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0 The Last Gas Station is a cosy game that says it has a little bit of a dark twist. Which is exactly what I love! The game itself is developed and self-published by Alawar. We will be running and restoring a run-down gas station, all while playing a cute red panda. If your curious about the game, then it is out now on Steam for £12.99
Nothing ever bad happens in the country.
Gameplay
In The Last Gas Station we assume the role of a Red Panda, who takes over management of a gas station. Not much is known about our character as most of the game focuses on running the place, but some strange things do occur in the night. At the start players will man the basic gas pump and restock some shelves with products. All of which are purchased at the computer in the back of the station. After saving enough cash, players will upgrade the place overtime and unlock newer and more efficient means to earn money. Such as the Auto-Repair Shop, and Car Wash. Both of these you can further upgrade with time, making them fully automated.
The other side of The Last Gas Station, and what piqued my interest for the game, is the mysterious happenings going on. From time to time, our Red Panda will experience supernatural events that she all things are a dream. Or specific customers will arrive and teach you about some of the local legends that the area has had over time. These odd happenings offer us a new way to make a profit. By unlocking products and decoration that we can use to improve the rank of specific legends. For example, the Pyramid legend will let us sell keychains that to increase the rank. Now, you just rinse and repeat until you manage to uncover what might be really going on. So no spoilers from me.
Graphics & Audio
Though set in a modern time, The Last Gas Station feels very retro aesthetically and graphically. The pixel art style is charming yet very detailed, making it worth poring over everything in the environment. I liked the attention to small animations too, such as ears and tails bobbing when characters move. I love the design out into the varying legend’s accompanying items and decor, with my favourite being the alien one. It makes your gas station look almost like a Roswell themed diner.
The customers also have their own quirky designs, such as a crocodile ironically dressed like a hunter, or a capybara with a hanging out beer gut. Knotting this all together is a brilliantly colourful environment, even with the dingy, more dilapidated looking areas.
Longevity
after 10 hours I finally got to the end, but there are other endings The Last Gas Station offers. With one, I assume after maxing all legend ranks. If you are aiming to get all the achievements then there are 51 in total, with most being from doing repeated actions. Like car washing 100 cars, or serve 100 customers.
Final Thoughts
I enjoy the gameplay loop but when it comes to uncovering increase the rank of legends it becomes a little too grindy. With me focusing solely on the UFO one specifically and struggling to raise it above rank 36. When it comes to the darker side of things, I was also expecting a lot more, as I am not sure if it was just my play-through. But I thought we would witness a lot more creepy things as the story progressed, besides the recorders we find. The story itself is slow with the reveal at the end not feeling worth it, even for the normal ending.
I thought we were going to explore various myths and legends as side-quests, through the NPCs we meet. With the game having a larger narrative that our Red Panda then gets to reveal through a common theme. But seeing it all take a back seat and only being used for profits feels underwhelming.
The Last Gas Station is fun for a while, but failed to deliver the atmosphere I was expecting. So it’s the Thumb Culture Silver Award from me.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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