American Truck Simulator is a strange, strange creature. It isn’t a bad game even in the slightest; It’s quite the contrary actually. I love this game to death. I can’t stop playing it. But if you were to ask me why on earth I find it so fun… I wouldn’t know how to answer you. I’ve racked my brain over this for days, and I can’t figure out why I keep coming back. The concept sounds completely and totally boring. Who wants to drive commercial goods from city to city over and over again with almost no variation in gameplay? Was anyone begging for this? Well, it’s not like American Truck Simulator is anything new. It’s a spinoff to the hugely successful Euro Truck Simulator 2, which is also a spinoff to a plethora of other trucking simulators made by the same team, SCS Software.
I think the biggest reason why American Truck Simulator–and Euro Truck Simulator for that matter– is so popular is because it’s one of the few simulation games that manages to get things right. Simulation games are often known for their completely horrendous design and programming, so much so that Goat Simulator came along to mock them, much to everyone’s enjoyment. But this game is different. There are no silly physics, no ridiculous bugs, no nothing, really. This, is through and through, a simulation. It’s something you can get immersed in, something that makes you feel like you’re right there in the seat of a semi-truck. Even more so if you add a racing wheel and VR to the mix. And that’s really it; It’s an immersive game. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have unknowingly stayed up way too late playing it the last several nights. Why don’t you visit the best video game truck party new jersey and learn more about updates and improvements.
In the game, you’ll be able to deliver cargo all around California and Nevada, with Arizona (and probably more, I’m hoping all 50 states at some point) coming soon as a free DLC. At first you’ll only be able to perform what the game calls “quick jobs.” These are jobs that you do for other trucking companies. Once you pick a job, you’ll immediately teleport to your cargo’s pickup location, and you will have to drive to the drop off location within the allotted time (or face an XP\monetary penalty) without destroying your truck and precious cargo. The trucks themselves will be provided by your employers with quick jobs, and all expenses such as repairs, gas, and tolls, will be covered for you as well. Once you’re in your truck, you’ll have to follow your GPS to get to the proper location. On the way you’ll have to get gas for your truck, sleep, get repairs if you crash, and so on. Early on in the game, most trips will only take a few in game hours. However, you’ll eventually start unlocking routes that can take as many as two in game days to complete.
The physics models for the trucks are actually pretty involved. If you’re used to driving normal cars in video games, you’ll be in for a bit of a culture shock with American Truck Simulator. Understanding the physics of your cargo\trailer will take some time; I’ve played the game for over 20 hours and I still haven’t gotten the hang of it. You have to make much wider turns, you can’t go too fast, and you have to take into account that you’re way bigger than basically every other vehicle on the road. The trucks really feel like they have weight to them, and that’s especially true when you make a sharp turn at 60 miles per hour and tip over.
You have to follow the rules of the road, too. Follow the speed limit, don’t run red lights, use your turn signal, don’t hit other people. Violating any of these can get you hefty fines. However, when playing I never really felt much of an impact from these fines. When you hit a car and get fined $1,000, it’s not exactly that big of a deal when you remember you’re going to get paid $20,000 upon reaching your goal. The only negative feeling I ever got from these incidents was the simple knowledge that I messed up. They serve to be more of a minor annoyance than anything.
When you reach your drop off point, you’ll have to park your cargo. This is where you determine how good you really are. You can either park the cargo exactly where it’s needed, negotiate to park it somewhere easier, or just tell them to do it themselves. Doing the first will require knowledge on how to maneuver the truck\trailer finely and in tight spaces. But doing so will also grant you a huge XP boost. Doing the “easy way” grants you a little XP, and the “do it yourself” option gives you none. Parking your trailer is definitely the hardest part of the game, but it’s also one of the most satisfying parts once you get it down. The point at which you understand how to gently guide your trailer perfectly into the parking spot is something to be proud of.
Once jobs are completed, you’re rewarded money and XP depending on how long you took, how damaged the cargo is, and what skills you have. Gain enough XP and you’ll level up. When you level up, you can choose different skills that will allow you to transport different types of cargo with different quirks, go on longer routes, transport hazardous material, or learn how to save on fuel to keep your truck running longer. This adds a nice amount of depth to the game, as you have a little something extra to look forward to every now and then.
