Parcel Corps Review – A Confusing Package (PS5)

Developed by Belfast based studio Billy Goat Entertainment, Parcel Corps spices up the mundane daily life of a bicycle courier with elements of extreme sports. Combining high-action, combat-free gameplay with cel-shaded graphics and maps which double as skateparks, Parcel Corps striking and unique style is at the heart of the game’s charm.

Parcel Corps is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam from £28.99 ($34.99)

Story – Doesn’t Quite Deliver

If you aren’t a fan of running errands for random NPCs, I can only advise you to steer clear, as Parcel Corps is essentially an extreme fetch quest on bikes. However, if you aren’t opposed to helping strangers and fancy a high-action, no-combat experience then you can sign up to one of three delivery teams. Regardless of which team you play for, the player is tasked with impressing business owners into becoming business partners before they are able to complete deliveries for said businesses.

The world of Parcel Corps has a concerning interest in its bicycle couriers, with numerous televised news reports and a constantly active, slightly intrusive live chat following your every move. While the witty dialogue did land an amusing line or two, the interruptions of cutscenes and news broadcasts regularly slowed down gameplay. The NPCs suffer a similar fate, their bizarre characteristics amusing the first time around but eye-roll inducing when having to reattempt missions.

Colourful and strangely charming NPCs.

Gameplay – Easy as Riding a Bike

Despite the eventual thrill of launching down handrails and sending wall rides, I was admittedly expecting a greater focus on tricks, perhaps hoping for Parcel Corps to be a BMX equivalent to Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The tutorial cycles through the basics: pedal with X, skid by pressing the brakes with R2 and power-sliding beneath barriers with circle. 

Although 180s and riding in fakie can be pulled off with some finesse, they aren’t registered by the game. You can barspin or tailwhip with square while airborne, and L1 is used to grind rails coated in a generous amount of yellow paint. This is an area where I personally would have liked a little more to explore, as the same grind on every rail in every map quickly became boring. Wheelies could also use some work, as they felt slightly too techy to chain together combos.

Overall, controls of the bike itself aren’t too difficult. However things begin to feel a bit clunky when the phone mechanic is introduced. Opened with triangle the mobile screen is then navigated using the right stick, with R3 to confirm. This seemed to be designed with the intent of using your phone to check the map etc while moving, but it is definitely easier hitting the brakes to prevent a time consuming collision.  

Maps double as city-wide skateparks.

Frustrating Delivery Times

The majority of mission objectives are the same throughout the game, tasking you with taking parcels from A to B within the time limit. The only change of pace is when trying to recruit a business, with each of the companies having different tasks for you to prove yourself. Sticking up poster ads in hard to reach spots or locating clients within a certain area, these missions were often finicky, with hard to locate end goals which left me desiring a return to the status quo.

Combos and score multipliers are mentioned in a couple of optional objectives, but not displayed anywhere on screen. This leaves little motivation to want to chain together tricks when you’re off the clock, and the inability to really find a flow state without stopping due to cutscenes or a car sending you flying really negated from the enjoyable aspects of Parcel Corps.

When you have coerced enough companies into using your app, you can participate in a delivery rush, where you non-stop collect and drop off parcels, extending your time upon successful deliveries. This is essential to progression, but also is the quickest way to build up funds. Money has little value besides style and customisation purposes, with the different frames and forks offering very little (if any) gameplay differences. 

Complete deliveries for an interesting array of characters.

Audio and Graphics – Priority Package

Parcel Corps brings its bicycle courier-centric world to life with its vibrant and cel-shaded aesthetic, which is among the stronger aspects of the game. Alongside the animated visual style is a photomode with a replay editor, enabling you to choose picture perfect moments for capture. Unfortunately, this only seems to record your rider while the environment continues in real time, leading to some awkward clips where you are wall riding thin air as opposed to a moving bus.

While I personally didn’t find it the most memorable, the energising electro beat was good to get your head bopping in the moments you do find your flow. And truthfully, I couldn’t decide whether I loved the voice acting or not, at times spamming X in attempts to skip cutscenes, and at others thinking delivery was bang-on. 

Parcel Corps was reviewed on PS5 with a key provided by Secret Mode.