[music: "Born in the USA"]
Well, this is strange.
American Truck Simulator is simultaneously one of my favorite games of 2016,
and one of the biggest disappointments, as well.
And I'm kind of okay with that
because it's a lot like being disappointed in a great tasting meal that's just too small.
So small that you're left wanting seconds immediately after finishing
but the kitchen has already closed for the night and you're being kicked out onto the curb.
But I'm not super angry because that chef was responsible for cooking up
Euro Truck Simulator 2 in the past.
The way developer SCS Software and the modding community have supported that game over the years
has me feeling pretty confident in American Truck Simulator's future.
It's the latest iteration on their award-winning simulation recipe.
Only this time you're running your own trucking company in the western United States
instead of Europe.
To long-time SCS Software fans, that might sound familiar,
since the Hard Truck: 18 Wheels of Steel series of games from the same developer
attempted the very same thing.
Of course, technology has progressed quite a bit since the early 2000s,
especially in regards to visual fidelity,
leading to a far more technically impressive experience with ATS.
And, man, does it impress!
The locations you can explore look amazing,
from the sunny beaches of California
to the tumbleweed-laden deserts of Nevada.
Each area feels unique and even beautiful.
I'm a big fan of attention to details in simulations
and I don't mean just including famous landmarks.
I mean the little stuff, like run-down shopping centers,
signs for divorce court and cheeseburgers,
and speed traps laid by highway patrolmen with nothing better to do.
As an American myself, I think they did a great job
of nailing down the feeling of driving here,
down to the idiots who don't know how to use the fast lane on the highway
and the bizarrely high number of self-storage businesses.
The weighty believable physics simulation and driving model are back in action as well,
making great use of everything from a keyboard to a gamepad
to a top-of-the-line force feedback steering wheel setup.
Quite simply, it's everything I expected from SCS Software at this point
and their penchant for making simulations that are
higher quality than you might expect compared to similar sims.
It's the perfect thing to sit back with a cold drink,
blast your favorite album or listen to a podcast,
and play the virtual tourist as you wander around the country
delivering truckloads of concrete and fireworks.
Relaxation, catharsis and even inspiring a sense of awe from time to time --
*that's* what makes things like ATS great.
So... why am i disappointed with it?
It's a combination of minimal changes made
and a lack of overall content.
ATS uses... a slightly enhanced version of the engine used in ETS 2,
although at first glance, it's hard to tell any difference.
You've got the same menus, the same UI, the same sound effects, the same controls,
it even has the same graphical issues like notable edge aliasing,
no support for DirectX 11 or higher,
and notable frame rate issues in a few areas.
The biggest change arrives in the form of new locations to explore and new trucks to purchase.
And by that, I mean two states and two trucks,
California and Nevada,
and the Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579.
That's it.
Just two trucks and two states,
whereas the previous game launched with around a dozen of each.
Granted, these two states are larger than many of the countries in ETS 2,
but it's still a bit of a letdown for me in terms of variety.
Now, for the time being, this is kind of understandable
since there's some licensing trouble going on with truck manufacturers.
So while they have a few more models of truck ready to add to the game,
that can't happen until this is cleared up.
Still, why can't they just drop these trucks into the game under false company names,
like they did with ETS 2 when *it* launched?
I mean, the rest of ATS is already chock full of imitations on everything from the traffic vehicles
to the Hollywood sign itself becoming a "World of Trucks" sign due to trademarks.
But yeah, licensing doesn't explain the lack of states to explore.
There are around 30 metropolitan areas of various size to check out,
which is less than half of what Euro Truck Simulator 2 had on launch
and I find this bizarre.
Yes, I know that they're adding more via free DLC in the future,
but I'm still not satisfied with the state of things on launch.
This is kind of what I expect from an early access title, not a full 1.0 game.
And I'm talking strictly in terms of amount of content on offer
because the quality of said content is top-notch.
That said, the asking price sits at just $20 for the base game,
which is very fair, assuming they continue adding significant chunks
onto it in the future for free.
It's still a weird situation, though, because I find myself hesitating to fully recommend it on launch,
even though I want to.
There's very little change from ETS 2.
So if you were burnt out on that game,
I'm not sure if a relatively small new map and two new trucks are gonna be enough.
Then again, if you haven't played that one,
there's a good chance that you'll find American Truck Simulator
a ton of fun.
In my case, though, I'm still so hungry for more that it's bothering me,
and I would have much rather waited a few months for a more complete game.
But if I elect to ignore that and give SCS Software some leeway to add some more stuff,
then I'd absolutely recommend this one.
Even if it feels like a preview right now, the taste of things to come is still scrumptious,
and I can't wait to dive into more as it arrives on my plate.
[blues riff]
Wow, that was a lot of food terminology.
I need to stop watching reruns of Kitchen Nightmares.
Well, anyway, thanks to SCS Software for sending me a copy of this for me to review.
I do look forward to more of it, I just -- ha -- wish there was more now.
Hopefully, modders will come along and save the day, if not.
If you'd like to see some more of my thoughts on things,
you can click at some of these videos here in the annotations or
just subscribe to be notified for more in the future, which is every Monday and Friday here on LGR.
And as always, thank you very much for watching.