Review Score:

 WATCH THE WORLD’S FIRST VIDEO REVIEW OF UK TRUCK SIMULATOR HERE

“A truck driving sim?” I said to James, “A TRUCKING …..sim?!” Yes he says, and hands it over to me. Euro Truck Simulator Gold Edition says the front cover. I look back at him with a look of confusion. “….You Photoshopped this, right?” by this time both of my friends sat next to me are in fits of laughter. “No, now get to reviewing” so I did with full intention of finding a virus or incriminating photos on the disk. To my surprise it installed a game…a real game.

With an open (and surprised) mind I set about seeing what’s what. You start out with your own business set up in the European country of choice. I chose England (being that I live here and i have the Gold Edition of the game allowing access to it) and set about choosing my first truck. You start with €100,000 to spend on a truck and can only get Class C. Better Classes are unlocked later and can be bought with the money your earn.

Controls are very FPS, with controls accelerating, left, right and brake/reverse as WASD or arrow keys and mouse control for in cab view movement. Various number keys for multiple views (top down of picking up trailers and unloading them at depots).

I found the several camera modes helpful and used almost all of them once in my journeys. The simulated “extras” you get like window wipers are passing novelties and you can easily avoid them by switching the camera out of the cabin view. Others such as the cinematic mode or the bumper view are great but you will mostly settle for the cabin view and the top down when hitching a trailer or parking one up (which almost made me lose my temper on a few occasions).

Game time is in the vein of 1 second to 1 minute meaning that this game isn’t really asking for full days to deliver one cargo (which would suck). Money is made through taking jobs at depots and balancing out what area is closetst and what needs what cargo earning you more money. For instance Newcastle needed more sugar than apples and so gets you more money. You do get a variety of cargos to take but can only take more hazardous cargos with a certain license to do so.

If you start going all GTA on this game your cargo becomes damaged and you lose money. You can also incur traffic violations by going on the wrong side of the road etc which also costs money. If you want to make it in this game you do have to play by the rules but you can be a bit cheeky here and there, but if you’re buying this game your doing so not to see what you can get away with but for the experience of being a trucker.

As the sun was going down on my first day of driving, a pop-up jumped on screen saying that I am tired and should rest. The person silhouette on the top right fills up over the day but I choose to ignore the pop-up and kept this convoy a’ trukin’! Until the screen started to go dim while at 70MPH, I shit myself and swerved and hit a car making me lose money for a traffic collision. I decided that the game knew better than me and decided to pull over at a truck stop for some sleep. You can turn this feature off if you don’t want the game telling you when and when not to take a break.

Graphics wise don’t expect much. Textures are mediocre and the game still has the 2 way cross section trees. Considering this game isn’t for those who spend their entire wage packet on PC parts and new graphics cards its fine. Landscape is bland but what do you expect from the winding roads of Europe or anywhere else for that matter.

What no stunt mode? No fiery pile-up on the autobahn ? No this is a pure sim and SCS Software didn’t cheap out with such features in a game in which the target audience isn’t going to like such things.

After a few hours of hauling cargo, my girlfriend popped her head around the door and asked what i kept swearing at. It dawned on me that I was complaining about bastards cutting me up on the road and acting like idiots. For the most part I imagine the NPC vehicles follow the Highway Code perfectly but when you’re trying to get the delivery to the depot quickly you can’t help but get frustrated when people take their time on the road, block you or like I said before, cut you up. I came to the conclusion that this is also a trucker driving swearing simulator

I couldn’t get the music feature to work which I stumbled on when I pressed a random key. It must unlock later or require you to have your own music on your PC in the windows allocated music folder (which I don’t) so no luck there. I did take a look in the manual for help but it was the only feature it didn’t list

It’s all about the audience and this isn’t for your average gamer but for your dad or his dad or for those who have thought, what it would be like to a long haul trucker?  As far as games go, your average gamer isn’t going to get this, but if you’re curious it’s worth the money and could make all your fantasies and curiosities you maybe harbouring a reality.

Its niche and we accept that here because it’s all about different strokes for different folks (did I infringe on a copyright there?) Some want to know what it’s like to be a super soldier assassin from the past but others a long haul trucker. I might choose the former but I’m glad not everyone does. Not too bad and your properly not gonna find a better trucking sim than Euro Truck Simulator. Reviewed on the PC. “GET OUT OF THE F****** WAY!!!”

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