Review – Can’t Drive This
‘Can’t Drive This’ is the latest game from Pixel Maniacs that has players working together in one of two clearly defined roles to stop one players vehicle from exploding. Think ‘Speed’ as Sandra Bullock races through the streets but instead of directing the bus to the airport, someone is building the road to keep it moving.
Right from the start players will be able to identify the intention of fun that will follow as Can’t Drive This begins with some tongue-in-cheek humour as a short introduction to a tutorial points you in the direction of where to find out more, while taking a jab at every opportunity. It gives the player a choice of jumping straight in or enjoying more of its tutorial humour which provides a little sweetener at the end. It’s well worth watching for the humour alone.
It’s now game time and the mechanics of this game are straight forward. Players are either driving the vehicle or building the road, all with the threat of a ticking time bomb of a vehicle present in your mind. The roles can be broken down further as follows:-
- Driver – The driver is here to drive, and at the mercy of the builder. They must do everything possible to navigate obstacles and stay on the track all while avoiding stopping so they don’t explode
- Builder – The builder is provided with a random piece of track to extend the drivable play space. They must rotate and align the pieces to allow the driver to continue to move to avoid total destruction. Simple right?
The track pieces on offer to the Builder vary in type and shape and the random nature that they are provided to the builder makes for some interesting times. The tracks provided off straight pieces and curved roads, mud and other environmental factors (that affect the players’ screens) through to obstacles and boost pads just to make things interesting.
Can’t Drive This offers solo and co-operative play options, and even though this game is targeted at the multiplayer audience, the solo mode worth playing. From the start you can operate across the game modes on offer.
Solo
Lone Racer – This game mode is as described; you’re playing solo while switching between the driver and builder roles using the Y button. You must navigate the play space, obtaining extra time by picking up “Holo” cubes scattered across the play space. The longer you last, the better the score. Beware that the speed you build the track, will affect the speed that it is placed when you drive.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer offers online (2 players) and local (2-4) players across the following game modes:-
- Yardage (online and local 2 – 4 players) – 1 player takes on the role of the builder and the rest drive. You need to see how far the Drivers can make it before total destruction of all vehicles. This mode allows players the opportunity to revive other players within a set time frame. There is no timer in this game mode, just build fast and stay alive.
- Game of Drones (online and local 2 – 4 players) – This game mode sees the team having an objective to complete. Each level requires a number of “Holo” cubes to be collected to progress to the next, more difficult level. This time making the orientation of each track piece even more important. To add to the difficulty, drones hover overhead and drop EMP’s that temporarily disable the Driver’s vehicle.
- Capture the Egg (local 4 players) – This is capture the flag, Can’t Drive This style. Work as a team of 2 as one builds and one drives to capture the other team’s egg and bring it back to score a point. The egg is tethered to the Driver and is likely to get caught on the surrounding objects, many times.
All of these game modes will have the player thinking on their feet and using their wits, quick thinking and muscle memory to ensure some level of success. Success does come in the form of high scores, level completion and the unlocking of cosmetics which range from paints, cosmetics and designs for road and vehicle and there are a range to unlock.
The controls for both roles across all game modes are straight forward. Driving involves forward and backwards movements while building involves piece placement, movement and rotation. Straight forward and simplistic allowing any age of gamer to give this one a go.
On the topic of anyone being able to play this game, this game is well and truly family friendly and can be played via online or couch co-op and my kids (9 and 6) have had a blast with all aspects of this game. The game does offer a pause option for offline games, but with the length of each game averaging at around a few minutes, there is no need to worry. Plus, you can just drop the controller without the need to worry about losing progression as you can just start again.
[wp-review id=”12014″]
7 – Good – This is an all-round solid game that delivers some features really well. It’s a game that most gamers will likely enjoy. If you’re not a fan of the game or genre then you may want to wait for a deal before picking it up.
You can read our ratings scale here.
The game was reviewed on the Xbox Series X and is also available on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4/5 and Nintendo Switch. The game will launch on the 19th March for $29.95.
This game was provided by the developers for the purposes of this review.