Bus Driver Simulator by KishMish Games is getting console releases after being a PC only game for about 2,5 years. KishMish is already hard at work on a follow up named Bus World but still found some time to port the original to consoles. I have a hunch they are attempting to squeeze every last drop out of their game.
Grey cities
KishMish Games are a Russian based company. When Bus Driver Simulator first got released they only included the Russian city Serpukhov as the background for their game. My Russian geography isn’t all that great but from what I can see in the game, this city oozes former Sovjet glory. By using all of the 50 shades of grey, they managed to recreate an ugly concrete jungle. The appeal for a larger market wasn’t quite there so they decided to add another European city to spice things up a bit. One of Germany’s biggest cities, Cologne, was chosen. Although Cologne is a beautiful city, there seems to be no sign of that beauty present in the game. The lack of detail in both playable cities is simply atrocious.
Change your career
When starting out Bus Driver Simulator, you are prompted to start a short tutorial. After completing the tutorial you can either chose career mode or scenarios. The career mode should be the main part of the game and lets you own your own bus. With 5000 coins at your disposal, you’ll only afford a reasonably-priced used bus but it should get the job done for now. After getting your bus, you select a route and the adventure starts. Driving from one stop to another earns bus fares. These all add up and are transferred at the completion of the bus line. From here you can continue another route or maybe upgrade your bus if you feel you have earned enough funds.
Crosstown Traffic
Earning money from fares is quite easy but losing them is even easier. Every traffic infringement deducts money from your total. If you wanted to go all “crazy taxi”, you might have to rethink it. Bus Driver Simulator is, as the name implies, a simulator. Simulating the life of a traffic law-abiding bus driver doesn’t get me excited all that much. Despite that, I tried to endure this game with an open mind but failed to see any appeal. Getting through traffic with a big bus could be represented so much better than Bus Driver Simulator did. The routes are mostly just straight routes across town with almost no driving skills acquired to complete them safely. I almost got slightly excited when a red light turned green… almost…
Collisions
Both cities aren’t quite the lively representations they are in real life. In the case of Bus Driver Simulator, I found that a good thing. The other vehicles seem to have no sense of you and just drive as if you’re not there. Using my indicators had no impact what-so-ever and collisions were often unavoidable. Honking my horn and wailing my fists in rage at other drivers might have been the only immersive experience I had with Bus Driver Simulator. The rest of the experience was one of pure agony. Agony at the staleness of the surroundings, agony at the AI, and above all… agony about the controls.
Not optimized at all
The driving itself was pretty straightforward in Bus Driver Simulator. Everything else is a hot mess. There are 3 menus you can use for various reasons. One of them opens up the door controls in order to let passengers in and out. Opening the front and rear door was a complete hassle. By pressing another button I could change the camera to see if it was safe to depart. With 5 camera angles and only 1 useful to check on your doors, I had to press the button a multitude of times in order to get back to driving. By then I forgot to close my doors which resulted in coins being deducted for driving with open doors… These clunky menus fully took the last bit of joy out of the experience.
Conclusion
Bus Driver Simulator is not the game you were looking for. This feels like a last-ditch money grab and should be avoided by all means.
