WHAT THE CAR? Is a Great Jumping-On Point for Newcomers to the Series [Review]

The WHAT THE series has, so far, been a delight. It all began with WHAT THE GOLF? back in 2020 and then we moved to VR with WHAT THE BAT? Now, we’re finally jumping into the world of automotive with WHAT THE CAR?

Vroom, Vroom?

WHAT THE CAR? follows the same basic premise as the other games, which is “what if stuff was weird, centered around a specific thing, and lots of stuff was green?” That means that, in this case, you take control of a car that’s just not a very good car, and you’ll be cycling through things like having absurdly long legs, being powered by shooting soccer balls, or even being a ball yourself. It’s all very silly, and that helps take the game from start to finish.

Each chapter has a theme, like work or games, and then you go through them to find another friend to unlock the next chapter. You can just focus on the critical path if you want and be done in around five hours, or you can do all the bonus missions that unlock, collect a card in each level, and try to complete each of them fast enough to get the golden crown. It’s nice to have the option to commit as much time as you please, as it adds a bit of replay value.

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Never Read the Assignment

As has been the case with the other games in this series, WHAT THE CAR? is a fairly consistent delight. While the changes between levels don’t ever change things up too much, the subtle build-up as you go through chapters means that you’ll essentially be playing a slightly different game every time you change chapters, with a different vibe and feeling every time. It’s clever and, most importantly, fun.

I do feel as though the concepts here lose their shine a little bit because anyone who’s played the previous games will understand what’s coming immediately. Sure, it’s all still surprising, but nowhere near as surprising as it would be if you were new to the WHAT THE group of games. I don’t think this hurts it overall, but in a rare case, I do feel as though newcomers to the series will get the most out of this game.

Outside of that, how much you enjoy WHAT THE CAR? will be dictated by how much of its very abstract and irreverent humor you’re tickled by. I’m of an age where the style of humor it’s peddling at me is basically built for me. I grew up with the Badger Badger video being popular, which recently turned 21, so the combination of just silly stuff will basically always hit me where it needs to. However, someone who didn’t might not mesh with it.

I’m happy with WHAT THE CAR? though and think it’s a solid puzzle game, even though this entry feels a lot less like a puzzle game and a lot more like a really simple racing game with no competing cars. There’s certainly still fun to be had for a lot of people, but I also think it’s likely the weakest of the three games so far.

Verdict: Recommended

WHAT THE CAR? releases on September 9, 2024.