![bus simulator ps4 review bus simulator ps4 review](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81IyErZlwiL.jpg)
In the top corners of the screen (in first-person view) will be your side mirrors, which you’ll need to watch while taking tight corners.
![bus simulator ps4 review bus simulator ps4 review](https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/News/_nc3/bussimulatorteaser.png)
Well, it is called Bus Simulator, after all. When driving, you really do have to use your mirrors and every other tool at your disposal, just like a real bus driver. The worst accident, however, was the one that cost me almost an entire day’s takings: I hit a pedestrian. Not an isolated incident, as it happened on many an occasion and there’s just no predicting it. No matter how carefully I drove my buses, the occasions that crashes did occur were always down to the AI accelerating away from a junction, only to change its mind for no reason and slam on the brakes. This will level up bus stops and make you more cash.Ĭollisions will severely damage your income, for obvious reasons, but this also highlights one of the game’s biggest failings: the AI. If you do value your money, you’ll want to ensure that you’re driving properly, which means avoiding kerbs and potholes to provide the maximum comfort for passengers. There’s even an option to stop your company from going bankrupt, in case you just want to set up routes and not worry about the monetary side of things. You can deal with taking payment and giving change for tickets, or you can let the game do it all for you so you can concentrate on the driving. The thing is, despite the potentially complicated nature of the game, Bus Simulator is more-or-less only as in-depth as you want it to be.
![bus simulator ps4 review bus simulator ps4 review](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/slider2-02.jpg)
![bus simulator ps4 review bus simulator ps4 review](https://www.psu.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/bus-simulator-21-ps4-review-3.jpg)
Many of the essentials are mapped to specific buttons, like the left/right bumpers for indicating or the X button for opening your passenger doors, obviously to make your journeys that little bit less complicated. You can use an in-game menu for all the functions within the vehicle too, such as the lights, extending/retracting the wheelchair ramp, even your hazard lights. To its credit, they are modelled quite intricately, with many of the buttons on the dashboard actually working. Although there are some nice weather and lighting effects, most of the vehicles are basic in their representation, with only the buses really appearing with any kind of high quality. The whole of Bus Simulator feels like a budget title, from its inconsistent framerate (looking in your mirrors is like watching a slideshow) to the clones that routinely board your buses.
#BUS SIMULATOR PS4 REVIEW TRIAL#
I only discovered the real option through trial and error, as well as wasting time unsuccessfully testing whether I had found the correct option or not. It was named something completely different. This is compounded by the tutorial not teaching you nearly enough about the systems that run throughout the whole game, to the point that when it came to me having to create a “round trip” route, there was no such option in the game. The menus really are awkward, I never quite knew for sure what I was selecting as a result. You’ll select a few stops and the GPS will put the rest together for you, even if the game doesn’t seem like it wants to make it that easy for you. I won’t pretend that you should expect the highest quality of visuals, or even the highest quality of gameplay, but there’s something oddly cathartic about doing a few runs of a bus route.īefore you get to the driving, you’ll be setting up your own bus company and planning your first route. On consoles, where any four-wheeled driving usually consists of driving at 150mph+, it’s literally a nice change of pace to drive at around 40mph. Most of the time, especially with the amount of customisation on offer, Bus Simulator is thankfully a relaxing game. Bus Simulator does actually provide a little of that stress, albeit without the real consequences, when traffic stops you from getting to your destination on time.
#BUS SIMULATOR PS4 REVIEW DRIVERS#
It’s not glamorous or anything, but I guess I’ve seen my fair share of the helplessness faced by bus drivers just trying to keep to a schedule, usually on those wet days when you’re soaked to the bone and everyone is in a foul mood. I travel on buses most days, to and from work.