Bootlegger’s Broken Racing Story Review: Good at Promising the Moonshine, Not Delivering It

Bootlegger’s Racing Story tries to capture the danger and excitement of whisky running during the Prohibition era. Set in the midst of the Great Depression, you play as John Hamerton, a down-on-his luck guy facing foreclosure. Desperate to pay his debts, John turns to bootlegging hooch for the local mob, becoming a getaway driver trying to evade the cops. Definitely an intriguing setup!

Unfortunately, this cool premise is about the only thing Bootlegger’s Racing Story has going for it. Right from the start, I struggled to even get the game running. After somehow launching it the first time, now it refuses to open at all – even after troubleshooting solutions like verifying files or updating Proton. Technical issues continue to plague the experience if you can get past the main menu. We’re talking constant crashing, broken mechanics, visual bugs, you name it.

It’s a real shame, because I dig the historical prohibition backdrop and the role you take on. But the execution here misses the mark on every front. Bootlegger’s quickly goes from an appealing concept to a bug-ridden, unfinished mess. With so many problems under the hood, it’s tough to enjoy what little gameplay there is. The devs might’ve been onto something, but this rum running adventure stalls out way too fast.

Visuals Straight Outta the Bargain Bin

One glimpse at Bootlegger’s Racing Story makes it obvious where the tiny budget went – and it definitely wasn’t the graphics department. The visuals look like a random assortment of assets tossed together without any real art direction.

The environments don’t even try capturing the 1930’s era, with generic urban and rural backdrops that could be from any time period. The car models fare a little better in appearing era-appropriate, but that’s about the only plus. Character models seem cobbled together from different asset packs, featuring modern clothes and animations that resemble decade-old games. None of it meshes together at all, destroying any sense of immersion.

I wouldn’t be shocked if the devs relied heavily on AI art generation to cram together assets on the cheap. The painting-like imagery in loading screens features warped text and objects commonly seen from AI generators. Regardless of how they did it, the visual mishmash of conflicting art styles ruins what little atmosphere there was.

And that’s just the surface level problems. Under the hood, Bootlegger’s Racing Story struggles to even function properly on a technical level. I couldn’t even launch the game on my Steam Deck after the first session – suddenly it acted like the executable file itself went missing. Verifying integrity failed to fix things. This wasn’t an isolated issue either, with constant crashes and game freezes plaguing my brief time playing. Each bug compounds on the last to create a mess of a user experience.

It’s a little sad seeing the careless, bargain bin approach applied here. The prohibition backdrop deserved better than cookie cutter environments and glued together assets. Combine the lackluster graphics with myriad technical problems, and Bootlegger’s Racing Story can’t even excel at the basics.

Janky Driving That’s Anything But Thrilling

Considering it’s called “Bootlegger’s Racing Story,” you’d be forgiven for expecting fast-paced, high octane racing through police roadblocks. Yeah…not so much. There’s no actual racing to speak of – it’s essentially an informal delivery gig from point A to B. No rival racers, no timers or scores, just drive from one spot to another without crashing (good luck with that, by the way).

The police evasion hyped up on the store page? Also a total letdown. You merely have to steer clear of a single marked zone on the map where the cops show up. As long as you casually avoid driving into that one spot, they basically ignore you. There’s no tense showdowns or need for getaway driving skills at all. Like many aspects of Bootlegger’s, the promises of excitement fall painfully short.

Driving itself feels straight out of a 90’s bargain bin title…and not in a good, retro way. The vehicle physics are hilariously arcady and unstable, with steer-by-analog controls that are sure to aggravate. Upgrading parts like suspensions and brakes barely make a difference either. Coupled with the technical issues, simply keeping your car on the road proves a challenge in itself – an annoying one devoid of fun.

The gameplay loop falls into repetitive tedium almost immediately. Each delivery task functions identically: pick up goods, sloppily motor to the destination, drop off goods, repeat. With zero chance of failure outside of wrecking your ride, the 10 hours or so of playtime drone on far longer than they should. Such a cool background premise wasted on a lackluster delivery simulator.

I went in hoping for some white-knuckled police getaways through prohibition-era cities. What I got was a disjointed, monotonous activity with the word “racing” tacked on for good measure. Seriously though, they couldn’t even include *one* rival bootlegger chase scene? Talk about potential wasted. Bootlegger’s Racing Story stalls out hard by failing to deliver on its own premise.

A Wasted Backdrop With No Atmosphere

On paper, the historical prohibition era setting brims with potential. Bootlegging hooch to scrape by during the Great Depression? Sign me up! The premise sets up an intriguing backdrop of high stakes and hard times. Sadly, as we’ve seen, the execution falls disastrously short.

Any sense of immersion essentially dies the moment you see main character John rolled out. Our 1930’s rum runner looks like he was copy-pasted out of a modern hipster fashion catalog, sporting jeans, flannels and a trucker cap. The environment design fares no better, with generic urban sprawls and rural routes that could be from literally any time period.

