Parcel Corps
Freewheeling with Belfast-based indie studio Billy Goat Entertainment and its next project, PARCEL CORPS
Was it a dream? No, it was Parcel Corps!” These were the words uttered by Billy Goat Entertainment studio director Will Barr upon showing me the launch trailer for the indie developer’s new bicycle adventure game. It was here that I had the pleasure of meeting the team and going hands-on with world-exclusive gameplay for its upcoming release.
It’s a mild, grey February morning in Belfast. The streets are relatively quiet. Appropriately, a transport strike had been in full effect the previous day meaning no buses or trains were operating. As a result, an influx of cyclists are now on the road.
About ten minutes from the city centre, nestled in between an estate agent and an independent deli, Billy Goat Entertainment’s headquarters can be found. If you didn’t know it was there, you wouldn’t figure it out from the exterior , as there’s no signage or other indication of a games studio hard at work on its next project. This is all a far cry from the bustling vibrant sunny avenues of New Island where the world of Parcel Corps is found.
PLAYERS ARE PUT IN CONTROL OF ONE OF THREE BICYCLE COURIER CORPORATIONS
Taking inspiration from Jet Set Radio, Sunset Overdrive and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, players are put in control of one of three bicycle courier corporations competing to become the most profitable business in the land. It’s bursting with personality, satirical commentary and an addictive gameplay loop that is easy to lose hours in. This primarily stems from the open-world-like levels (of which there are eight) that offer great nostalgia if you’re familiar with Sunset City and Tokyo-to in terms of layout. You’ll want to explore every corner, and are rewarded with the most interestin routes found in the upper reaches, rather than on the ground.
After completing a short tutorial to get to grips with the controls, players are set free to explore and deliver packages to continue the main storyline. “It’s a jovial romp through this colourful, sun-kissed city,” says Barr, who cycled a lot during his teenage years. “You’re a bicycle courier riding along walls, grinding along rails, doing all of your normal bicycle courier kind of things. It’s very arcadey. It’s a pleasant experience.” He jokes about taking up a job at Deliveroo or Just Eat if game development doesn’t work out. Ironically, this is where the idea for Parcel Corps first originated.
It’s easy to spot those design influences in the nine playable characters, which are split between the three separate companies: Brooklyn’s East Coast Couriers, the Wallaby Wheelers from down under, and the pan-European Das-la Post, who resemble that of a failed collaboration between Amazon and Daft Punk.
