hello everybody and welcome to bull technology steam is an incredible platform with thousands of
playable titles and it's often this large volume of titles that allows for some excellent games to
slip through the cracks one such incredible game is jalopy a post-soviet union driving simulator
with many quirks and features so today we'll give this astonishingly underrated game a review
and in the interest of full disclosure minsk works isn't sponsoring this video
and all of the opinions you're about to hear are entirely my own let's get started
jalopy is a driving and automobile sim developed by minsk works a small two-person development
studio based in europe jalopy is available for the pc and also features partial steam deck support
jalopy normally retails for 14.99 however at the time of recording this video it is currently one
of the items on the steam summer sale and it's currently selling for 4.49 a 70 discount jalopy
begins with a short tutorial that outlines the various components of your leica model 601 deluxe
the vehicle that you'll be driving throughout the game the leica is loosely based upon the trabant a
popular car in the former soviet union the youtube channel aging wheels did an excellent video on
this irl trabant if you'd like to learn more about this relic from the past after you've fixed up and
gone over the various components of your car you are given a small amount of money and then
you are able to begin your journey across the former soviet bloc and this is where most of
the core gameplay of jalopy comes into play as you drive from city to city your car will
need a variety of repairs air filters carburetors engines ignition coils fuel tanks tires batteries
and an array of other vehicle components will all need to either be upgraded or replaced from
general wear and tear you'll also need to make sure your vehicle has plenty of fuel and water
all of these resources can be purchased in the aforementioned cities but they can also be found
or purchased along your route as you drive along you'll have the possibility to find gas stations
and scrap yards that will give you the ability to purchase or sell necessary items for your vehicle
speaking of selling a key component of the game is scavenging for sellable resources as you drive
along you'll find packages scattered along the roads that all contain a variety of resources
these resources can be loaded into your vehicle and sold at the next available venue for cash
one of my favorite mechanics about jalopy is the way that the route system works jalopy
functions in a segmented route system this means that your full journey is split into
separate portions however you get to select the route you take would you rather a longer scenic
route with more possibilities for loot well take a longer route would you rather a shorter
more treacherous route for faster travel just take the shorter route this level of choice is
excellent and it allows for endless replayability all of the cities in jalopy function as individual
checkpoints in essence you will drive from a country into a city spend the night and then drive
out of that city into another country it's just that simple speaking of countries the variety
in scenery in jalopy is absolutely staggering on your journey east you will drive through
vast countrysides dotted with trees traverse many mountains and enjoy the leisurely seaside
and while you are enjoying the scenery you'll also enjoy a challenging array of different road types
and obstacles the road you may be driving on could be anything from a four-lane highway to a one-lane
dirt road littered with potholes and puddles of mud and this makes driving in jalopy enjoyable
and challenging there are no zombies or skeletons or monsters to fight in this game your only enemy
is the road ahead of you and i love that i also love jalopy's graphics they're incredibly simple
but also quaint and charming and because of jalopy's simple graphics it'll run on almost any
pc so let's now discuss some of jalopy's drawbacks the first big drawback is bugginess and yes there
are a lot of bugs now i've been playing jalopy since it was in early access but the reality is
it's no longer an early access game and it's absolutely littered with bugs graphical glitches
ui problems terrain weirdness and even crashes are all too common for a game that is in its full
release state and compounding this is the fact that the game is no longer receiving updates so
what you see is pretty much what you get another issue i have with the game is just the ending
your journey officially ends in istanbul turkey but once you arrive in the city that's it i just
wish there was some kind of formal ending to the game but that being said the non-ending does lead
to some replayability as you can drive back to your original starting location and that's
pretty much my feelings about jalopy fellas this is a quirky and fun game and it's well worth the
asking price of 15 if you ask me is the gameplay buggy sure but considering the one man team that
developed this game it's more than excusable so if you're interested in a different take on
a driving and car simulation game definitely be sure to give jalopy a try you won't regret it so
be sure to leave a like a comment and definitely subscribe and thank you all for watching you