Parcel Panic: Post-Car Racer 3D – One of the Best Racing Apps to Date
Think of Crazy Taxi, but instead of delivering people to destinations, your delivering packages to destinations. It’s a whole island with winding slopes, steep terrain, in various weather conditions – all rendered in high definition, 3D quality visuals.
Your job is to deliver parcels on the island called, Tapiti, but there’s a catch: you only have a limited time in completing your mission. Coming into the game, I sort of had no idea what the game is about and thankfully, upon booting the app up for the first time, it sends you straight to an in-depth, hands-on tutorial to help ease gamers in.
Speed and control both elements you will wan't to master
In the world of Parcel Panic, there’s a lot of things the game developers, Mad Processor, did right. First off, the controls are top-notch and controlling your vehicle is a cinch. The roads get windy, and the paths sometime are pretty difficult, but with a few runs around the level, the controlling of your truck becomes an absolute blast because of the overall control you have over it’s movement. Secondly, the graphics are beautifully rendered in 3D and it really sets the game apart when it comes to racing games. While it doesn’t have the stylish flare of Need for Speed, that wasn’t it’s aim as the game is suppose to be taken a little lighter than a hardcore racing game like Asphalt 5.
The feel of the game fits perfectly with the overall presentation and their target audience. The game isn’t meant to be taken as a hardcore racing game, it’s light-hearted and fun for any kind of gamer. It’s not a game that’s loaded on content but it’s a basic pick-up-and-have-a-blast-playing racing game.
Via road or air it's your choice just get the packages there on time
But that’s a slight downfall, unfortunately in some respects. For one, the game only has you in one single location, Tapiti island, for the whole game. That’s probably going to change with some updates but still the environment, while it is magnificent, still is just one location. It boasts 396 “levels” but it’s just another part of the island. And as I mentioned, the game is a simple pick-up-and-play, there are no achievements, leaderboards, or multiplayer of any sort. So that kind of hurts its overall replay value.
Parcel Panic – Post Car Racer 3D is a racing game for any kind of gamer. It’s a fun, lighthearted, pick-up-and-play app that not only runs beautifully on the handheld device but looks beautiful as well. With some more updates that include more locations, achievements, and or global leaderboards will propel this game to the elite section of racers but it’s still a top-notch racing app. As it’s still priced at $0.99 for it’s weekend sale, I can safely say that it’s one of the best racing apps available.
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Category: Editors Choice Awards, Games
Just quick note: This game’s back to $0.99, and will be updated to include Open Feint(!)
So, bought it!
I like the “production values,” as they say in the movie biz. This type of game screams for achievements. Glad to see that they at least have bronze/silver/gold.
I’m here again, been meaning to post comments, but I keep getting sidetracked.
I’ve seen this game hailed and advised against on other sites, and with this review – I’ve bought it! It just looks so cool, very relaxing fun.
Aside from the bug hki mentioned, I’ve heard that parcels can randomly get bumped out of the truck, penalizing you, and that the unlockable trucks are little more than a paint job. Are these complaints valid?
Well, the price went up to $1.99, so I’ll save it to my “wanted” list… my iDevice is too full to even accept today’s (or tomorrow’s) free app!
Hi EricD,
Regarding the parcels, yes, fly off a cliff hoping to gain time and you may lose afew boxes, penalising you somehow. Haven’t quite figured out how, but I do see some negative figures fly out of my truck. As for the trucks just being paintjobs, I can’t say yet…. still haven’t had that much time to play… only unlocked the 2nd truck so far. Will let you know….
I FINALLY got through to the 3rd level, and unlocked the 3rd truck. It’s called the Lion, and it sure does feel faster than the others (first was called “Snail”, hahaha) The next one up is called Falcon, so I guess its incrementally faster, or better handling. The game is starting to come alive now… Like the GTA games, the more familiar you get with the map, the more daring you become with the ‘shortcuts’. The more “Air” you get from falling off cliffs or ramps, the more time bonus you get added to your overall timer.
Another thing I noticed, is that each level has the parcels preset into set locations, so its not randomised. But its still a really tight challenge to beat the minimum point level required to pass bronze, let alone silver or gold! There’s gonna be alot of replayability on this title….
I completely agree with this review of this game I picked it up afew days ago for a dollar, and its really quite accomplished! Sure, when you start off, the trucks don’t move very fast (could be just my 1st gen iPhone isn’t rendering at 20+ fps), but as a free-roaming game, its pretty well done. As Stewie says, it’s alot of fun. The only issue I have found to be abit odd is that you can sometimes fall off a cliff and upturn your truck, and there’s no way to turn it back onto four wheels, but you do somehow seem to be accumulating +1 pts to the timer…? Huh? weird… but I’m sure that this game can be further enhanced with some updates/DLC. Grab it now while its a dollar! Even if its $3, I still say its worth it.
It may only be one map, the driving may be loose, and delivering packages may seem repetitive (especially if you are a UPS driver by day), but this game is freakin’ FUN, FUN, FUN!!! Seriously, the gameplay vids looked cool, but playing it is a whole different story. 100 different missions with unlockable trucks. Great buy and right now it’s cheap!
Btw, where are the rest of the posters? Used to be we’d get comments in the double digits, but lately it seems it’s me and a couple others. Kinda sad showing…..