War Truck Simulator on Nintendo Switch is a port of a 2016 released game by Dev4Play. The game puts you in control of a buffed out truck to help alter the outcome of the war.
This is war
As a representative of a special military group, you are put in charge of driving a big truck. The area you’re working in is mostly in enemy territory making your job extra hard. When ammo needs to be delivered or wounded soldiers need to be rescued, you are the guy/girl they call. As a specialist driver, you’ll need to get from point A to point B in less than ideal situations. Luckily you have a special truck that’s modified to drive over rough terrain. Avoiding mines, ambushes and even booby-trapped bridges will be key to your success in War Truck Simulator.
Truck simulator
As an idea, War Truck Simulator sounds a bit meh if you ask me. Going into an epic combat zone and only being a supportive driver doesn’t sound that exciting to me. The job is essential during all conflict but it’s just not the most exciting thing you associate with warfare. When I started to look at the simulator side of the game, that’s when things really started to fall apart. The “special” truck should simulate an all-terrain truck but instead offered a wonky programmed bunch of ugly green pixels. The truck looks generic as can be and handles like a bowl of Jell-O.
The physics used in this game are extremely iffy. Deciding to just use the left stick to accelerate and steer at the same time is just awful. Pushing forward on the stick lets you accelerate but when you need to steer to the left or right you need to come back to the center which slows down the truck. Some corners benefited from this mechanic but for the most part, this resulted in awkward twitchy movement. Braking is another thing done wrong. You have to flick the left stick back in order to brake which sounds intuitive enough but this also results in your truck going in reverse if held too long. A dedicated button for acceleration and braking doesn’t seem all that hard to implement, yet Dev4Play decided against that simple notion.
Foggy at best
There are 5 levels in War Truck Simulator to get through. That’s all the content you’ll get… These 5 levels have different themes but play almost the same. You go from point A to point B via different routes. Some routes are relatively safe while others are to be avoided at all cost. Getting caught on the wrong route might result in too much damage sustained and result in a game over. Rinse and repeat and avoid that route next time around. This ultimately boils down to a very boring and stale game. The fact the active warzone looks so darn empty isn’t helping either. Encountering the same blobs of pixels and sprites throughout the game should be banned by law in 2021.
What’s with the fallen trees
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well in War Truck Simulator the pine trees seem to have the strange property of falling whenever you’re around. Every time a pine tree pops out of the “rendering” fog you know it will fall on the road as you approach it. The same thing happens with rocks throughout the game. What strange disease is causing this sudden tree-falling episode or what strange gusts of wind make the boulders fall is never addresses in this game. To me, that was the only part of the plot that kept me somewhat going. Alas, no resolution was given to me. Speaking of resolution… This game looks just plain awful.
Conclusion
How these types of games keep getting released and getting past the seal of approval by Nintendo is beyond me. The game works… but in a way, you wouldn’t want to play it. Stay away from War Truck Simulator if you’re expecting something serious, only buy this game for a laugh.
