Forklift Extreme: Deluxe Edition Review

Forklift Extreme: Deluxe Edition is a forklift simulator developed and published by Last Man Gaming. It’s actually a port of a mobile game onto PC, which includes a ton of new levels and customisation options. In this game, you’ll be operating a forklift to move pallets around to beat levels, with “highly-detailed physics that mimic the movement and handling of real forklifts.” Since I’ve never even seen a forklift in real life, this obviously makes me highly qualified to review this game.

The controls are easy to grasp after a few tutorial levels. You can drive around, manipulate the fork, and change camera angles. However, mastering those controls is a lot more difficult as levels will often take place with tight spaces and the turning circle isn’t all that tight. I recommend using a controller, because having precise control of your acceleration, turning, and forklift can make levels much easier.

I don't know how I did this.

As mentioned before, you can change the view to be isometric (the default), over the head, or in first person. Each view has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation. It’s pretty cool, but I’d prefer a third person perspective option just for general driving because the isometric view makes it difficult to judge depth. I found myself getting stuck on things like shelves and walls because I drove too close to them. There’s also a fork cam to help line up your fork and help align the pallet at the designated location, which can be finicky.

As for the levels themselves, they have a variety of locations and optional objectives to complete apart from the main one, which is just moving pallets around. You can go and find safety posters, collect F.O.R.K. letters, or complete the level in a set amount of time. They all earn money for customisation options like different characters or skins for your forklift. However, those customisations are locked behind random drops after getting three stars on a level, and you still need to buy them afterwards. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it is something to take note of.

Overall, Forklift Extreme: Deluxe Edition is fine. There’s nothing wrong with it, and driving the forklift is intuitive and easy to grasp, it’s just the problem of mastering it. Playing through the training levels was fun and helped me understand the mechanics a little better, but didn’t fully prepare me for what the career mode challenges offered. The graphics are mundane, but it perfectly fits the style of the game. I don’t really have much else to say about Forklift Extreme: Deluxe Edition otherwise. It does what it does well, and can be fun to knock out challenges.