Once you have enough money to buy your own truck is when things get a little crazy. From then on you’ll be able to do your own jobs, but you’ll have to pay for every expense yourself. In addition to this, you won’t be able to immediately jump to pickup locations. You’ll have to drive there yourself. You can still do quick jobs, but once you start hiring more people for your own company, it’ll become more profitable to do your own work. There’s also a surprising amount of cosmetic customization you can add to your trucks, as well as actual upgrades to improve your truck’s performance. My only complaint is that these upgrades don’t seem to actually tell you their purpose. I’m not a car person, so I can’t look at some weird car part and say “oh well that’ll do this.” Some kind of stats chart would’ve really been nice here.
You probably wouldn’t think of visuals much when thinking of a simulator game, but in American Truck Simulator, the visuals are half the magic. Trucking around desolate highways in the American West is a strangely relaxing and gorgeous experience. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of the night, seeing the San Francisco skyline lit up in the distance, is a marvel to behold. Maybe you’ll trek through the back road deserts of Nevada just as the sun rises, or maybe a sunny beach on the coast. The lighting effects are really what makes the visuals in this game. Seeing the sun rise over the hills never fails to take my breath away. I don’t even know how many screenshots I’ve taken while playing the game because of how beautiful it is.
Unfortunately the game is not without its faults, three of which make for a very frustrating experience–One is just slightly annoying. The first is how dumb the AI is. Much like normal Americans (I can say this because I am one), the AI drivers in American Truck Simulator can’t seem to grasp the concept of basic traffic laws. Most of the time cars will totally stop in place and block your way if you so much as pull 2 inches too far into an intersection. Other times they’ll ram right into you as you’re pulling through an intersection.
Another issue is the sometimes ridiculous turns. I swear that some of the turns in this game are literally impossible to make without smashing into something because they’re so tight. This is made even worse by the fact that rather than knocking things over, your trailer will simply get stuck on everything, which means you’re going nowhere until you hopefully get it unstuck. This is especially frustrating with gas stations. I can’t think of one time I’ve been able to pull into one cleanly because of how small and sharp the turns required to do so are.
And the crown jewel of stupidity is the left turns across busy interstates that are riddled throughout Nevada. Is this a real thing over there? Someone will have to tell me. Basically, several places in Nevada will require you to make left hand turns across busy, 2 lane interstate roads where the cars are going 80 miles per hour. It’s literally impossible. And they’re everywhere. These are the only points in the game where you’re pretty much forced to break the law because if you try to play by the rules, you will never get out. Ever. The cars never let up long enough on both sides of the road, and even if they did, chances are you’ll be too slow to get across without getting T-boned by 10 vehicles at once. It’s completely ridiculous.
The one fault that’s more of an annoyance than anything is the speed limits. They’re very, very inconsistent. You see, your GPS is the primary source of information as far as the speed limit goes. It’ll tell you right there. You might as well not even look for signs because they almost never appear, and when they do they make no sense. Sometimes a sign will say the limit is 65mph, but the GPS will tell you it’s 55. What’s even weirder is that I’ve gone through several locations where the speed limit will be 55mph, drop down to 40mph, then 35mph, then up to 40mph again, and down to 25mph, all within the span of about 20 seconds. I’ve even seen two speed limit signs, one after the other, about 20 feet apart. What was even going on when some of these areas were designed? If you’re going to have speed limits, just stick with one and keep it. Don’t flip flop it thirty times in five miles. It doesn’t really impact gameplay at all, but it simply makes no sense whatsoever, and I really hope it’s fixed soon.
So in the end, why do I like American Truck Simulator? I think it’s just because the game is so relaxing, so immersive, and so satisfying to learn how to play. You can easily play the game while talking to a friend or even watching a tv show. It requires very little focus while also requiring a lot of focus. It’s something you can just do for a while when you want to kill some time. The beautiful visuals only lend to this relaxing nature. Not to mention, there’s just something fun about trucking down highways and delivering cargo to various companies. I really don’t know. It’s honestly a game you have to try yourself to determine if you like it, or to even understand it for that matter. There’s something simply magical about the game, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.
It’s kind of a weird game as far as recommendation goes. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, but it’s also such a boring premise for a game that it can easily turn off a lot of people. If it even sounds remotely fun to you, I suggest getting it. It’s a really fun, challenging, relaxing, and immersive game. If it sounds completely boring, I’d still almost recommend you try it. Maybe pick it up on a sale. I can’t stress enough that it’s not something you’ll fully understand until you just try it. I thought it looked stupid at first, thus I never tried Euro Truck Simulator 2. But I’m glad I tried American Truck Simulator; It’s my new addiction.
A PC code for American Truck Simulator was provided by SCS Software for the purpose of this review