Death Noodle Delivery Review: "Paperboy With Neon Lights And Hoverboards"

08.04.2024 - 20:19 / screenrant.com

Whether it's the definitive cyberpunk classics of the series, the fantastic and tense games, or the potentially now-redeemed expansive world of , there's something about the tech dystopia edge of cyberpunk that has spoken to players. Enter , from publisher Troglobytes Games and studios Tiny Pixel & Stupidi Pixel, taking the genre to an unexpected place from video game history.

casts the player as Jimmy, a man with a newly-acquired job delivering noodles in a suitably bleak cyberpunk city. This job is harder than it looks, with the player needing to not just deliver the noodles but also avoid various pitfalls along the way, including rogue robots, rioters, and more. Essentially, is arcade classic with neon lights and hoverboards, although beneath the surface is a complexity that both enhances and hinders the overall experience.

Death Noodle Delivery is a cyberpunk spin on Paperboy with inconsistent delivery of its ideas.

From a gameplay perspective, those who have played will know exactly what to expect here. The player has one key direction of travel, but can weave from side to side, and must then throw their deliveries to people waiting by the side of the road. Miss too many deliveries and you fail, and one hit to a piece of scenery, an enemy or a projectile and it's also game over.

It's a rudimentary setup, mapping very closely to Paperboy, although does also introduce chase sections at the end of each day. Here, the player must avoid a livid pizza restaurant owner and dodge other traffic on a highway, akin to an isometric. Once again, it's basic, but fun enough, with enough changes taking place across the five days to keep things fresh.

The player isn't quite as limited as the paperboy in Atari's arcade hit. Over the game, they will get abilities such as throwing bombs and slowing down time temporarily.

However, these moments do run into some issues here and there that can make the experience a little frustrating. The controls can feel a little bit stilted, especially turning and dodging on the motorway sections, while the game's cyberpunk aesthetic works against it when enemies start firing neon projectiles with hard to gauge hit boxes or glitch effects obscure the player's view. That said, there is another side of that sits outside of its central action gameplay.

Alongside the element, also takes cues from the likes of by exploring its own world. Between days, the player goes back to their apartment block and can speak to the other inhabitants, who include everyone from VR addicts to drug dealers. It helps flesh out the world, and although there's nothing extraordinarily original it helps make become more than a simple clone.

These moments complement the more action-oriented gameplay well,