Quick Review - Euro Truck Simulator 2

Game Name:    Euro Truck Simulator 2

Developer:    SCS Software
      Engine:              OpenGL/DirectX 9

Platform:     Windows

Genre: Simulation

Release Date: October 19, 2012

The Quick

Preamble:
This is a fairly cursory review as I only put about 8 hours into this game. I’ve recently become more enticed by simulators, but still have a hard time sinking a whole lot of time into them, as there are so many good games out there that I want to play.

Short description:
Probably not hard to guess, but what you do the most in this game is drive trucks around Europe. More specifically, you run a trucking company where you, and the drivers you hire, drive to various cities, pick up trailers, and deliver them.

The Good:

• RPG stuff! Yes! You read that correctly! You actually gain experience for every delivery you take, and for each level-up, you get a point to spend in the tech trees. These have skills like “Train in Certificate X so you can deliver explosives” (explosive deliveries give you more money), etc. This is great for folks like me that live for those RPG elements.
• Music! The game conveniently allows you to play any music from your computer and also provides you with hundreds of real European radio stations that are streamable from within the game.
• Beautiful European landscapes. For me, this game is very much a source of relaxation. Being able to cruise along to your favorite tunes and gawk at the European countryside is surprisingly soothing.
• Nice mix of casual, relaxing gameplay with subtle challenging moments. While the game is incredibly relaxing, it’s not without it’s challenges. Backing trailers into their delivery spaces can be downright infuriating, but it makes it all the more satisfying when you get that perfect “back-in”.

The Bad:

• Hardcoreness. While this element didn’t bother me too much, I’m not sure how people who are diehard simulation fans will feel about the robustness of the simulation itself. Again, it felt good to me, but it didn’t feel nearly as complex as other simulations that I’ve played.
• Controls. I tried the 360 controller, and it felt really strange, I could not get used to it. I ended up opting for the WASD/Mouse control scheme, which feels surprisingly good for how terrible it normally is in driving games, but it’s obvious the best setup for this game would be with wheel controls.
• Casualness. This is also a good thing, but if you’re not looking for a casual/relaxation game, you’ll likely want to look elsewhere.

All in all, should you play this?

• This game sounded more like a joke than a real game to me initially, but after giving it an honest go, I have to say, it was leaps and bounds better than how I thought it would be. I can’t speak for hardcore simulation enthusiasts, but for someone who is a burgeoning sim fan, and loves RPGs, it’s worth a pick up if you see a good deal (see below).

What would you spend on this?

• I wouldn’t throw down the list price of $40 for this game, it’s interesting, and fairly amusing, but not worth that price tag.
• I paid $10 and feel completely satisfied with my purchase. I think I would have paid up to $20 and still felt pretty good. Anything above that is too much, in my opinion.

Here's a nice little delivery that takes you across Switzerland...