Review by Veecheech
Parcel Panic – Post Car Racer 3D ($2.99) is a thrilling game of delivery and madness developed by Mad Processor GmbH, was released December 29, 2009. Here is the link for the game on iTunes-
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parcel-panic-post-car-racer-3d/id337282661?mt=8
Gameplay- 10/10
In Parcel Panic you drive a truck around Tapiti Island as fast as possible to pick up and deliver boxes to many different destinations. These boxes jump around in the back of the truck with very realistic physics, and they can fly out of the bed if you aren’t careful! You start each game with 60 seconds in which to make as many deliveries as possible, much like the gameplay of Crazy Taxi by Sega. What is really fun about this game is that your pathway is marked by a green line, but that line is not always the fastest way to get where you need to go. You get points for getting air with the truck, and there are many shortcuts around the island. The concept of the gameplay is simple, but it really is a blast! One more thing to mention is that while playing this game, I have never been frustrated even once. The game is so much a pickup and play game, that it’s always fun to just spend a few minutes trying to get the high score. As of now there is no online integration, the high scores are local.
Graphics- 10/10
The graphics of this game are beautiful, and highly rendered. If you look at the screenshots below you will notice the amount of detail is very fine in all aspects. Not only are the models of the trucks nice and smooth, but every small part of the background looks great. See for yourself-
You can see a windmill and the hotel.
This one has a burger stand and a church in the background
You can see the ship to the right and a bit of the lighthouse as well.
The graphics look great and smooth even on my 1st gen iPod Touch, so for someone running a 3g or 3gs they will look spectacular.
Controls- 9/10
It was very easy to figure out how to play because the first boot of the game starts right of with an informative and concise tutorial showing the controls and basic gameplay. You can later access this tutorial in the pause menu. To steer you tilt the iPod/iPhone. To use gas you press the pedal on the right side of the screen, and to brake you press the pedal on the left. The tilting took a little bit of time to get used to, but once you get it it’s perfect. Because controlling the interface was a bit difficult, I have to take this score down a bit. In the options menu, there is a spot to reset the scores. This button is right below the level set select arrows (which could be a little bit bigger), and I accidentally hit it once near the beginning of my time with the game. If there could be an confirmation popup added to this, the menu controls would be better.
Sound- 8/10
The soundtrack is pretty repetitive, but the gameplay distracts you from that. The song used is upbeat and driving, and it instills a good sense of hurry. When I sat and just listened to the soundtrack though, I noticed that the music is only one song, with not a ton of variation. Along these lines, when you are in the town hall area the clock tower bell chimes every 10 seconds or so, and the bird sound goes off right after the clock tower, following the same pattern over and over. Fortunately the quality of the samples of both of these sounds is excellent, as are the sound effects of all the locations on the island. The sound of the truck’s engine is pretty good, but what could really be improved upon a bit more are the sounds of crashing. No matter whether it’s after a long fall, or you hit a building, there’s always the same dull thud sound.
Replay Value- 9/10
The replay value for Parcel Panic is great for several reasons. It is good that there are 4 different trucks that you can use, compared to most games on the platform that only offer one. The best part about having multiple vehicles is that there are 99 levels for each truck, each level being a different order of destinations. There also is a free ride mode with no boxes and no timer, where you can just explore and look for shortcuts. Although the playing area is beautiful and decent in size, it would be nice if it could be a bit bigger, or if there was another island entirely!
Total- 46/50 = 92%
Bottom Line-
The detail and polish of this game are astounding, it really is nice to just drive around and look at the scenery. When you add in the fast paced and exciting gameplay, mixed with the difficulty of keeping the boxes in the truck bed, it adds up to a really addicting and fun game. I fully recommend picking this up while it’s on sale.
For a video of the game by the developer go here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57jl8JKuKhg
Tags: $2.99, Parcel Panic - Post Car Racer 3d, Parcel Panic - Post Car Racer 3d Review, review
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 3:35 PM and is filed under Reviews.
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