File this one in the burgeoning subgenre of “friendslop” co-op multiplayer games. Developer Not Doppler announced The Road, a co-op horror driving game. The Sydney, Australia-based developers have been operating for more than a decade making games for mobile, famous for the Earn To Die series as well as Crash Of Cars.
The Road will be Not Doppler’s first in-house developed PC title.
In The Road, you and up to four other friends (a total of 5 player multiplayer) will be on a road trip where you stop by abandoned buildings, grab any loot you can get get hold on and can store in the 5-seater car (this is the rare video game where you can fit three adults in the back seat), and hopefully drop it all off to the nearest motel for a reward.
The twist? The locales you visit are filled with anomaly and creepy, horrifying creatures. You can die and later haunt your mates through the car’s radio. When everyone’s alive, you have a walkie-talkie to communicate from afar as the game uses proximity chat.
The car that you and the boys/gals/folks share a road trip can be upgraded with useful tools include ghost-vapourising floodlights and a winch that works in a pinch where the car’s trapped in a ditch or glitched off road. You can paint the cars too, with spray paint, which you can free-hand paint the car (or your mates).
Shoutout to the “sturdy” painted car door gag straight out of the golden years of Top Gear and The Grand Tour.
Think of The Road as a mix of Pacific Drive, Phasmophobia and a bit of RV There Yet. It’s one of those (affectionately) janky-looking games that’s perfect to mess around and make your fun in with close friends. Though The Road is playable solo should you wish, it won’t be as fun as giving a hard time to the sole driver of the group having to deal with road hazards all while the gang goes rowdy at the back.
The trailer should demonstrate the exact vibes The Road has going for: equally silly as any of the (affectionately) “friendslop” games are but with a good dose of creepy horror stuff.
The Road is releasing sometime this year on PC (Steam).