PC Gamer - UK (2022-01)

The title istaken fromthe opening
scene, where shy protagonist Sam is
pickedupbya friendand her
boyfriend, beforebeing dragged into
anadventure tosavethe world. You
see, Grace has stolenthe Sword of
Fate, and plans touse ittodestroy the
evil Machine God,
whose followers are a
bunch of creeps. Hot
onyourheels are
agentsof the Divine
Order, who were
waiting for the ‘right’
persontobechosenfor
the deedinstead.
If itsoundslikea
clichéd JRPGstory, restassured that
it’sfull of funny, rude, and quotable
dialogue, and muchmorefocused on
its likeablecharactersthanthe
overarching plot. It’swritten (and
designedand programmed) by
Christine Love, who you might
rememberfromDigital: A Love Story

and Ladykiller in a Bind. It’s

refreshingtoplaya JRPGwitha

LGBTQ+cast, and thatdeals with

real-life issues– but that alsooffers

the catharsis of destroyingcultist

scumbagsinstylish combat.

DRIVE ANGRY

While the story isa big

focus of the game, it

gives equal attention to

its battlesystem, which

isesotericenoughto

feel at homeina late

’90sJRPG. Final

Fantasy XIIImeets

Valkyrie Profilemeets a

recent Persona game, which istosay

it’sfast-pacedand semi-real-time,

eachof the fourparty members is

assigneda controllerbutton, and the

menus are stylish asheck. There’s a

happy mix of furious button-mashing

while you’ll spend a lot of timeinthe

menuimproving yourgearetc.

There’s nocharacter levelling in

Get in the Car, and notraditional

adventuring equipment. Yourworth

inbattleisdeterminedbythe

wearabletrinketsyou can buy when

acquiring gas. These mementosare

given backstories, and can beusedto

makemorepowerful versions.

Combat isenergetic and

innovative, supported bysumptuous

pixel art and a bangerof a battle

theme. However, withlittle

downtimeinthe game– there are no

dungeonstoexplore, ortowns to

pokearoundin– itcan feel likea

relentlessdelugeof banterand

battles. Not thatthe banterisn’t

sparkling, not thatthe battles don’t

get the blood pumping, but you can

havetoo muchof a goodthing.

Perhaps besttaken insmall doses,

Get in the Car, Loser! isstill a hugely

impressivegamethatchannelsthe

spirit of classic JRPGs intoa

thrillingly modernform.

82

Inventive,stylish and

actuallycrackling with

energy, Get in theCar,

Loser!isanorder you

shouldfollow.

VERDICT

J

RPGs have a lot in common with road trips, even if you’re
usually travelling on the back of a chocobo or flying galleon. It’s
a journey with pals, bonding and bickering on back-roads. Get in
the Car, Loser! has that – but it also has a sweet convertible. It’s
literally a road trip, where you hop from gas station to gas
station on a straight stretch of road, while beating up demons.

ROADWARRIORS

Fate candoone in GET IN THECAR, LOSER!

Final Fantasy

XIII meets

Valkyrie

Profilemeetsa

recentPersona

NEED TO KNOW

WHATIS IT?

A JRPG road trip where

battles break out on the

open road

EXPECT TO PAY

Free

DEVELOPER

Love Conquers All

Games

PUBLISHER

Love Conquers All

Games

REVIEWED ON

Intel Core i7-10750H,

16GB RAM, GeForce

RTX 2060

MULTIPLAYER

No

LINK

bit.ly/CarLoser

COOLTITLESFOR NOCASHbyTom Sykes

FREE GAMES REVIEWS

The enemydesign

is fantastic.