The Long Drive

Pros

• Open-world driving game
• Practically infinite RNG desert

Cons

• Bugs

The Long Drive is an intriguing open-world driving experience and a survival game too.

The Long Drive is a video game that relishes in its atmosphere and does not feel much inclined to tell you a traditional story. The player can surmise rather early on that the setting is some kind of post-apocalyptic world. A Commodore computer suggests that this may be some kind of retro-reimagining.

Early on, you will find a gun. Some players will find comfort in that. At one point, we stopped at an abandoned house and shot bottles off a picnic table before foraging for fuel. We never found any zombies or even wild dogs. This is an eerie world. Enemies like that do not exist as far as we can tell.

Some reviewers have described The Long Drive as a game without objectives. We disagree. This is a survival game. You need fuel to continue on your journey. Where are you going? We do not know. Will you ever get there? We doubt it. But if you run out of fuel, the game is over.

In that sense, this is a survival game, but it is not an exhausting survival game—as many games in the genre can be. This is a cathartic experience. Your search for fuel is your reason to put one foot in front of the other. Perhaps this constant moving forward is the avatar’s only reason to live.

Existentialism aside, The Long Drive is at its core a driving simulation. The driving is quite good—surprisingly good. The physics model feels right within this world. It is at least consistent. Your skills will grow. Pushing your jalopy just as fast as it will run feels exhilarating. Finding that perfect line through a sharp corner is rewarding. Crashing off the side of a road feels bad.

The cars headlights are functional. At night time, you need to turn them on or not see. The sun visor is functional as well. The sun can blind you. The visor can help, but only barely sometimes. Each next mile provides the potential for another building or three. Maybe there will be there or perhaps an Easter egg, and that is where the potential genius of the game lies. But it is still potential.

This particular version of the game is a demo. It contains only a limited slice of the actual game. If you want to continue playing, you will need to pay. If this concept grabs you, then the game is reasonably priced and well worth it. You should note, however, that as of this writing, this game was still in early access. That means that the game is a work in progress—not a completed game. Buying the game means supporting the developer and taking a leap of faith that he will complete it.

The Long Drive may never be a glitch-free experience. As a work-in-progress, it certainly has its fair share of bugs. None of these seemed game-breaking. They were often immersion-breaking, however, such as objects floating in midair or your car going airborne after a reload. If you think such glitches will diminish your experience, then you may want to wait until release or at least until a more refined version is achieved.

Pros

• Open-world driving game
• Practically infinite RNG desert

Cons

• Bugs