When you are looking at the racing genre, I love the weirder games, those that attempt to rethink exactly what a racing game can be. You can keep your Gran Turismos, your Forzas, your Need for Speeds, as well as your Mario Karts. I'll take Trials and Crazy Taxi and Turbo Golf Racing over those others every day of the week.
You Suck at Parking falls into the latter category. It's a fun, modernized undertake the isometric racing genre in which the entire point would be to park as fast and cleanly as you possibly can.
That may appear simple, but there's a lot working against you. There is a time period limit, which forces you to go as quickly as possible. You cannot reverse your car and also have a limited amount of fuel, so get stuck, dilly dally, or overshoot your parking space, and you will have to begin again with a new car. Gleam ton of obstacles to impede your progress or outright destroy your vehicle. In the event that happens, you once again have to start all over with another new car. On top of everything, the game's driving mechanics feel happy, but they aren't the easiest to master, especially when a track involves a lot of precise drifting.
When first starting the single-player campaign, obtaining the “perfect parking” accolade-where you only need one car per parking spot-is pretty simple. The majority of the early courses act as tutorials for You Suck at Parking's main mechanics, gradually acclimating you to definitely the kinds of tricks and traps that it'll begin to throw at you more and more. But as you receive further along in your journey, besides the volume of obstacles increase, but so does the difficulty. Pretty soon, you will need to avoid getting PIT-maneuvered by tiny cop cars while swerving magnets that will pull you into guardrails that blow you on impact.
By combining different obstacles with track designs that seemingly never repeat, You Suck at Parking ensures a wide variety of experiences based on a straightforward foundation of simple mechanics along with a clear goal. A number of the obstacles-like gates which will teleport you to various areas of the tracks-can occasionally split up the flow and detract from the experience if you attempt to become too clever, however they rarely have an overwhelmingly negative effect on gameplay. While some of the game's obstacles can trigger some creative swearing from the player, the most needling ones feel like hilarious pranks instead of truly unfair game design choices.
It's good that You Suck at Parking's tracks provide a large amount of variety, since there are a lot of them in the single-player campaign. Between your game's two main biomes, a number of different islands, and bonus levels you unlock by “perfect parking” standard tracks, there are over 100 different tracks to complete and many times as numerous parking spots between these. For the single-player mode alone, that's a lot of value, without even talking about the game's multiplayer component (which I couldn't find a full server for prior to launch).
While Irrrve never exactly became tired of You Suck at Parking, the game started to get a bit monotonous around the halfway point. Which was less due to the gameplay and more because of the game's art design.
The simple but colorful graphics work very well in a game that's all about speed and readability, so they are not the issue. What made the game begin to feel monotonous would be the repeated visual designs for that tracks. There's two main types-normal asphalt tracks and iced-over asphalt tracks-that both repeat their respective visual motifs ad nauseam. It becomes boring to check out, resulting in a sense of visual fatigue. While there's is a ton of variety within the design of the tracks, the visuals almost make you feel like you're playing exactly the same tracks over and over again.
You Suck at Parking could also use a number of menus, especially in the overworld section. Rather than giving you the option to select a track you need to replay from the list, you need to physically drive your car right part of the overworld to locate a particular level you need to replay. This may not seem like that big of a deal, but since entire point of the sport is that driving is difficult and that you can't reverse, navigating your vehicle round the overworld-which has its own group of obstacles and leaps of faith-can be really frustrating.
Customization, which should be considered a highlight, is also hindered by a season pass system. This is not to say that You Suck at Parking's developers don't should drink in the microtransaction cup exactly, there is however something which feels icky about having a season pass prior to the game even launches, especially with an unproven new title. It does not detract in the game too much, but I was a little disappointed by the relative insufficient cosmetic unlocks I earned in on the dozen hours with the game so far.
As I previously stated, I've not had the chance to try out You Suck at Parking's other half, which is its multiplayer, so I'm holding off on publishing a scored review until I'm able to try it out. But so far, I've had a blast with the game's single-player. The tracks are fun and inventive, the concept is straightforward but effective, and that i still seem like I'm mastering the game's mechanics. It's definitely not perfect, and feels especially unimaginative in the visual design department, but if You Suck at Parking is really as fun in multiplayer because it is in single-player, then it is going to be one that fans of weird racing games should really consider.
Update: Multiplayer and Final Review
While You Suck at Parking's single-player is essentially a fun and expansive, if not slightly monotonous, assortment of levels, it's the multiplayer that should really provide its feeling of longevity. Unfortunately, although the core from the multiplayer experience is solid, it's without features, modes, and variety, despite already offering a season pass system.
The idea behind multiplayer is simple: Instead of one player trying to park in all the spots on the level, you have as much as 8 players competing to become the first to do so. The levels in multiplayer generally are a lot smaller and less challenging compared to those within the campaign, but there are way more parking spots to complete the same period of time. All that, on top of the pressure of attempting to conquer seven other players, adds to the chaotic fun of the mode.
As fun as multiplayer can be, it leaves a great deal to be desired. You will find very few maps available right now, and while they are all well-designed and fun to experience on, there just aren't enough of them. By my second multiplayer match, I had been already re-experiencing some levels. Developer Happy Volcano has released a roadmap that promises new maps later on, but there just isn’t a great deal to experience at launch.
What also helps make the multiplayer feel slight is the fact that, over the small group of maps, there's just the one mode that you could play. Yes, “parking” generally is the specific game, but that doesn't mean its multiplayer couldn't test out its satisfying driving mechanics and physics system. Standard racing, demolition derby, or even an isometric Rocket League -style soccer mode are not only possible with what You Suck at Parking offers, but could possibly be really fun and add a large amount of replayability.
Plus, other modes could possibly make it seem like you're actually playing against other players, rather than alongside them. The weirdest part about You Suck at Parking's multiplayer is it doesn't seem like you're really getting together with the other players. Sure, you will occasionally encounter them and even perhaps trigger a trap that blows them up, but none of it feels all that purposeful. Besides, it's difficult enough just parking in 10 spots in two minutes that there are not even time for you to try to wreck havoc on other people.
What would have made more sense is to have players fighting over a series of individual spots. As soon as the first spot is alleged, the next spot opens up and then everyone races to fit in that one. This way, players would constantly be competing over the same spot instead of playing parallel one to the other. As it stands now, the multiplayer seems like an uneven extension from the campaign greater than a separate, distinct experience.
If You Suck at Parking were just attempting to be among those games in which you keep it installed because it's an enjoyable distraction for Fifteen minutes or you occasionally listen to it with friends, the lack of content and creativity in the game's multiplayer wouldn't bother me so much. But because Happy Volcano is offering a season pass, that turns it into a game which should make much more of an attempt to keep your interest for extended amounts of time. Unfortunately, You Suck at Parking just doesn't have the depth or breadth to become that kind of game.
