Heading Out Review

Video games can often reach interesting places when they throw together seemingly disparate ideas. Whether it's the blend of deep sea exploration and restaurant management sim in the delightful or the co-op smorgasbord of the wonderful, some truly enjoyable experiences can be found in these crossovers. Enter from developer Serious Sim and publisher Saber Interactive, which takes an interesting approach to the racing game.

is a game about escape, with the player taking on the role of a driver trying to run away from a nebulous fear. The title pieces together short form road racing with roguelite mechanics and a choose your own adventure narrative structure. The end result is something very engaging and rather replayable.

The first thing players will notice about is its striking visual design. The game is in black and white, with an unrealistic, cartoonist flair, offset with occasional pockets of vibrant yellow, red, and sometimes blue. Other games have done similar before, but nails the balance well, especially with the use of color to indicate different aspects of gameplay without it feeling intrusive.

It creates an excellent atmosphere, and Serious Sim offsets the concern about it feeling the same through other design elements in the races, with the locations shifting from marshland to farms to winding hilly roads. Meanwhile, the diversity of songs on the radio provides plenty of further variety, covering all sorts of classic genres to further enhance the ambiance. It definitely gives the atmosphere of a road trip, even if it's a rather intense one most of the time.

Players should keep an eye on their fuel consumption, as being unable to pay to refuel can lead to some awkward moments down the line. You can always make more cash with road races.

All of this ties into one of the core influences of, that of the classic road movie. The game certainly matches his dynamic, from its racing to radio presenters that give an ongoing narration a la, although that