Hearse Hero: a hearse, souls to deliver, and the Crazy Taxi successor we did not see coming

As a kid, I spent hours driving like a madman in Crazy Taxi, weaving between cars to drop off my fares on time to a backdrop of blaring guitars. So when a game openly claims that heritage, of course my nostalgic heart races as much as it grows wary. Hearse Hero takes up the challenge with a hearse, a delightful dark humour and the seriousness of a craftsman. Is it a good successor? Yes, in spirit if not in scale.

The context

Hearse Hero is developed and published by Dr. Hippie (PhD), a solo developer, available on PC via Steam on 31 July 2026. The game proudly claims its inspirations, Crazy Taxi and Simpsons Road Rage foremost. You play Heinrich, the enigmatic hearse hero, tasked with hitting his targets and hurling them to the hereafter while dodging police, pedestrians and many other obstacles. A detail that matters to us: the twenty levels were handcrafted on the open-source Godot engine, with assets purchased from real artists or drawn from open-source projects, with no procedural generation or AI-produced asset.

The gameplay

The heart of the game is the pure arcade pleasure inherited from its illustrious model: driving fast, aiming true, chaining objectives under pressure. You roam the levels at the wheel of your hearse, hit your targets to hurl them to the hereafter, and juggle the dangers of the road in jubilant frenzy. That sharp, immediate loop is exactly what you come for in a game claiming Crazy Taxi, and Hearse Hero renders it faithfully and with a real sense of rhythm. The sense of speed, the urgency, the little thrill of the narrowly avoided pile-up, it is all there.

Dark humour is the game's other big success, and its signature. The macabre concept of the hearse hurling souls to the hereafter is handled with a lightness and mischief that land, far from gratuitous bad taste. It is that offbeat spirit that gives Hearse Hero its personality and sets it apart from a mere nostalgic clone. The content generosity follows, with twenty handcrafted levels and, above all, a map editor with Steam Workshop support that opens the door to a life extended by the community. For a solo production, it is a remarkably complete offering.

Nostalgic enthusiasm must nonetheless be tempered with clarity. Hearse Hero is the work of a solo developer, and it shows in the scale and polish of the whole. The game captures the spirit of Crazy Taxi, but not its budget or its slick production, and purists of the model may find some mechanics or some finishing touches a notch below. It is a sincere and competent homage, not a blockbuster, and you have to approach it with that horizon of expectation to fully appreciate its qualities.

The other reservation, inherent to the arcade genre, is repetitiveness. The loop, gripping in short sessions, can tire over the long haul, and that is where the map editor takes on its full meaning, betting on community creativity to renew interest. As it stands, Hearse Hero is an excellent arcade pleasure to nibble at, carried by its nostalgia and its humour, rather than a game-universe that will hold you for hundreds of hours.

The tech

Technically, Hearse Hero impresses for a solo production. The twenty handcrafted levels testify to real care, the arcade action stays legible and sharp, and the driving feel effectively conveys the urgency proper to the genre. The owned choice of handcrafted development, without procedural generation or AI asset, with resources purchased from artists or drawn from open source, gives the game a coherence and an artisanal soul that add to its charm.

The technical reservations are those of a solo project with limited means. The production, likeable, does not reach the finish level of big arcade productions, and a few rough edges betray the scale of the one-man studio. But the whole runs well and effectively serves its immediate pleasure, without betraying its ambition through fatal technical flaws. For what it is, a handcrafted homage to a classic, it is fine work.

The verdict

Hearse Hero is a sincere and successful homage to Crazy Taxi, capturing its sharp arcade spirit and jubilant immediacy, all elevated by a dark humour that gives it real personality. Its content generosity, with twenty handcrafted levels and a community-open map editor, and its owned artisanal approach make it a fine surprise for any genre fan. In answer to the question nagging at me: yes, it is a good successor, in spirit.

Its limits are those of a solo production: a scale and polish below blockbusters, and a repetitiveness proper to the arcade genre that the map editor will partly compensate for. It is not the Crazy Taxi of 2026 with a studio budget, but it is a worthy heir made with heart, that will rekindle the flame for the nostalgic and amuse the curious. A hearse, dark humour and speed: sometimes, that is all it takes to feel twenty again.

A sincere, generous arcade homage that captures the spirit of Crazy Taxi, if not its scale.

Score: 7/10

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Reviewed on the PC version.