That’s right! American Truck Simulator! As I’m sure you’ve deduced from the name, you launch little Kerbals into space on home-brewed rockets…. Ah, wait, wrong game. Yes! ATS is a driving game. The game is still fairly new, so it’s more like California/Nevada/Arizona Truck Simulator right now, but SCS Software, the makers of the game, promise to eventually release the entirety of at least the 48 contiguous in the future. On release it was only CA, followed quickly by NV and later AZ.
The premise of the game is that you’re to build a shipping dynasty that will last the ages. You start with a meager garage with room for one truck, but no truck to go there. You start slow, taking one-off contract jobs driving other companies’ trucks. As you progress and earn money, you can hire other drivers and have them drive for you, assuming you already own a truck for them to drive. As you progress through the jobs and travel from town to town, you gain experience and money based on a few factors, the largest of them being timeliness and safety. Make no mistake, this isn’t (can be with settings changes) a GTA thing where you rush through and plow through everyone. The truck and, more importantly, the cargo, can take damage and this is deducted from your end reward of both money and XP. As you gain XP you’re given the option of placing points into different skills that allow you to go further per job, improve gas mileage, and give you the opportunity to carry more valuable cargo as well as just-in-time cargo.
Another semi-realistic thing is traffic violations. There are in-game NPC officers that will ticket you for going over the speed limit, and you also get tickets for running reds and hitting other vehicles. Sometimes it can be a bit monotonous, but it’s not a bad companion to a movie or TV show on the other monitor (I watched almost all of Farscape while truckin’ in Euro Truck Simulator 2, the big brother to ATS). If you like driving sims and are looking for something different than your run-of-the-mill mash the gas and go game, this is for you. There’s fuel management, time management, and fatigue management to take into consideration when shopping for your next haul.
Downside - or upside, depending on your point of view - is map scaling. It takes about 15-20 minutes to drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, instead of the normal 4-6 hours it takes in real life. Graphics overall could be better, but the interiors and exteriors of the trucks are well done, and the physics are pretty good.
Overall it’s a great game, and I’ve logged quite a few hours “behind the wheel” so to speak. Alternatively, there is also Euro Truck Simulator 2, which has a pretty decent chunk of western Europe for you to explore. I don’t see the point of reviewing both games separately, as they’re essentially the same-ish game with different locales. Both are great, and I recommend them to anyone looking for a different driving experience. Also, play it with a controller if you have one, or even better: a steering wheel.
American Truck Simulator - $19.99 on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/270880/American_Truck_Simulator/
Euro Truck Simulator 2 - $19.99 on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/227300/Euro_Truck_Simulator_2/
