While part of Scrapland is played out on foot, there's another part of the game in which you get to build your own gunship (think "flying car"), customizing it with various engines, weapons and other modifications to help you while exploring the sprawling outdoor areas of the city. In some ways, driving your gunship around outside could be described as GTA meets Futurama; the city has highways layered on top of other highways, but you're free to fly almost anywhere and explore. Controlling your ship is fairly easy using the mouse and keyboard (gamepads are also supported), with independent control settings for exploring on foot and via ship.

Before we could take on our first mission as a reporter, we were introduced to the Crazy Gambler, who offers you the lure of money in exchange for certain challenges. One of our first challenges was to knock out two cops while in our gunship, and another had us racing through the city trying to collect items before a rival. These side quests give Scrapland a bit of a GTA-like feel, as you can take on missions to build up cash and perhaps pimp out your hi-tech ride before going back to the main storyline.