Heading Out: Everything you need to know

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Dangerous cop chases, street racing, intense radio personalities, stylised graphic novel visuals and Highway Code ignorance – welcome to everything you need to know about Heading Out on PC.

Prone to complaining about videogame graphics? Some of us had to make do with text adventures. Polygon-deficient affairs that combined the narrative of books with the decision making of games. Where imagination put in its fair share of mileage.

Heading Out – from developer Serious Sim and publisher Saber Interactive, the sponsor of this video – reminds me of these golden oldies as well as trendy graphic novels. Featuring cel-shaded greyscale visuals – like a depressed Jet Set Radio.

The aim of Heading Out is simple. Get to and beat each objective as part of four acts, the first of which involves becoming the best driver ever. To do so means speeding across the United States of America, a partly 2D process in which you control the accelerator and brakes to ignore or abide by the speed limit and avoid pesky police patrols.

Along the way are story segments (more on this later) and some good-old fashion driving. Outrunning cops, racing other drivers and dodging traffic jams – vigilante life is rarely slow. It can, however, be peaceful during ‘chill’ drives involving just you, the open road and music or radio.

What makes Heading Out different to your average driving game is that time behind the wheel is one of various parts of a deceptively intricate machine. For starters, all driving challenges are timed against the length of each song, making you focus more on the varied Americana soundtrack.

Radio killed the video star

Then there are the various radio shows, which comment on controversial topics and react to your actions (whether good, bad or indifferent). Speeding does not go down well with the boys in blue, for instance, meaning more time spent running away from them.

Stealing from a gas station because you have too little money, meanwhile, will cause your radio critics and supporters to broadcast what you did. Choosing between fame, reputation and payment in not-Great-British-pounds is a regular occurrence.

There is also an ever-present red force known as ‘fear’ that follows you unrelentingly. As a result, spending money to sleep in a hotel to stave off fatigue means that fear gets closer. Many actions come with a time penalty so you have to think carefully. A cup of coffee that instantly improves your concentration, for instance, is worth its weight in gold.

While you can outrun fear in a crude, red-skyed race if it does catch up, once it blocks your way to the objective it is game over. You dead. Boom biddy bye bye.

And so you start again from Angola, Indiana, choosing which route to take this time. Go direct, go on a sightseeing cruise, it is up to you. No two runs should ever be identical, so claims the developer. More than 15 hours in, that has been the case.

The open road

You play the role of the ‘Interstate Jackalope’, a hooded mysterious antihero with a knock-off version of the infamous scorpion jacket from Drive. Jackalope being a horned rabbit, in case you were wondering. You weren’t, were you.

As you rack up the miles, you get to choose how to react to events shown in graphic novel style. You can be a model American citizen, a vigilante or a shade of grey in between. It is your text-based responses to these events and general actions that colour each run. And determine how often you get laid.

From finding an elderly couple dead at their dining table and a pretty lady who wants to touch your car battery (not a euphemism) to getting involved in brawls and helping a zoo keep its animals, these story interludes are typically of a darker, provocative and satirical flavour though sometimes can be heartfelt and poignant.

Finding out exactly who you are and what is going on further underpins the narrative experience. All of which is also narrated by a deep and bassy American voiceover.

There are other factors to consider, too. Fatigue causes your eyelids to droop and the screen to go dark. Money needs to be managed so you can afford to rest and repair. Your wanted level is best served low. All while trying not to harm your unseen face.

On that note, expect a moderately arcadey handling model with drifty moments. In the early days, braking is unnecessary as taking your foot off the gas is sufficient. The starter car and successor are quite heavy and roll when turned sharply, so it is not always easy to dodge in and out of traffic.

In act 3, the faster ‘European’ car arrives. Complete with a higher top speed and the need to react faster and steer more precisely. Braking becomes necessary, unless you enjoy being intimate with static objects.

The sensation of speed is especially good when using the cockpit, bonnet and first-person (or should that be first-car?) views. Comic style speed lines show up when hurtling along, further emphasising the sense of danger and that distinctive visual style.

As you can see, Heading Out never tries to be a complex racer and the AI is basic too. Even when using the ‘challenging’ setting. Much of the difficulty comes from navigating thin and twisty signposted shortcuts (that provide a lengthy lead over your assailants and rival racers) and dodging roadworks, roadblocks, trees, buildings and other road users.

While driving like a lunatic is largely satisfying, some of the most memorable moments in Heading Out are the radio broadcasts and stories. Some will annoy, some will delight. Some might make you laugh or feel sad. There really is quite the breadth of topics and deliveries from various personality stereotypes.

The survival die-and-go-again gameplay element and ever-chasing fear deserve credit too. Though never as intense as running from deadly radiation in Pacific Drive, it raises the stakes and emphasises the urgency of your situation.

With each run deliberately punchy, it makes having another go less of a mental and time investment and encourages you to vary your route. If only to find every unique item and experience every bizarre situation.

Any bad stuff?

Heading Out is not without issues. You could, for instance, be critical of its occasional lack of traffic. It is, however, surprisingly easy to crash so perhaps this is a blessing. For me, anyway. Empty roads also enhance the sensation of driving in the middle of nowhere, as is the case in many classic road movies.

Then there are the environments, which are typically pretty and interesting but can very occasionally look a little empty. Vegetation pop-in – an issue the developer is aware of and addressing on day one – is also not my favourite. Fortunately, the games runs smoothly at 4K 60FPS on my PC hardware.

After sinking in a fair few hours of American road-tripping, you will also notice some repeat audio (music and speech). By no means is it enough to break the immersion, however, the dialogue skip function will become your friend.

As for gameplay variety, little else beyond cop chases and road racing may become an issue somewhere down the road. Fortunately, the story, ever-changing scenery and funky visuals do their best to ensure the price is justified before that happens.

Should I buy Heading Out?

To tell you the honest truth, Heading Out was not something I was in a rush to play. Even though I was paid to play it. Despite some Pacific Drive overtones, its premise did not really oil my gearbox. Possibly a euphemism.

However, its stylistic visuals, solid soundtrack, throaty engines, mild tactical resource management, compelling narrative and simplistic old-school handling caught up with me. I became curious to witness every interaction, keen to unlock each act (complete with a new car) and pursue every item and achievement. Not bad for 20-ish dollars or £16-ish pounds, with 10 per cent off at launch via Steam.

Admittedly, not everyone will succumb to the charms of Heading Out, where driving and action often take a backseat to the pursuit of narrative. It is an experience that requires a mindset from a time where games had far fewer polygons to play with and I had no grey hairs. And that is okay with me but maybe not for you. The polygons, not the hairs.

As a well-thought out and cohesive modern-day tribute to the likes of the 1971 movie Vanishing Point, the aforementioned and brilliant Drive, Sin City, Death Proof, Thelma and Louise and more, this sometimes peaceful, sometimes hectic and always outspoken journey is like no other.

Heading Out screenshots