Storytelling aims for drama but delivers only disappointment. The amateurish cutscenes play out like a high school film project. Stilted animations, questionable acting, and odd ragdoll glitches abound. They mostly serve as painful reminders that a cool premise lurks somewhere behind the inept presentation.

I really wanted to experience some tense, moonshine-fueled chases through dusty backroads and smoky speakeasies. Perhaps rub elbows with colorful mobsters and nefarious lawmen of the day. But none of the atmosphere, character or risky excitement promised by the unique backdrop ever enters the picture.

Instead we get John the modern hipster stiffly babbling quest directions while awkwardly glitching into his carseat. Or bland environments drained of any historical identity. What could have immersed players in a lively, treacherous era feels more like a school play version – leaving you bored rather than invested.

Bootlegger’s Racing Story manages the impossible task of totally wasting its prohibition setting. In the hands of more capable developers, the bootlegging premise had serious potential for gritty drama and bold personality. Sadly, we’re left with little more than a recipe for disappointment – no shot of immersive fun to be found.

The One Bright Spot in a Train Wreck

Considering everything else about Bootlegger’s Racing Story faceplants into mediocrity, I’ve gotta hand it to the audio department – they put in some effort. If only the rest of the game matched their work, we might have something here.

The voice acting is decidedly amateur hour, but I appreciate the attempt at serious drama. There’s some unintentional comedy in the mix too between wonky line reads and glitchy animations. You can feel the commitment though, even if the skill isn’t fully there yet from these indie devs. A few more acting classes and I think they’d have something.

The soundtrack works hard pulling double duty across locations, but falls short of coherence. Bouncy bluesy tracks meant to capture rural road trip vibes clash against somber country ballads for the city. It’s like they couldn’t decide on prohibition-era jazz or modern rural folk, so they haphazardly crammed both genres together. Greater variety is nice, but a focused vision would have brought better atmosphere.

Considering how everything else plays fast and loose with the unique premise though, I’ll take these rough audio gems. With writing and gameplay floundering, the music and acting at least provide fleeting bright spots amidst relentless mediocrity. Heck, during all those inevitable technical crashes, I found myself humming the upbeat fiddle riffs as a pick-me-up.

Bootlegger’s Racing Story botches nearly every aspect required for a quality game. Except, surprisingly, the sounds – those scrappy audio design bugs manage to shine through the train wreck with gusto. I just wish the rest of the package backed them up instead of wasted potential.

A Short-Lived Ride With Zero Payoff

Given the sheer amount of problems littering nearly every corner of Bootlegger’s Racing Story, you’d think it has to offer strong lasting appeal or value to redeem things. Ha, good one. A few hours slogging through this slogfest provides plenty of reasons to stay far away.

Once you’ve suffered the brief campaign and side deliveries, there’s little incentive to return. The repetitive missions, shoddy driving, and game-breaking bugs suck any lasting joy away. I can’t imagine why anyone would willingly subject themselves to this hot mess for long. Only the most bored or self-loathing gamers need apply.

And for what? A messy technical showcase of everything that can go wrong in game development? To bask in the glory of awkward voice line reads coupled with ragdoll physics? Or just to take another gander at John’s immersion-shattering hipster garb? No thanks, my game backlog calls, free of glitches and lost potential.

Here’s the bottom line: Bootlegger’s Racing Story offers a flash-in-the-pan experience that implodes upon itself almost immediately. Even at a bargain price, it couldn’t justify the frustration and wasted opportunity on display. Do yourself a favor – skip this faulty ride and spend your hard-earned cash on more rewarding games made with actual care and polish.

Promising Idea Buried Under Broken Code

I’ll say it again – Bootlegger’s Racing Story has the core of a great premise. Putting players in the shoes of a small-time bootlegger during Prohibition as they try to pay off debts could make for a unique backdrop. The devs were clearly onto something with that initial concept.

Unfortunately, we have to review the game in front of us, not the one we imagined or wished for. And the game we have here is a disaster zone of unfinished ideas, bargain bin assets, and enough glitches to crash a processor farm.

Pretty much every aspect feels rough, unpolished, or broken in some way. The gameplay is a dull delivery simulator. Environments clash against characters in a weird anachronistic soup. Cutscenes play out like awkward high school drama projects. And the whole rickety experience constantly sputters under the weight of crashes, slowdowns, and game-breaking bugs.

I give the devs props for ambitious ideas on a shoestring budget. But Bootlegger’s Racing Story tries doing way too much with way too little. The prohibiton premise hints at so much wasted potential. Instead of moonshine-fueled car chases through smoky speakeasies, we get a lesson in frustration across familiar rural roads and urban grids.

Unless you thrive on mediocrity or have some odd affinity for shoddy police chase mechanics, take a hard pass on this unfulfilled daydream. The tempting narrative angle gets lost under mountains of troubles no gear upgrade can fix. Here’s hoping the devs learn from their mistakes and take another, more polished crack at capturing prohibition’s dangerous allures down the road.

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