You Suck at Parking Review (PS5): There Is No Reverse

In other words, if you can’t get the car in the right spot, you suck at parking, there’s no doubt about it. So to prove everybody wrong, especially developer Happy Volcano, you just have to complete the over 100 levels and master the skills of parking.

If it’s not obvious already, the one thing you need to do in You Suck at Parking is to park a car. And while it may sound like an easy thing to do at first glance, it really isn’t.

First of all, you need to master the car’s mechanics. When I played the beta version a few weeks ago, the first I noticed was that having no brakes in a car you’re trying to park is both evil and a brilliant idea. In fact, this is what makes the gameplay as challenging as possible, as you need to get the car into the spot in just one try (you can reset and start from scratch, but unless you find the right way to do it properly, you’ll find yourself going back to starting point over and over again).

There’s a learning curve in You Suck at Parking, there’s no doubt about it. And once again, it all comes down to learning the new mechanics, as once you get used to the way the car accelerates and steers, you should be able to drive and drift much easier.

On the other hand, You Suck at Parking is a game that can hardly get boring. The graphics are pretty cool, though they look rather arcade-ish. For this kind of game, however, they do their job just right, so don’t expect anything else than a colorful UI from one end to another.

Furthermore, improving your skills is something that you must do from the moment you start the game to the one when you complete all levels. This is because you’ll come across all kinds of unexpected items along the ride, as well as more challenging level designs that make the gameplay both fun and frustrating at the same time.

As in many games out there, the better you get, the more things you can unlock. So for instance, you can get new vehicle upgrades, while on the customization side of things, you are allowed to personalize each car with your favorite colors, stickers, and so on.

The game also comes with what feels like half-baked multiplayer, and I’m seeing lots of people complaining of the limitations on this front. However, an option to invite your own friends is also coming, so it shouldn’t take too long before Happy Volcano addresses the main problems here.

I’m not going to talk about monetization at all because this is one of the things that everybody hates the most about games anyway, so the one thing that needs to be changed is for the upgrades you get to no longer be tied to the season pass.

CONCLUSION

You Suck at Parking is a brilliant game based on a brilliant concept with brilliant gameplay. It doesn’t excel in terms of cosmetics, but the graphics serve their purpose just right, aligning with the overall arcade-ish approach of the game in the first place.

On the other hand, it’s very clear You Suck at Parking is a completely new title, so Happy Volcano needs a little bit more time to address the complaints and further polish the gameplay, especially in the multiplayer mode. The monetization part of the game is one that’s going to bring negative feedback, there’s no doubt about it.

But at the end of the day, You Suck at Parking is fun, challenging, and a great time-wasting machine, especially when it’s played with friends. Future updates must undoubtedly bring more polishing, so fingers crossed for Happy Volcano to get the message and make this cool game even cooler.

RATING: 75/100