Jalopy review

What is the game here about?
Traveling to the former eastern block is not something we often see in the games, and Jalopy is just taking us to such an adventure where we have to worry about our car because the parts break at incredible speed. In addition, one must also think about the economic part because they are trading money by investing in Laika.

Jalopy rests on an interesting idea of traveling by an eastern block in which our uncle will always say the word about the countries through which we are going, and in doing so we have to pamper and watch Laika because rarely anyone wants to leave the vehicle halfway between the two countries. Under pampering and care, it is implied that you repair any worn parts everyday or can calibrate abandoned Likes on the road in hopes of having better equipment than those in our car. Therefore, it can be said that there is some sort of easier version of survival, only that food here is not here, but fuel, and instead of various non-living beings, we are pursued by poor quality automobile parts.



However, here you can not die, but the penalty for not keeping the car manifested itself through walking or pushing the fragile Laike to the first city, or gas station. Happiness in an accident is not about the game of an open world, but each of the six available countries has three routes that can be chosen for driving and vary not only in length, but also in weather conditions. In addition, the quality of the road also plays a role because on flat roads, ordinary tires are consumed faster, and damages and pollution are more present than on paved pavements. It is also necessary to pay attention to the quantity of mud that is glued to the car because it is possible to bend the entire front glass, which is not the best way to drive.

The penalty for non-maintenance of the car is manifested through walking or pushing the fragile Laike to the first city, or gas station.

Without a little planning, it makes no sense to embark on a journey. If the longest route is chosen and a standard ten-liter fuel tank is used, it is necessary to add an additional canister to the trunk because it makes no sense to hope that the gas station will always be halfway between the boundaries. For such surprises, it is the procedural generation of the route, so it will not happen that they will always drive the same scenery and expect the gas stations to be in the same places. In addition, the luggage compartment of our Laika is not huge, so we need to consider what will all be on the road.



This comes to light when it comes to how to earn money. Thanks to the boxes located along the road, various items of merchandise can be picked up, which prevent the loss of all banknotes from our already thin wallet. Depending on the country, if there is a scarcity of something, it is a bigger gain for us and vice versa.

All drivers wishing to earn better profits can transport goods from the state to the state, they just have to take care of what is allowed because there is control or can try to smuggle. In the end, it all depends on whether the items found will be sold immediately so that parts of the car can be packed or try to make more money so that Laika can slightly upgrade.

All drivers who are looking for better profits can transport goods from state to state.

The additional parts themselves are also lottery because in the Laika's town halls there are not always the same things. For example, in one city, you can buy extra space to carry everything you pick, and in the other you can buy extra lights with which the night drive is much more enjoyable.

Because of this element of randomness, it makes no sense to save money, because if you want a part left behind, you may need to drive back to the country where it is located. However, there are upgrades that are always available, and for those drivers who are more geared to more modern things, a digital display for different car elements can be embedded.



What makes Jalopy stand out, apart from the gameplay loop, is about the atmosphere, design and visions. The graphic style is somewhat reminiscent of the scenes from the Bird Race, but with a slightly darker picture of the world. As if the developers wanted to portray the not so great life that was on the other side of the wall when it comes to comparison with the West.

This could be accompanied by a minimum number of vehicles on the roads, even if within the options it is asked to be as numerous as possible. It is somewhat dual-sword because it adds a lonely atmosphere in one hand, and on the other hand, leaves the impression that the world is more empty than it should be. This is especially evident in cities where there is nothing to do but to arrange a car and sleep in order to continue the journey.

The minimum number of vehicles on the roads is good for the ambience, but in terms of gameplay, it leaves more gaps than it should.

Another thing that does not play the game is the bugs. The real problem is in the mistakes that need to be repeated from the starting line. For example, the game does not appear anywhere in the game to repair the car or the action can not be completed because the uncle got the will the developers did not imagine.

There are other situations that need to be returned to the previous location because the car, for example, was stuck on a part of the road. Then, in the absence of suitable material that could break it out of an embarrassing position, it is necessary to use the restart option, which can lead to a decrease in game satisfaction, especially if the car stumbles some fifty kilometers from the next city.



But with a more careful driving such a situation will not happen often. Although the driving model is completely arcaded, it has its own charm that makes it interesting to drive Laika through the diversity of the country. One of them is the former Yugoslavia where it runs to Dubrovnik, which can be recognized along the walls, and it can be said that this route is one of the more visually interesting ones. It is only pity that each state has no additional visual elements to further identify where we are driving or in which part of that country we are. This gave the opportunity to create an even better atmosphere, and there would be an additional reason for stretching legs, maybe to drive a kilometer more.

Namely, when an uncle is delivered to the desired location, the reasons for driving Laika quickly start to decrease. As much as the gameplay loop was interesting with the maintenance of a vehicle, when the main goal is lost, it does not make sense anymore. Holding behind the wheel can not help even a different route because earned money can not be used in ways that would significantly change what can be done inside the game.

However, in one hand, this is justified by a lower price, but the damage is that there are no additional activities that could drive for longer. Thus, the whole adventure remains just one interesting experience of driving an unreliable car that disappoints you in the situations when you least expect it, which in the end is the charm of Jalopya.