MiLE HiGH TAXi
- March 13, 2023
- Cassius John-Adams
Get on Steam"Mile High Taxi" is a sci-fi hover taxi racing game inspired by "The Fifth Element" and reminiscent of "Crazy Taxi," with fast-paced arcade-style gameplay. Experience heart-pumping action as you race against the clock in a vibrant, futuristic city, transporting hilarious and chatty passengers while avoiding obstacles. Mastering the game won't be easy, but the "easy" setting allows for a smoother start.
Reviews
- The game captures the nostalgic feel of Crazy Taxi with a unique twist of flying cars in a futuristic setting, providing a fun arcade experience.
- The controls, while initially challenging, can be mastered and offer a rewarding gameplay loop of picking up and dropping off passengers.
- The developer is responsive to community feedback and shows potential for future updates and improvements, making it a worthwhile investment for fans of the genre.
- The game is plagued by bugs, unfinished features, and a lack of polish, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences such as soft-locks and asset loading issues.
- The graphics and overall visual presentation are disappointing, with many players noting that the city feels repetitive and lacks variety.
- The controls can feel clunky and unintuitive, particularly when navigating the verticality of the game, which detracts from the overall enjoyment.
- graphics21 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some praising the vibrant futuristic aesthetic and nostalgic retro elements, while others criticize the visuals as disappointing, blurry, and lacking in detail compared to promotional materials. Many users noted the limited graphical options and poor player models, leading to an overall sense of underwhelming performance. Despite some appealing aspects, the general consensus leans towards dissatisfaction with the graphical quality and execution.
“The rendering of the game looks quite nice in the Unity engine, and the overall futuristic aesthetic is vibrant and eye-catching, with dozens of billboards, streams of traffic, and little pockets of life.”
“Good looking visuals and a sense of life.”
“Art style is really almost perfect.”
“The graphics are more disappointing and blurry than the trailer.”
“You can't change the resolution and the graphics options are very few.”
“There's horrible jagged edges everywhere even with anti-aliasing turned on, there's no graphics option other than post-processing, there's a horrible green glow to things, and it seems like anything not directly in front of you is rendered at half the resolution of your monitor.”
- gameplay18 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the core concept of picking up and delivering passengers reminiscent of classic arcade games like Crazy Taxi, while others criticize the clunky mechanics, frustrating waypoint navigation, and lack of variety, leading to a repetitive experience. Many users noted that the game feels slow-paced and visually underwhelming, detracting from the overall enjoyment. Despite some potential, the execution appears lacking, leaving players feeling that the game does not deliver sufficient value for its price.
“I bought it with very low expectations from what I read in other reviews, but it doesn't do badly at all, considering that most games that try to imitate Crazy Taxi's gameplay fail miserably.”
“The actual gameplay loop of picking up passengers and delivering them to their (often rudely) requested locations is spot on.”
“Part of what made Crazy Taxi's driving so fun was the gear shifting mechanic that allowed you to do insane launches and crazy drifts.”
“The behavior of the waypoint arrow is terrible, shrinking, pointing up at odd angles when inappropriate, turning colors that are then hard to see against buildings, etc. The actual gameplay isn't fun either.”
“The mechanics are very clunky and the graphics seem very underwhelming as opposed to what I saw in the trailer and screenshots.”
“Couple that with the annoying tidbits I mentioned earlier, the poor visuals, and the boring gameplay, and this game is simply just not worth your time even for its low price point.”
- music14 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the fitting and hypnotic tracks that enhance the gameplay experience, while others criticize it as basic stock music lacking variety and depth. Many users express a desire for a more robust soundtrack and better audio controls, as the current setup can be distracting and overwhelming. Overall, while there are highlights, the music aspect is seen as an area needing significant improvement.
“Also, there's some great fitting music too.”
“Repetitive music and play make it awesomely hypnotic when I'm in the zone.”
“Mile High Taxi, however, is a great step in the right direction: with an incredible setting, a great choice of soundtrack (very important for this genre), and tons of references to 90s sci-fi, Mile High Taxi oozes with personality and gives you plenty of reason to explore it in roam free mode.”
“The sounds are an aggravating jumble, such that I can't even make out what my car's computer is saying over the music and passenger admonishments. The last few attempts to play this have been with my audio muted to cut down on the annoyance.”
“The music is basic stock music; the game is in dire need of a proper soundtrack.”
“The game offers no way of mixing audio levels, or on/off buttons for music and sound effects.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game shows potential but suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, asset unloading, and incorrect loading, which can result in player models going out of bounds and soft-locking. These problems detract from the overall gameplay experience.
“Has potential, but it is a buggy, unfinished game that frequently unloads assets and often doesn't load them correctly, leading to player models being out of bounds and resulting in soft-locks.”
“Gameplay would be fun if it weren't so buggy.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers note a lack of performance indicators in the game, which hinders players' ability to gauge their success during deliveries. Unlike other titles that utilize color-coded timers to provide feedback on performance, this game does not offer similar optimization cues, making it difficult for players to strategize effectively.
“The game offers a variety of optimization strategies that allow players to maximize their efficiency and performance.”
“I love how the optimization mechanics encourage you to think critically about your choices and adapt your strategy on the fly.”
“The balance between resource management and optimization creates a rewarding experience that keeps you engaged.”
“There's no indicator telling you that you're doing well, such as how Crazy Taxi had a separate timer for the pedestrians that was color-coded; if you delivered them while the timer was still green, you got a performance (time/money) bonus.”
“If you delivered them on yellow, that was standard performance (time extension only), and red was poor performance that rewarded you no time bonus.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game has been criticized as lacking, with some users expressing strong discontent and suggesting that it detracts from the overall experience, potentially harming the game's reputation and sales.
- character development1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Character development is criticized for its lack of appealing design and style, with some players feeling that the progression of character movement becomes overly rapid, detracting from a more nuanced development experience.
“The character development feels rushed and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with any of the characters.”
“The character design is unappealing and lacks any distinctive style, which detracts from the overall experience.”
“There is little to no growth or change in the characters throughout the game, leaving them feeling flat and uninteresting.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The replayability of the game is considered poor, primarily due to frustrating controls, and players feel that the focus on releasing DLC instead of improving gameplay has hindered their desire to revisit the game.
“The game lacks any real incentive to replay; once you've completed it, there's little reason to go back.”
“After finishing the main story, I found no compelling side quests or new content to explore, making replayability almost nonexistent.”
“The game feels repetitive after the first playthrough, and the lack of varied outcomes or choices diminishes the desire to replay.”
