Heading Out is the perfect title for this unique road trip simulator that mixes psychological drama, fun arcade racing, and a narrative web that spreads across the USA just like our highway system. The concept is simple. You’ll be playing a troubled female driver fleeing her own personal demons, as you “head out” west to a randomized destination that changes with each of the four Acts in the story. You have multiple save slots so others can play, or you can start new stories, but once a story is completed the only thing left to do is clear it and start a fresh adventure.
The two characters in the game are the driver, Jackie, and her car, which changes up with each Act, as new muscle and sports car options are unlocked. There is no garage or upgrade system to worry about, but you do have to keep an eye on several things as you travel across the country. First and foremost is Fear, that red line of death pursuing you relentlessly as you race west. If the red line ever catches you, you might get a chance to escape, or it could be game over.
Other considerations include Focus, Car Health, and Money. Most of these function as expected but with a few fun twists. Money is primarily used to buy fuel, but you only pay when you reach your destination, so if you come up short you may have to steal your gas and make an escape. Focus is how alert your driver is and slowly depletes the longer you drive without resting. Drive too long and you can fall asleep at the wheel and crash, and if your Focus is low during an actual race there is this brilliant effect of your droopy eyes slowly shutting and opening just like it happens in real life. They even drop out the radio like you are really falling asleep.
You’ll also get to personalize each Act of the story with a few preliminary questions that will be used in various fill-in-the-blank scenarios later in the chapter. You can choose to be honest, experiment, or just let the game randomly pick the answers. No matter what you choose, you are always starting off the game coming out of Ohio and entering the NE corner of Indiana, and where you go from there is up to your final destination and any random quests you get along the way.
As you make your way across America, you’ll get to engage in numerous activities including racing for cash. With purses usually less than $20 nobody is getting rich racing, but you can earn enough for gas, snacks, and the occasional hotel bed to refuel that Focus. Various icons dot the map indicating the type of encounter such as Story Event, Radio Broadcast, and Road Races. Not all encounters result in a race. There are numerous story beats where you get to make critical decisions that really do make a difference, as many decisions will affect your Fame and Wanted Level and even your wallet. Keep a low profile and you can skirt past a lot of patrolling cops because your Wanted Level is kept on file in each state and carries over into future new games. Much like other games with stats and conversation trees, your available options in any given scenario are dictated by your current stats, so some branches could be unavailable, say, if you aren’t famous enough or don’t have enough money.
What really blew my mind in Heading Out was the sheer amount of content. It was nearly six hours before I had my first repeating story bite, and that was after I had to restart Act 4, so it was expected. After finishing my first run I started a new game, and while the early radio broadcasts come at you in the same order, the story bits are randomized, so the passed-out Nazi I mugged in Gary, IN was the same one I mugged again in Dallas, TX in my new game. There also seems to be content specific to regions or perhaps even states. I know I heard a commercial that specifically called out “Arizona” while I was driving through Arizona, so the game knows where you are and curates the content based on your journey.
You play Heading Out mostly from the map screen where you actually get to control your speed on the interstate, as your car icon glides across the map. Exceeding the speed limit is a great way to put some distance between you and Fear, but it can also alert cops that will pull you over or setup roadblocks and increase your Wanted Level for that state. When you reach a city, you can explore for more activities or rest in a bed or purchase supplies from a store if those options are available in that city. Just make sure you have done all you want to do before locking in your next destination. Driving and racing feel good after some practice. They game recommends a controller, and it took the full first Act for me to get comfortable with the somewhat-touchy controls, and just about the time you figure out the handling it’s time to change cars. You also get to choose from a cockpit, hood, bumper, and a couple of chase views, which will also affect your handling and immersion.
Of course, the slickest feature to Heading Out is the Sin City noire art style, and yes; there is a good reason this game is in black and white with only dashes of red, yellow, and blue, but I’m not spoiling it here. Just know that despite the limited color pallet, this game looks fantastic, both in the driving sections that reminded me of Interstate 76 and the graphic novel story bits that reminded me of the original Max Payne game. There are also fun insert animation panels every time you press the gas or shift gears, and animated wind streaks past when you hit top speeds. The menus and interface are simple and classically designed with instruments to fit the retro era, and they do a really fun post-Act wrap-up with a slideshow of your journey and a diary of all your key decisions. While the game does a good job mixing up the various rolling plains, mountains, and city landscapes and keeping things regionally correct, there are no famous landmarks to watch for. I will say that I live in Indiana and driving in my state in this game is eerily realistic with the long flat roads stretching through farmland with barns and silos and even slow-moving farm tractors I had to pass.
Part of the amazing presentation and a true testament to this game’s staying power is the wonderful and energetic soundtrack that is so diverse I would swear I’ve never heard the same song or the same radio talk show program twice in the same story. There are multiple radio shows with their own hosts and topics, and while some of the episodes get a bit political (in an Alex Jones kind of way) they are easy to skip if easily offended. The soundtrack is pure fire with each and every song finding a strong connection with me and the mood of the event, so in one race where I am trying to escape Fear after it caught me napping in Reno, NV, there is this crazy speed metal track playing as I am frantically driving toward California. One clever touch is that most of the races are set to match the length of the song, so you only need to be in first place when the music ends.
Heading Out is a big hit with me and everyone I’ve let play it. The game isn’t too demanding when it comes to system specs, so anyone with a reasonably good PC should be just fine, and you can even play on the Steam Deck, which is perfect for a narrative-heavy game such as this. Personally, I hate to travel. I want to get where I am going as fast as I can, but Heading Out is all about the journey and the crazy stuff that can just happen along the way. Who knows…it might be time to take an actual road trip out west, but until then, I’ll just keep Heading Out on my PC. Safe travels.
