This game is definitely one of the better simulators out there, but does that mean much at all? Is this game worth $10? Is Euro Truck Simulator (ETS) just another crappy simulator? Well, I’ll cut it short, this game is painfully average and needs a lot of improvements before it deserves your money.
ETS is a game that lacks detail but has a little adventure. You can’t play it for a long time before you start getting bored, but there are still so many places to visit. There are 20 cities in Europe to ship to. Also, this game exposes you to many different trucks that are slightly upgradeable. It may sound stupid, but you might manage to have some fun driving a truck around Europe.
Although this is one of the best simulators, ETS does have some flaws. For example, there are really not that many roads other than major highways. Also, it is missing some major cities. This means, that travelling to each city will be very repetitive, especially at the beginning due to the small amount of business opportunities. To add to the repetitiveness, the cities are mildly detailed and lack any exploration. This is bad considering the game practically thrives on exploration. The cities include about 4 different intersections and a cardboard cutout background. Not too great…
On the other hand, the upgrade system is okay. You can upgrade power, steering, and fuel consumption. This is good considering that the beginning game is REALLY slow. In fact, it is a little too slow. I started losing interest in a couple of hours. Mainly because the monotonous driving back and forth between the same two cities leads you to insanity. The day/night cycle are practically the only things that keep you awake.
Also, the currency system in the game is seriously unbalanced. It takes you about 10 – 30 minutes to earn about $3,000, but a new truck costs about $100,000. Not including the cost of gas, new countries to do business to, and repairs, it would take about 16 hours and 40 minutes maximum at a beginning level to buy a new truck (if you don’t sell your old one). That’s way too much!
The steering in ETS is fine, not great. The main thing that irritated me was the fact that this game is not controller compatible, and steering with a keyboard is not very easy. It can’t be that hard to make your game controller compatible, so why not do it?
Overall, this game is just painfully average. I have to give it a 6/10. The business dealing is really basic, and it is nearly impossible to gain any large amounts of wealth. The driving – meh; the environment – meh; the graphics – meh. So it’s not the best game ever but what can you expect? It’s a simulator.
Graphics: 5/10
Dialogue: N/A
Gameplay: 6/10
Replayability: 5/10
Pros
|
Cons
|
Verdict:
