings and government conspiracies. The story mode leans into this absurdity with a deliberately nonsensical, over-the-top narrative that feels unlike anything else in the genre. The goal? After getting fired one too many times, you’re trying to rebuild your life as a courier. Emotional drama? Saving humanity? Preventing the apocalypse? None of that here. The city – a semi-open world divided into large sections connected by tunnel-based loading screens – is your playground, and you’re free to wreak havoc like a kid in a candy store.

While Deliver at All Costs has a simple foundation, what sets it apart is the sheer freedom in how you handle deliveries. One moment, you’re transporting a massive swordfish, the next, you’re hauling thirty watermelons—and the game doesn’t care how you do it. Unlike Crazy Taxi, not every mission is timed, but speed is still crucial. Just as important, though, is getting your cargo to its destination intact. Everything else? Completely optional. If your delivery point is just two blocks away but there’s a row of houses in the way, you can take the normal route… or you can plow right through the neighborhood like an absolute menace.

This is where Deliver at All Costs truly shines—its ridiculous destruction system. Remember those times in Battlefield when you wished you could fully demolish buildings? Well, this game gets pretty damn close. Every structure has unique physical properties: brick houses are sturdier than wooden ones, and some have steel frames… but all of them can be reduced to rubble if you feel like it. Instead of using a voxel-based destruction system like Teardown, where every structure is built from tiny individual cubes, Studio Far Out Games opted for a more segmented collapse system akin to Just Cause. And let me tell you—the results are spectacular.

This Isn’t a Simulation – It’s a Full-Blown Chaos Playground

That doesn’t mean the game doesn’t deliver some truly explosive action moments—on the contrary, it feels like a collection of scenes ripped straight from Bad Boys 2, where everything that can be destroyed, will be. And law enforcement? It doesn’t even exist here. Deliver at all Costs is an unrestricted sandbox, where players are free to unleash mayhem in ways that would make Goat Simulator look tame. Smash through buildings, mow down pedestrians, send cars flying into the stratosphere—there are absolutely no consequences. At worst, your vehicle will get wrecked, but even that’s just an invitation to dive into the game’s absurd upgrade system, which lets you add boosters, cranes, or even automatic doors that can catapult unsuspecting civilians into the air.

Of course, it’s not all perfect. Maybe the demo’s prologue is too forgettable, or perhaps the story, world-building, and cutscenes are just too messy to follow. Whatever the reason, Deliver at all Costs leaves a fun yet slightly uncertain impression. The big question is whether it can maintain engagement in the long run. For now, I have my doubts.

One thing is certain, though: we need more games like this. Unlike Goat Simulator, which relied on ragdoll physics for its charm, Deliver at all Costs has a more unique feel—despite its clear inspirations. In an industry obsessed with taking itself seriously, a game that asks nothing more than for you to shut your brain off and enjoy the chaos absolutely deserves attention.

A Playground of Destruction

That said, the game still delivers on the kind of cinematic spectacle that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster. Think Bad Boys 2’s legendary chase scene, where Will Smith and Martin Lawrence bulldoze their way through a Cuban village at full throttle. Except here, there are no cops to chase you—hell, they don’t even exist. Deliver at all Costs is a true sandbox of destruction, a playground where you can unleash absolute carnage with zero repercussions. Like in Goat Simulator, you become a god of chaos, demolishing buildings, running over pedestrians, and turning parked cars into smoldering wrecks without a care. The worst that can happen? Your vehicle breaks down. But even that can be countered by the game’s upgrade system, which lets you reinforce your ride—or take destruction to an even more absurd level. Jet boosters, cranes, automated doors—everything you need to turn the city into a disaster zone is at your disposal.

On top of that, Studio Far Out Games has injected a hefty dose of absurdity and irreverence into the missions to keep gameplay from ever feeling repetitive. One moment, you’re carefully transporting watermelons, where hyper-realistic physics forces you to drive as if balancing glassware; the next, you’re hauling an armed nuclear bomb through an erupting volcano while angry townsfolk chase you down and buildings collapse around you. Fail, and the bomb detonates, leaving a massive crater in the heart of the city. Deliver at all Costs exists to ensure that its deceptively simple package delivery mechanics always surprise you.

The missions are completely over-the-top and unhinged—exactly what makes them so much fun.

That said, not everything is perfect. Maybe it’s the weak prologue in the demo, or the fact that the story, world-building, and cutscenes sometimes feel a bit uninspired. Most of all, the game’s sheer lunacy makes it hard to follow at times. Either way, Deliver at all Costs ends up being an enjoyable but slightly bittersweet experience. And for a game of this type, the real test is whether it can keep players engaged over the long term. Right now, I’m not entirely convinced.

Even so, the industry could use more games like this. While Goat Simulator relied on physics-driven absurdity, Deliver at all Costs feels a bit more unique—despite taking clear inspiration from other titles. For now, Studio Far Out Games’ project—backed by Konami—looks promising as a new addition to the “turn-your-brain-off-and-wreak-havoc” genre. And what can I say? In a gaming landscape oversaturated with self-serious narratives, a game that simply asks you to embrace chaos and enjoy yourself absolutely deserves a spot on our wishlist.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-