Before I talk this game up too much more, I should clear up a few things. First of all, I love racing games. Forza 4 might be my all time favorite game. Secondly, as a 3 year old, I really wanted to be a truck driver when I grew up. By the time I was 4, I'd moved on to wanting to be a race car driver, but there never the less was a brief period in my life when I was fascinated with big rigs.
Those two facts however, would not be enough to get me into ETS2 if it were a boring or bad game. It's neither of these things. Boring happens because things are too easy. Rarely are things too easy in ETS2. First of all, there are twelve gears on these trucks, use the semi-auto or manual gearbox option and expect to pay constant attention to the gearbox. One gear too high or low and the whole thing can grind to a halt on the shallowest of inclines. It's not just the gearbox that's challenging either, though the physics in the game aren't too over the top sim-like, the trucks do require a light touch and plenty of precision when cornering at speed. I have jacknifed on the highway many many times and very nearly rolled over a few times as well. It's worth noting that crashing has pretty dire financial consequences in this game successful drivers are constantly alert to potential danger. And don't even get me started on learning to reverse with a trailer. I'd always thought reversing a trailer looked hard and confusing. Yup. I was right.
But ETS2 isn't just challenging. It's actually good too. Maybe even really good. The graphics are decent, probably a little below average for this day and age, but they manage to be aesthetically pleasing. The game does a fantastic job of invoking long distance road travel, even though the distances driven are substantially scaled down from real life. The sound effects are likewise simple but kind of perfect. The game does immersion well.
The game has two basic elements, driving and business management. At the start of the game the player is plunked into whatever hometown they choose with a garage capable of storing one truck only. The game does not initially give the player a truck. This means that initially hiring ones services out to other companies. The truck and the gas would be included in each contract and players simply have to get it from point A to point B. The game cleverly allows players to skip this portion of the game, but not without consequence. Within a mission or two, a bank appears offering the player a loan of up to $100K, just enough money to buy their own truck. But of course loan payments will then factor into daily expenses.
Owning a truck means much more lucrative contracts, however it also comes with increased responsibility. The new contracts simply list an item and a start and finish location. It's up to the player to get to the start, hook up the trailer and finally deliver it to it's end destination. Crucially, the player is then stuck at the finish location with their unattached semi-truck meaning that their next job better originate from their new location if they want to avoid a long drive with no profit to show for it.
When enough money is saved up, the player can expand his or her original garage and/or buy a new one. Or eventually several new ones. These can be expanded and upgraded as well. However things quickly get expensive as it's the players responsibility to populate these garages with trucks and to hire drivers.
The whole thing is wrapped up in a bit of old school RPG goodness. There is an underlying XP system which allows players to spend skill points as well as unlock new trucks and truck parts, of which there are many. The great part is that this level up system extends to employee's as well with the player taking the role of choosing what area that employee should specialize in.
*not a real game
No comments:
Post a Comment