Not bad for a budget title

I saw a copy of this at Target on sale for $5, so I decided to grab it. After all, I've always been fascinated with trucks and if the game was rotten, I wasn't out much cash. Since this is a budget title, I wasn't expecting much. However, this game was better than I had expected -- that's not saying much, but it's worth pointing out.

Your task in 18 Wheels of Steel Across America is pretty simple -- you haul freight here and there and attempt to build your small trucking business into a thriving enterprise. So, this is an economic and driving simulator, and the combination works out pretty well. You start out with a low-priced truck and haul freight from place to place and collect your cash. Naturally, you want to deliver goods as quickly as you can and with as little damage to it as possible. Making successful deliveries leads to a better reputation, and that leads to lucrative, dedicated contracts, the ability to hire more drivers and the other kinds of things you'd expect in a simulation like this.

The economic component, then, is pretty good. I wish I could say the same about the driving component of a sim as that is what you spend most of your time doing. The physics are good and you can definitely tell the performance difference between a loaded and unloaded truck. But, here's the thing -- driving a big rig just isn't that exciting. To make matters worse, it's rather difficult to keep the truck on the road at first due to some rather touchy controls and the fact a tractor-trailer rig is hard enough to drive, anyway. To make matters worse, you have to keep your finger on the accelerator (up arrow key on a keyboard, button on a controller) constantly and that can become draining after a time. Then, of course, you've got the mundane acts of stopping at weigh stations, observing traffic laws so as to avoid tickets and keep out of money-sucking accidents. Fortunately, the routes are abbreviated so you can arrive at destinations fairly quickly.

The great thing about this game is the scenery. You do drive all over the nation during the course of the game, and their are the landmarks you'd expect as well as rolling hills and such. As far as graphical elements go, the weather is simulated well (yes, you can get into trouble in a hurry when it snows or rains) and you spend a fair amount of time driving at night (turn those lights on, lad!) The minimum requirements for this game are pretty slight, requiring a 700 MHz CPU and 16 MB video card with acceleration.

One thing I've hated about computer games is that a lot of companies seem to ship something out the door with the attitude of, "If something's wrong, we'll fix it later and issue a patch." That, of course, means that you might or might not be lucky enough to simply install the game and start playing without checking for updates. I installed 18 Wheels of Steel Across America and was able to jump into it immediately. There's a nice little CD insert, too, that covers the basic elements of the game so you can get started in a hurry.

Apparently, Valusoft has had some success with the 18 Wheels series as they have produced five titles in the line. 18 Wheels of Steel certainly isn't the best game out there for the PC, but it's not bad at all if you have an interest in economic sims and trucking. Besides, it's dirt cheap so grab a copy if you're so inclined.