Roundabout (video game)
Roundabout is an open-world indie driving video game developed and published by American indie studio No Goblin LLC. It was released for Windows, Mac and Linux on September 18, 2014, for Xbox One on February 20, 2015, and for PlayStation 4 on May 26, 2015. A PlayStation Vita port was released on June 26, 2018, as a cross-buy title with the PlayStation 4 version.
| Roundabout | |
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| Developer(s) | No Goblin LLC |
| Publisher(s) | No Goblin LLC |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita |
| Release | Windows, OS X, Linux September 18, 2014[1] Xbox One February 20, 2015[1] PlayStation 4 May 26, 2015[2] PlayStation Vita June 26, 2018[1] |
| Genre(s) | Open-world driving game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The game involves a constantly-rotating limousine which the player has to drive around an open world while completing miscellaneous objectives such as pick up and dropping people off or finding collectible items. The gameplay has been described as inspired by Kuru Kuru Kururin (where you also control a constantly-rotating vehicle), and Crazy Taxi (where the goal of the game is to drive NPCs from one location to another).
Gameplay
Plot
Roundabout is set in 1977 and follows the adventures of Georgio Manos; the world's first revolving limousine driver who drives around the citizens of the city of Roundabout on their daily needs. Though most of the jobs are unrelated and commuters are only seen once or twice, frequent passenger Elizabeth earns Georgio's deep admiration, and a romance begins to develop between the two.
Eventually Georgio develops a rivalry with another revolving limousine driver, Ronaldo, whom Georgio unknowingly taught everything they know and allowed Ronaldo to overtake Georgio as the #1 revolving limousine driver in the city. Desperate to defeat Ronaldo, Georgio acquires some candy dots with the help of Mickey the mechanic, which allows Georgio to see Jeffrey the Skeleton. Guided by Jeffrey in a candy-dot fuelled frenzy, Georgio goes on a murderous rampage through the city. Georgio then challenges Ronaldo again, spurred on by Elizabeth, and as they race through the city streets Georgio runs Ronaldo off the road, destroying his car and killing him.
Six months later, Georgio has retreated to the mountains in the north out of shame, as destroying someone else's car is akin to treason in Roundabout. Having lost Elizabeth and running low on candy dots, Jeffrey urges Georgio to get their act back together and win back Elizabeth's heart. At the same time, Georgio is hounded by Ge-Op (Georgio Operations), a police squad tasked with hunting down Georgio after Georgio killed Ronaldo. In the end, Georgio and Elizabeth are reunited, and Elizabeth explains that she is tired of Georgio's constant spinning, pleading with Georgio to drive straight for even a little while. After Georgio awkwardly attempts to drive straight, Elizabeth decides that she should not force Georgio to be someone they are not, and the two drive off into the sunset together.
Reception
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The game received positive reviews upon release. The versions for each console received different scores despite being identical to each other.
References
- "Roundabout official press kit". Retrieved 29 October 2018.
- "Roundabout on PS4". IGN. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Roundabout Xbox One". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Roundabout PC". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- Tach, Dave (September 25, 2014). "Roundabout Review: Taxi Driver". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- Kennedy, Phil (10 June 2015). "I'm spinning around". PushSquare. Gamer Network Ltd. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- Artero, Javier (February 26, 2015). "El juego de conducción más raro jamás jugado" [The rarest driving game ever played]. IGN Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 July 2015.
