Convoy Review Summary

Fun roguelike combat, unique FTL-like design, and great music are undercut by a repetitive loop and unfavorable FTL comparisons.

Combat is enjoyable: Combat is often described as good, pleasant, and fun, with some calling it the best of its kind. Car combat specifically is highlighted as enjoyable.

FTL-like but unique: The game is frequently compared to FTL, with many calling it the only true FTL-like. It captures the addictive and accessible nature of FTL while offering its own twist.

Fun Roguelike Gameplay: The game is widely praised as a fun and appealing roguelike with diverse runs. Many reviewers highlight its replayability and position it as a worthy entry in the genre.

Great soundtrack and music: The soundtrack and music are consistently praised as great, top-notch, and enjoyable. Many reviewers highlight the audio as a standout feature.

FTL plus Mad Max: A common description is that the game blends FTL roguelike mechanics with a Mad Max setting. This unique combination is a major selling point for many players.

Repetitive gameplay loop: Multiple clusters highlight that the gameplay becomes repetitive and lacks variety, with every run feeling the same. This is a frequent complaint that significantly impacts enjoyment.

Unfavorable comparison to FTL: The game is often compared negatively to FTL, being described as shorter, having lower production value, less content, and less charm. This comparison appears across multiple clusters.

Lack of content and variety: Reviews point out a lack of content, mission variety, enemy variety, and overall things to do. This contributes to the feeling that the game is shallow.

Short game length: Players frequently mention that the game is short, often beatable in a few hours, and lacks replayability. This is a common criticism that affects perceived value.

Frustrating difficulty: Several clusters mention that the game is too hard, unfair, and frustrating, especially from the beginning. This difficulty spike may deter players.

FTL and Mad Max Inspiration: The game is heavily inspired by FTL and Mad Max, combining roguelike mechanics with a post-apocalyptic vehicular combat setting.

Vehicle Upgrades and Customization: Players can upgrade their vehicles with various weapons, speed, durability, and other gear. Upgrades are often obtained by defeating enemies and collecting parts.

Random Encounters and Events: Random encounters and text-based events occur while traveling, with outcomes determined by RNG or player choices. These events can be beneficial or harmful.

Spaceship Repair and Escape: The main objective is to collect parts to repair a crashed spaceship and escape a desert planet. This involves searching for components while driving around the wasteland.

Roguelike Structure and Permadeath: The game features roguelike elements such as permadeath, no saves, and procedurally generated runs that differ each playthrough.

Performance and technical issues: Multiple clusters report a range of technical problems including high resource usage, very long load times, intermittent failure to launch, and generally slow performance compared to similar games like Carmageddon: Reincarnation.

Locked resolution and readability issues: The game's resolution is fixed, which causes small text to be hard to read at 1920x1080 and large black bars on ultra-wide monitors; windowed mode can be manually resized as a workaround.

Frame rate drops in boss fight: The game engine reportedly drops to single-digit frame rates during the final boss, causing a severe and specific performance degradation at a critical moment.

Strong FTL comparison: Many reviewers repeatedly compare Convoy to FTL, recommending it for fans of that game or criticizing it for failing to match FTL's quality. The game is often described as a must-buy for FTL enthusiasts but inferior to FTL in execution.

Wait for sale: A large number of reviewers advise waiting for a discount, with many stating the game is not worth its $15 full price but is a good value on sale. Common suggestions include buying at $5 or during a 50-75% off sale.

Mixed recommendations: Opinions are divided, with some reviewers giving a positive recommendation while others cannot recommend it or are ambivalent. Many express a 'kind of recommend but kind of don't' sentiment.

Not worth full price: A recurring complaint is that the game is overpriced at $15, with many stating it is not worth the full asking price. Some suggest it is only worth buying for under $5.

Frustrating difficulty and balance: Several reviewers find the game frustrating due to difficulty spikes and balance issues, with some quitting early. However, others note that the difficulty scaling makes it more accessible than FTL.

Community fair range: $7.50 - $12.00.

Game completion: 3.0h.

Story completion: 3.0h.

Session length: 1.0h.

Endgame: 15.0h.

Convoy is often addictive and fun at first, especially for FTL fans, but many players report the enjoyment fades into repetitive combat and tedious pacing after several runs or hours. A smaller set says it clicks after the early learning curve, but the dominant reported profile is fun then drops.

Friction: Steep learning curve and long mastery time; Confusing UI and a busy tutorial; Micromanagement of targeting and commands; Repetitive combat and events; Random difficulty spikes and frequent ambushes; Vehicle autopathing bugs causing losses.

FTL Veteran Seeking a Familiar Roguelike: Approaches each run as an optimization puzzle, comparing mechanics and build choices directly against FTL while grinding gear to handle a punishing final boss. Motivation: Finding a game that scratches the same itch as FTL's run-based roguelike loop. Stance: sale.

Mad Max Post-Apocalyptic Atmosphere Enthusiast: Plays thematically, favoring aggressive vehicle tactics such as ramming and positioning to run enemies off the road. Motivation: Immersing in a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic wasteland and vehicular combat fantasy. Stance: buy.

Casual Short-Burst Player: Plays casually in short bursts, favoring lower difficulty and forgiving pacing over hardcore grinding. Motivation: Enjoying fun, accessible runs that can be finished in about an hour without heavy commitment. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The filtered reviews show the game is lightweight and runs on Linux, but it suffers from a locked resolution and non-existent UI scaling that makes small text difficult to read on high-resolution displays. Long load times are also reported. No external launcher or anti-cheat issues appear in the evidence. The experience remains playable but requires readability compromises and patience, placing it in the Tinkering Required range.

FTL comparison aspects: When compared to FTL, the game is noted to have less mechanical depth, easier difficulty, no time limit or limited encounters, and fuel management is less punishing. Some say it's not like FTL at all, while others call it a genre comparison.

Constant FTL comparisons: The vast majority of reviews compare this game to FTL: Faster Than Light, often calling it a spiritual successor or a game that closely follows its formula. It is described as similar in interactions, text-based dialog, and overall feel, and is even said to be the closest game to FTL.

Game length and replayability: The game is fairly short, with runs taking about 1-3 hours, and can be completed in 2-3 hours on normal. Replayability is limited due to few weapons and random events, but it is designed to be replayed with unlocks for new vehicle starts.

FTL and Mad Max mix: Many reviews describe the game as a combination of FTL and Mad Max, with a Mad Max setting and FTL-like gameplay. This comparison is frequently mentioned and is considered accurate by many players.

Price and value: The game costs $15, and some reviewers feel the price is high compared to FTL and that short playtimes may only be worth a third of that price. It is considered fitting for the price point by some, and a sale at -75% is suggested.