18 Wheels of Steel: Haulin'

I will start by saying that 18 Wheels of Steel: Haulin' is a damn solid game, but I must say right off the bat that I do feel that American Long Haul the follow up to this is a more complete experience. As someone who has always had a strange interest in the world of trucking, despite never having driven or even been inside of one myself. Truck games have always had a major appeal to me.

The Trucker Hall of Fame

If you get my Regular Show reference there you are awesome and we can be friends. In all seriousness, there is not what you would call a “story” at play here in this game. You are a trucker and you want to be the greatest trucker of all time and you are out to make a name for yourself. You do this by hauling loads across North America to make money and prove you are the best and build your reputation as well as make fat stacks of cash.

The presentation is not the best, but to be fair this game as I write this is well over a decade old. It does not have the polish that a modern game such as those from the American Truck Simulator series.

Making Money

As you progress through the game and haul more and more loads, you will start to make some money. With this money, you can buy a new truck which you want to do as soon as possible as the one you start with kind of sucks and is super slow! You can take out a loan, but for me, it was best to just grind and make enough the honest way as I felt this was better long term to get the best out of 18 Wheels of Steel: Haulin'. You also need to make money as everything in this world wants to take it from you! From gas to the cops who always find you when you go to fast or run a red light. It can be very easy to have your money drain away.

Hitting The Road Again

The driving in the game is a lot of fun. You will haul a load from point A to B and the game has many cities for you to drive in as well. While I feel the more modern trucking games have a much larger USA to drive through. For the time and to be fair even now, the map is a great size, and going on a long haul can be quite the challenge. As you drive in 18 Wheels of Steel: Haulin' you have to follow the laws of the road. As I said earlier, the cops are always watching and sometimes they watch too much! The AI drivers on the road are just nuts. I have seen a ton of collisions, not with me, but with themselves and it is always funny, even if I do have to swerve out of the way sometimes.

I always get enjoyment out of truck games and this one here is no different. I do feel that the follow up is a better game as it has more content and has improved visuals. However, I still found myself having fun with this game and wanting to do just one more haul each time I played it. If you are a fan of trucking games and want something that has a bit more of an old school feel over what the current ATS games are offering. I am sure you will have fun with 18 Wheels of Steel: Haulin'.

Pros:

• Lots of open roads to drive on
• Hauling loads is always fun
• I like the progression of buying new trucks
• The visuals are improved over its predecessor
• Lots of cities to drive through

Cons:

• The cops are way too strict and always on your butt when you make a mistake
• The AI in this game is drunk!