Totally Reliable Delivery Service - Switch Review

Being a delivery driver may not be as easy as it seems. Dragging and lifting a package onto the back of a truck is quite difficult with your arms having the strength and density of spaghetti pasta. With packages to deliver in reasonable timeframes, let the hilarity ensue!

Gameplay

You’ll already see what kind of game this is and what you’re in for from the trailer; hilarious and over-the-top ragdoll physics that will simultaneously delight and frustrate you to the far reaches of each opposite extremes. The concept of grabbing a package and delivering it to a marked location is simple, but it is made exponentially harder when each limb is flailing around so wildly that the simple act of picking up the package in question is as difficult as rolling a boulder uphill.

From the get-go, you’re not bogged down with tedious tutorials or drawn out textboxes. Your objective is simple: find delivery dispensers, pull the lever to get the package and bring it to the objective without either destroying the package and/or running out of time. There is no required order that these deliveries need to be done in, rather you can cross a bridge to the other side, hop into an aircraft and fly to the other side; nothing is stopping you aside from the brutally unforgiving physics that the challenge is based around.

That’s where the danger of this game lies; games (especially open 3D games) that are so heavily reliant on its wacky physics are sure to have some glitches and loose ends and Totally Reliable Delivery Service has them in abundance. When the trampoline is half-embedded inside the stairs and the package half-embedded inside the trampoline, it becomes a horrible mess of glitchception™ – that trademark… that was me. It’s mine!

The multiplayer in this game is also fantastic! Not necessarily for split Joy-Con play as you’ll be needing a lot of precision with your controls, but if you can get a friend or three to sit around a big screen and mess around for a while, it is quite possibly the most fun you’ll have in weeks. You can certainly complete delivery missions together but if you’re just in the mood for messing around, the game absolutely caters for that. My partner and I spent hours playing tag, attempting to crash into each other in helicopters and playing a hilarious version of Rocket League.

Totally Reliable Delivery Service is a perfect fit on Nintendo Switch, and not just aesthetically. The game has 100 delivery missions with some lasting for less than a single minute. This is perfect for the Switch’s pickup-and-go nature, performing a delivery or two before your shift starts at work.

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Developer We’re Five Games have cleverly integrated rumble to buzz on the left and right Joy-Con depending on which of your arms grabs ahold of something. This little rumble notifies you whether you’re securely holding onto a handle, which is certainly needed if you want to ensure that you’re safe before starting up whichever vehicle you plan to commandeer.

World / Level Design

The entire world of Totally Reliable Delivery Service is a completely open sandbox for you to explore and be creative with. The game may suggest a linear path as it cleverly has you finish a delivery only to have the next one’s starting point just a few steps away, but there is nothing forcing you to do it. You can literally play this game for hours and not do a single delivery. The world is your playground!

Story

Totally Reliable Delivery Service has no sense of a plot, but the context is certainly there to provide context to the madness. It comes down to there are packages and you need to deliver them… what more do you need to know?

The game tells more of its story through its wacky personality that is both charming and hilarious; from the bright and colourful aesthetic to the wild flailing of every limb imaginable as you careen off of a cliff,

Graphics / Art Direction

The game’s aesthetic is bright and colourful, most likely to either accentuate its silliness or to put a smile on your face when your package falls off of a cliff for THIRD TIME IN A ROW!

Ahem, excuse me.

The quality leaves somewhat to be desired, with rough edges, fuzzy textures and a short draw distances that makes objects randomly pop into view (which is especially jarring whilst moving quickly).

Music / Sound Design

The soundtrack is less than memorable. It’s fun and lighthearted, but incredibly repetitive. The sound effects, however, is what had me smiling for ear-to-ear, with funny screams when falling from tall heights and big explosions when crashing your plane.

Final Score: 78%

I can safely say that I haven’t laughed so hard playing a video game in a very long time. The world is an open playground for you and up to three friends to enjoy at your leisures, choosing to either deliver packages or create havoc as you see fit; and the best thing is, the game encourages both approaches and doesn’t attempt to force you in either direction.

Thank you for checking out our Totally Reliable Delivery Service Switch review, thank you TinyBuild Games for providing us the review code and thank you to our $5 and up Patreon Backer for their ongoing support:

• Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out!)
• Belinda Cubitt