Keep Driving Review
So Many Pee Breaks…
Unlike a lot of my friends, I did not get my driver’s license and first car until much later in life. Getting a license and buying a first car feels like a hallmark of adulthood, allowing us to go wherever we want and for as long as we want. Growing up road trips were not common for me, but they became more so when I bought my first car, with my husband and I driving across Ontario to visit small towns and hike in nearby provincial parks. Part of the fun of a good road trip comes from the company you keep, the tunes you have playing on your CD deck, and the pitstops along the way. YCJY Games’ Keep Driving is all about wanderlust, first loves, and making big mistakes, all while working through a procedurally generated open world. While there are some rough patches, Keep Driving‘s interesting gameplay loop has players returning for more.
It is the early 2000s and our protagonist has bought his first car. Before setting out onto the open road, the player is prompted to assemble a small profile of the nameless protagonist. Does he have a good relationship with his parents? Is he employed? What type of care package is he taking for the open road? These three questions build the foundation for how the protagonist’s road trip could potentially play out. Having a good relationship with one’s parents provides the option to bail out the player if they run out of gas or money, while selecting the care package of beer and an electric guitar offers the player expensive items to potentially pawn if one’s finances become an issue on the open road. While there are only a handful of background options, each with their pros and cons, Keep Driving is a procedurally generated game in all other facets, and this is the only area that the player has any true control.
With the trusty map in hand, the one main ending the player will always have access to is the Way Out Festival. It’s the reason our protagonist sets out on his road trip to begin with. As the protagonist drives between different points of interest, other quests become available. For example, at one potential stop, the player may meet a little girl who is looking to find her father. She got onto the wrong bus, she’s frightened, and she just wants to go home. By picking her up, the player will find themself going back and forth between potential points until they find a lost child poster at a restaurant. Only then can the player fully complete the quest. Stopping to help people along the way offers unique boons such as more money or gas, which make them absolutely worth doing. Given that earning cash is one of the most difficult elements in the game, because every town is procedurally generated, it may take players a while to find an employment office, so side quests are the alternative to obtaining some extra moolah.
Julie Andrews? It’s a jolly holiday with you!
Like any summer road trip, there are resources to manage along the way, such as gas or money. When players encounter something on the road, they’re given a series of obstacle markers related to resources. Using the protagonist’s tags from the dashboard mirror, glove compartment, or the abilities given to the player by the passengers, the goal is to eliminate the obstacles with the corresponding tags before they do damage. Align the cards perfectly and players can go a second time. Beyond the resource complications, there are buffs and debuffs. Particularly difficult obstacles might require an extra hit due to armor, taking two tags to eliminate. Listening to the radio can add a musical note over one obstacle, so when it is eliminated, it takes out the two beside it. As the trip goes on, the obstacles can become more complicated and numerous, ranging from a nice drive with plenty of gas and zero obstacles to ten obstacles of every variety, all with armor, just because you tried to outrun the cops from a traffic ticket.
Keep Driving‘s minimalist narrative does itself a lot of favours given that each playthrough is randomized. While driving, there will be moments when the player will be given the option to pick up a hitchhiker, each with their pros and cons. The Hurricane (as she is affectionately known) can remove one type of threat at the start of a battle, but one of her negative qualities is that she will often leave a mess in the car or, worse, force the player to shoplift. As the protagonist and hitchhikers level up, skills can be purchased and equipped to provide different abilities such as skills that automatically target certain threats or remove a threat before combat begins. The car choice at the beginning of the game determines how many passengers the player can pick up. The sedan seats four people, meaning players can have four different hitchhikers in the vehicle, and use all of their individual abilities during combat. The downside of this, of course, is that the player is also forced to take on the negative traits from each passenger.
It’s a simple battle system, but some awkward UI issues muddy it. Sometimes, players will click an ability, only for it not to work as intended. Items in the glove compartment would sometimes become unusable during an encounter without reason, or on occasion, the player will click on it, only to find when they hit “use”, nothing happens. While the game isn’t particularly difficult, a lot of the combat boils down to optimal resource management, though this comes with the caveat that money can be challenging to obtain at the start of the run and encountering enemies that can drain one’s funds can make certain encounters all the more difficult. It’s a serviceable system but lacks remarkability.
Picking up The Hurricane means players will be committing so many crimes.
Another issue that players are likely to struggle with is the inventory management system. Again, the selected vehicle at the beginning determines how much trunk space one has, and there are huge and obvious differences between the sedan, muscle car, and pickup truck. Regardless of which car one starts with, inventory space always remains a problem, and the only solution is hoping enough cash is collected to buy a roof rack. It’s very easy for the inventory to fill up with clutter and there’s no easy way to adjust the inventory for larger items. Often, if players are hurting for space and cash at the beginning of the game, they are forced to sell valuables to get some reprieve. Even moving items around feels clunky, and there’s no easy way to make adjustments or even move items between the trunk and the additional rack once it is obtained. Worse off is that a lot of valuable upgrades for vehicles often take up way too much space. If the procedurally generated gods are not in one’s favour to offer a garage where said upgrades can be applied, it’s very easy to lose and feel frustrated by the lack of space.
Where Keep Driving truly shines is in the audiovisual department. The details in the game’s pixelated backgrounds are breathtaking, offering what one would expect from a simulated road trip. From the different obstacles such as large tractors, to mud getting on the player’s vehicle when driving through the rain, there are so many little flourishes to notice, with YCJY Games really understanding that there should be sights to see, people to encounter, and all of them different and unique. Even smaller details like the visual flourishes on the hitchhikers, from the ruffling in the bride’s dress to the little girl’s blonde pigtails and plush bunny, are pleasing to the eye.
The soundtrack absolutely slaps, with the base setlist entirely composed by Westkust. Tracks such as “Swirl” and “Dishwasher” give full-on road trip vibes, with their hummable synth-wave indie pop sounds. As the game goes on, players can purchase more CDs and even create playlists for the drive. There are a lot of Swedish indie bands to discover, and each of them are a treat for the ears.All good road trips start with an amazing soundtrack, and YCJY Games and Westkust nailed this part of the assignment.
While Keep Driving has its flaws, I can’t deny how addicted I was to the game overall. With short playthroughs that clock anywhere between an hour or two, I became obsessed with obtaining all of the endings, trying different hitchhiker skills, and just enjoying the ride through pixilated backgrounds with my Swedish indie pop in the CD player. While the game’s story is minimal, it’s a point in its favour as it allows the player to create their own road trip adventure. Even though elements struggle — the writing needs another editing pass and the awkward UI made for some sticky situations — there is a lot to love that kept me coming back for more.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
Nine unique endings
Beautiful procedurally generated pixel artwork
Top notch soundtrack
Awkward UI and inventory management
Serviceable but not memorable combat
Little girl needs too many pee breaks
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