Lifeless Static Drive appears to be like superb and has an amazing premise, however bugs, unhealthy controls, and a weird lack of audio sink it
I typically should play a recreation for just a few hours earlier than I really feel assured in saying I appreciated it or didn’t prefer it. Earlier than I can say that is good or that is unhealthy. Typically you play a recreation that, inside 20 minutes or much less, makes it clear that it ain’t excellent. Sadly, Dead Static Drive was a kind of video games.
Lifeless Static Drive has been in some type of improvement for nearly a decade and has repeatedly gone viral on-line due to its eye-catching artwork type. And now the isometric survival horror recreation is out on Xbox, PC, and Recreation Move. Usually marketed as “Grand Theft Cthulu,” Lifeless Static Drive has you stealing vehicles, finishing missions, and exploring a monster-infested world that gives a variety of freedom to go the place you need to go whereas attempting to collect the provides that you must keep alive. It’s a cool thought, for positive, however it by no means comes collectively. Most of this recreation doesn’t actually work, and except for Lifeless Static Drive‘s wonderful low-poly art style, there’s little about this recreation that I loved.
The most important situation I encountered is how horrible it feels to drive vehicles within the newly launched recreation. In one thing describing itself as Grand Theft Chthulu, I anticipated the vehicles to deal with properly and really feel enjoyable to drive round desolate cities and highways. Nope! It doesn’t matter what digital camera or controller settings I modified, driving in Lifeless Static Drive is a large number. I by no means felt in charge of any automobile I entered, and getting round corners with out crashing proved to be the largest problem. I’m additionally baffled by the choice to not embrace any engine noises. The primary time I obtained right into a automobile and drove off, I assumed the sport had bugged out and the automobile must be making noise. Restarted, tried a special automobile, and nope. Nothing. Silence. I checked out different folks’s gameplay and it seems that this isn’t a bug, however a design alternative. And it’s odd! This robs the totally different vehicles you encounter of a variety of the character and makes the sport really feel unfinished.
Numerous this recreation feels unfinished, although, in order that’s most likely why I assumed the lacking audio was a bug at first. Fight is a slog, animations are clunky, quests break on a regular basis, and NPCs get caught on geometry. The stock display screen appears half-finished, lacking options like “Quick Move” which makes managing all of the gubbins you discover annoying as heck on a controller. Characters additionally don’t have voice strains, which may have been advantageous, however in a recreation the place vehicles make no noise past tire squeals and the world round you is empty, it simply results in Lifeless Static Drive being a boring expertise.
After about three hours of enjoying Lifeless Static Drive, I pulled over and obtained out. It’s a disgrace as a result of the world appears to be like superb, and I just like the premise loads, however what’s right here simply isn’t value any extra time.
