Twenty-two years have handed since The Simpsons: Hit and Run hit retailer cabinets, and it’s about time {that a} group of super-fans bought their arms on a challenge that captures the identical sort of untamed, Simpsons-esque enjoyable in a flying saucer-filled future. Slurm Workforce, a gaggle of 9 die-hard followers, started sketching out their concept in 2019 and lately launched a demo for Futurama: Hit and Run, a complete conversion mod that flips the unique recreation’s Springfield streets on their heads to carry them to life within the chaotic world of New New York.
The mod’s core gameplay is just like what made the 2003 recreation so common: a mixture of open-world exploration and story-driven chores. You get into six of the good bespoke autos you’ve ever seen – broken supply ships, elegant racers – and drive to the quarter-scale metropolis that appears precisely just like the one from this system. The 4 main goals immerse you in Fry’s world; one has you chasing down a runaway robotic by way of a tangle of pneumatic tubes, whereas one other has you scurrying round for lacking Slurm cans within the undercity. Every one builds on the earlier one, revealing extra of the map each time, thus each drive unveils new corners full of all kinds of unusual issues like glowing billboards and rickety outdated skywalks.
Past the core storyline, there are sufficient of extras to maintain you going again for extra. Anybody with eager eyes will discover a bonus mission ready to be found, in addition to three avenue races by which you have to outmaneuver Zapp Brannigan’s ego virtually as a lot as his ship. A small wager race provides one other factor of pleasure to the combo, permitting you to guess on cargo hauls on tight corners and close to misses. And when you’re the sort who likes to gather every little thing, there are 25 wasps dispersed round rooftops and again tons simply ready to be bashed. And if that wasn’t sufficient, there are 9 tiny aspect gags ready for you, comparable to clicking a button to get a comment from a passing Bender, one in every of which stays nicely hid till you’ve dug into each nook and nook.
The Slurm Workforce labored laborious to make New York really feel prefer it belonged in a real Futurama episode. Each constructing, from the Planet Categorical headquarters to the dingy outdated MomCorp manufacturing facility, is a recent new 3D mannequin that they handcrafted. There isn’t any sloppy re-use of current belongings right here; they’re the precise stuff, full with quirky buildings and flashing neon indicators typical of this system. The sewers are alive with scary creatures that emerge as you drive slowly, whereas up above, suicidal aliens are simply ready to be pushed into. And the most effective half? It’s all powered by the unique recreation’s engine, so that you get that very same outdated low-poly appeal that looks like a aware throwback to the PS2 days when any such enjoyable was the usual.
Sound pulls you deep into the thirty first century; it’s a wild journey. We’ve got a customized soundtrack that begins with a number of key Futurama theme snippets and is paired with a bunch of synth horn tracks that actually get going once you’re careening by way of the town in a high-speed chase… nevertheless it mellows out so much once you’re simply cruising round on the lookout for some alley graffiti to admire. The autos are much more plausible with the normal growl of the engines mixed with the futuristic ‘whooshing’ sound of the anti-grav boosters. We’ve got voices bringing the characters to life, and whereas the demo at the moment depends upon stand-ins, clean AI approximations of Fry’s typical deadpan supply and Leela’s no-nonsense perspective do the job till the skilled actors arrive to wash issues up. Even with stand-ins, they carry the banter to life and assist the cutscenes seize the present’s explicit dry wit.
Getting behind the wheel of this mod is straightforward, even when you haven’t performed the unique in a very long time. The Donut Workforce’s mod launcher makes set up easy, stacking every little thing on prime of a reputable copy of Simpsons: Hit and Run in your PC. When you’re all set, Fry’s 4 costume choices turn out to be useful – you may change from his crimson jacket to a hazard swimsuit if it’s essential to handle any chemical spills, and the dealing with is ideal for relaxed cruising or precision drifting. The missions enhance in issue with out turning into too annoying; you’ll get a number of possibilities to be taught the basics of tube leaping, however later ones could have you chaining boosts collectively whereas dodging crumbling bridges.
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