Badlands Crew Review (PC)

From the creators of Bomber Crew comes a brand-new sandlot—a hazardous archipelago of smitten dunes, scorching heatwaves, and desperate folks who would gladly sacrifice their left leg to the art of DIY wagon sculpting. The skies are out, and the desert is in, thus bringing us to a new chapter in the book—a chapter that, while still somewhat familiar in terms of its gameplay as its previous incarnation, conceives a truckload of additional features, such as choice-based narrative arcs, ever-evolving factions and feuds, and a chalkboard of base components and moldable perks, weapons, and crew members. Oh, Bomber Crew is a thing of the past. From here on out, we’re putting Badlands Crew in the saddle.

To the untrained eye, Badlands Crew probably doesn’t look much different from the last chapter in Runner Duck’s catalog. And I almost feel the same, in some ways, seeing as the bulk of the game, in a similar fashion as Bomber Crew, does indeed follow that same basic pattern: tailor a crew to occupy several roles aboard a vessel, and tackle a sizable campaign to earn better weapons, upgrades, and abilities. All of that is still here, only, it no longer adopts the aerial combat system, but rather, a barren wasteland of reckless mercenaries, unpredictable weather conditions, and a treasure trove of post-apocalyptic materials that aim to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.

Curious to hear more about Badlands Crew? Then let’s climb aboard this buckling bag of bones and plug into the wasteland.

Into the Wasteland

Badlands Crew doesn’t exactly beat around the bush with its opening goal, which is to build a ragtag team of drivers, engineers, and gunners, and to plunge deep into the boroughs of a post-apocalyptic wasteland—a world in which violent thugs roam the dunes, and milestones are only surpassable when teams work in unison to deliver their objectives. Like Bomber Crew, your time here is spent alternating between a bunch of tasks, with each input being assigned to one of the members aboard your custom wagon. Simply put, the driver requires an input to navigate the world; the engineer requires an input to make swift fixes to the rig; the gunners require an input to attack their enemies; and the medical personnel—you guessed it—require an input to cater to injured team members. And it’s your job, in short, to juggle all of these balls at once.

If you’re unfamiliar with Runner Duck’s previous work, then a lot of these things will most certainly strike you as being almost too much to handle at once. Alas, with a good amount of training and something of an uphill battle against a relatively incompetent AI, it does, thankfully, get a lot easier with each passing mission. However, there are several areas that you ought to know before getting behind the wheel here. For instance, the driving — you don’t have complete control over it. Unfortunately, the AI assumes control over most of the things you do in Badlands Crew, and it isn’t uncommon for it to discard your inputs and steer clear of the task at hand. And that’s a shame, as one too many unregistered inputs and unfair endings can lead to some frustrating climaxes.

One Step Ahead

The good news is that Badlands Crew does yield some fantastic building blocks, including multi-tier facilities and other useful upgrades that you can install on your wagon. I imagine those who happened to entertain Bomber Crew back in its heyday ought to know what we’re talking about here. Aside from the customizable components, weapons, and vehicle parts, players can also tweak their team member’s abilities, roles, and even apparel. Granted, these aren’t necessarily new features, though they are a heck of a lot more complex here than they were in previous installments in the series — which is great, truly.

The lack of control over the vehicle and somewhat shoddy AI systems cast aside, Badlands Crew has a fantastic campaign to chew through, with a cohesive gameplay style that feels as equally engaging as it does challenging. Also, with an overhauled visual interface and a greater level of detail to boost its overall quality, it certainly amounts to a lot more than its predecessor and the Crew-like chapters that rolled out before it. It isn’t drastically different concept-wise, though it does make a genuine effort to elevate its familiar bone structure with a wider range of audiovisual and UI improvements. As for whether or not it’s the better choice of the two, eh — it boils down to a matter of preference. Wasteland or skyline — it’s still the same formula, but with different terrain and crew-based synergies.

Verdict

Badlands Crew thrusts the series towards an even more exciting direction with the inclusion of deeply rooted strategic gameplay, tailorable narrative arcs, and a visible palette of customizable vehicle parts. The breadth of the game isn’t drastically different from what we’ve seen in Bomber Crew, I’ll admit. That said, with more enemies, settings, and campaign chapters in its core, it’s also a far cry from a mere replica of its former incarnation. To say that it has come leaps and bounds since the series’ inception wouldn’t be true, but Badlands Crew does take it to the next level with a formula that has been finessed by a new and exciting perspective. And that goes a long way, all things considered.

I could think of a dozen or more reasons why you should give Badlands Crew the attention it deserves, but by doing so, I think that it would dampen the experience of being able to witness it firsthand. I won’t say that it has that certain wow factor that you simply must see with your own two eyes, or even that it will change your perception of indie games. But I will say that, if you happened to enjoy Bomber Crew, then it’s highly likely that you’ll get a kick out of booting the dust from these wheels. It’s challenging, immersive, and oh-so addictive—three reasons why you ought to give it a shot the next time you’re itching for some of that sweet, sweet post-apocalyptic nectar.