Don’t Get Busted Review

Busted on Arrival

Bad games can have a funny way of confusing me. If I’m having a bad experience, I start to wonder if it’s me or the game. Is this title just outside of my taste or is it objectively bad? It can take time to feel out a bad game, but that wasn’t the case with Gismart’s Don’t Get Busted. Within a few minutes of playing, it was clear the game left more than a lot to be desired.

Simple Enough

On paper, Don’t Get Busted seems like a solid mobile game. Players take the role of a getaway driver who is trying to outmaneuver the police on a stretch of road. Controls are very easy to pick up. Simply drag your thumb to the left or the right to steer the car. Weave your way through traffic, construction, and other obstacles to reach the finish line. Each stage ends with a jump across a ramp. If players run into too many obstacles, they won’t have enough speed to make the jump and fail the level. Gas canisters are scattered throughout each stage to provide players with a little extra speed boost.

After every stage, players earn gems that can then be spent on one of three upgrades. There’s the option of boosting their steering, the number of gems earned per stage, and the end of level jump. As a whole though, the upgrades provide almost nothing. Any type of boost a player receives feels nearly unnoticeable. Upgrading my steering never felt like it made any difference. The other two upgrades just reward players with more gems, that can then only be spent on more upgrades. The whole system feels like it rewards players with nothing.

A Never-Ending Escape

To put it bluntly, Don’t Get Busted lacks anything that would make it worth downloading. I’m sure the nice people at Gismart worked hard on this game, but the final product is bad. Nearly every level is identical. Obstacles are placed in the same collection of places on every level. It doesn’t take long to start feeling like you’re just playing the same level again and again. The enemy police cars also pose nearly no threat. It’s very easy to knock them into obstacles and send them hurtling off the road. There’s no challenge to the game.

In addition to the lack of variation, Don’t Get Busted also lacks any type of story or plot. Players are supposed to be taking control of a getaway driver, but the game never fleshes anything out about them. The driver’s identity is never discussed. What was stolen is never discussed. The closest thing to exposition is little bits of money that fly out the car at the start of each level. Based on that, I can guess my character stole some money, but how much and from whom goes unanswered. For a game so short on playable content, a plot could’ve been a nice driving point. Instead, it just makes it even more obvious how little this game has to offer.

Constant Sales Pitch

For as bad as Don’t Get Busted can be, the worst aspect of the game, by far, was the advertisements. They are constant, long, and nearly unavoidable. Ads appear around every turn before and after each level and when you want to upgrade something. But worst of all, the only way to unlock new cars is by watching ads. It eventually got to the point where I had to turn off Wi-Fi and cellular data to stop to them. It helped, but it also limited my upgrades, so two steps forward, one step back.

Some games can get away with non-stop ads, but Don’t Get Busted isn’t one of them. The game barely has a leg to stand on but throw in the ads and it’s basically unplayable. For a game that offers players so little, forcing them to watch ads is atrocious. If you happen upon this game in the Google Play store, just keep scrolling.

Don’t Get Busted is a fun concept, but a bad game. Levels are repetitive and lack any sense of challenge. Upgrades have no impact and feel pointless. And through it all, players won’t be able to go five seconds without seeing an ad. There is nothing redeemable about this game.