 | | One of the menu screens. |  |  | | Different weather conditions exist in the game world - rain. |
| This is another software simulator published by Excalibur Publishing.
Installation was slow on the Vista machine used for the review, with apparently nothing happening for several minutes before the installation started. Once installed it ran without problems. There is no printed manual provided, but a simple manual is included on the disc.
Tanker Truck Simulator is a driving game and business simulator which allows you to progress as you earn money carrying out jobs.
The simulator begins by allocating some funds to the player and there is enough to buy the first vehicle and begin deliveries. As you earn money other vehicles can be purchased. If your driving is poor you lose money for crashing and damaging the truck and also for speeding or other traffic offences.
The game has a large map of a city to drive around in, although as you drive along the game periodically pauses to load the next section of map and this spoils the flow of driving. Having said that the maps are detailed with a reasonable variation of scenery.
The graphics are nice but as always the faster the PC used, the better the game experience is. The user has the option of a number of views including 'first person' as the driver and various external views. The game physics are fairly basic. For example if you crash into another vehicle it is undamaged. Even the pedestrians in the game world are super tough as they appear fine after being hit by the tanker truck, even if they do let out a yelp. The other sound effects are adequate but uninspiring.
The controls for the game are straightforward and use the arrow keys as the directional buttons although when viewed from outside the truck steering is unnatural.
This game is a conversion from a German game and in some places German appears even on the menu screens although this is not much of an issue in practice.
In summary this is a fairly basic simulator. The graphics are reasonable but the game physics and sound effects do not advance the genre. It would provide some interest for anyone particularly interested in this branch of trucking.
|
|  | | View from the driver's seat. |  | | Out and about on the road as pedestrians walk by. |
|
