The simulator genre is one of the most unique ones out there as it’s packed to the gills with some truly interesting titles. Normally mundane jobs or tasks, they allow for anyone to live out a career that they may not be able to in real life.

Astragon and Stillalive Studios’ Bus Simulator 21 brings the series some new updates and expands the vision of it further. Unfortunately, while the game has promise, it’s a pretty bland and often hollow game that shows the seams of where the game is held together.

Gameplay

As far as gameplay goes, Bus Sim 21 offers a fleet of buses spanning multiple brands, with each having its own set of stats. They aren’t just limited to the regular ones you’d see driving on every street either. There are a lot of variations between them to offer different choices that actually do have an impact on driving. You can also upgrade your buses visually with new interiors, paint jobs, and even ads.

In order to make money and purchase more buses, you’ll run your own company and set up new routes, upgrade bus stops, and take further actions to improve the overall experience for your customers. It’s pretty cool to see your buses driving routes that you had set up for them and that’s something I really didn’t think I’d actually say.

This entry of the series actually gives players an open world to drive around which in theory could serve as a nice playground but falls short on most fronts. I think that the devs went the easy route as there just isn’t much to do aside from driving routes and picking people up. I would’ve liked to see more of the other parts of the job that bus drivers do. Even office stuff or grabbing lunch would’ve been interesting to do.

Driving the actual buses is by far the single best reason why I continued playing as most of the game while offering good ideas, just came to be pretty lackluster. While sitting in the driver’s seat, you have a whole dashboard of buttons and controls that seems pretty overwhelming at first but rewarding as I came to become more comfortable with them.

Besides operating these monstrous vehicles you also need to sell customers tickets, control obnoxious passengers, and make sure that your bus is accessible for all riders. There’s so much that goes into being a bus driver and it really gave me an even further sense of respect for the ones who do this for a living. It’s a lot to focus on all while making sure that you’re keeping your riders safe.

I will say that the driving itself could be a bit better though. The controls at times just felt too stiff or totally off. It also doesn’t help that hit detection and NPC drivers are a total joke. Pedestrians and cars in traffic are some of the most underdeveloped that I’ve seen in a game in so long. It breaks the immersion down to a pulp, leaving the game with an extremely fake feeling.

Imagine driving down the street and as you get ready to turn, all of the traffic just stops as if you’re in a weird sci-fi film. That happens continuously throughout the game and what makes it even worse is that if you hit something or someone, it’s not easy to bounce back from. It feels like a tech demo more than anything. This title truly needed more time in the oven.

Aside from running your business or driving buses, you can also free roam on foot, as the game allows you to create a custom character. This is probably one of the most useless aspects, as there really isn’t much to do aside from walking up to machines and interacting with them in order to service your buses or change up routes. You are allowed to walk around the game’s cities but it seems unnecessary as there isn’t anything to do anyway.

Audio and Visuals

I found the audio aspects of Bus Sim 21 to be pretty good. Buses sound realistic in all ways which help make the buses themselves feel immersive. My favorite aspect though is the voice actors. All of the dialogue from passengers is pretty hammy which brings a light and silly tone to everything.

As far as visuals go, this is one of the worst-looking games I’ve played in a while. Now, I know visuals don’t make a game but this game just doesn’t even look like the devs tried. Lighting is done well but everything else is either pixelated or flat and lifeless, making it a boring mess. I mean, there isn’t any kind of damage that happens to the buses, vehicles, or even terrain if an accident occurs. It’s just bad.

There are also endless visual bugs and glitches that happen. Things like clipping or even frame rate drops which make an ugly game even worse somehow.

What it Could Have Done Better

As I said, the driving can be a bit stiff, and because the traffic moves as if the code is broken at times, you’ll have some difficulties. Visuals could be a lot better but didn’t kill the game for me as much as the empty feeling I got from the brainless NPCs. I also found issues with button prompts populating on-screen at times. They just wouldn’t.

I would’ve liked to see traffic infractions or police presence on the roads. Making mistakes during your routes will negatively impact you, for example; hitting another vehicle or curb will cost you money. It would’ve been cool to have cops pull you over if you hit someone else. It would add some suspense to the job.

Verdict

Bus Simulator 21 has a very intriguing set of mechanics going for its buses that resulted in honest fun for a few moments. Unfortunately, the fun wears off when you realize how bland and lifeless the world surrounding your bus really is. Hopefully these issues can be patched in the future but it’s pretty ridiculous to have to expect a patch to make a game even worth playing these days.