Bus Driving Sim 22

To many, video games are at their best when they are broken down into a form of simulation. Instead of playing something fantastical, many of us prefer to sit down and play a simulator title. Something like Bus Driving Sim 22, Ovilex Soft’s latest game, can be appealing to a wide range of gamers looking for a more realistic simulation-inspired experience.

How, though, does this bus driving simulator live up to its well-loved predecessor, and the collection of other driving sims out there?

Bus simulations across three continents

When Bus Driving Sim 22 first came out, it provided you with access to the USA, to Germany, and to Brazil. This might expand as time goes on, but at the moment there is an ample range of content available in the game for you to choose from. Bus Driving Sim 22 benefits from improved physics and visuals, with a very impressive level of detail in the landmarks. The moment to moment driving around cities, though, can begin to feel a little rote after a while – repeating buildings can only look interesting for so long.

There is a career mode to choose from, as well as various free drive moves and multiplayer modes that allow you to drive buses without the same career-based challenges. You will enjoy driving around Munich, Rio de Janeiro, and/or Los Angeles with each city having a downtown and city outskirts area to drive through. This keeps the driving relatively fresh and fun, though it would be fair to say that Bus Driving Sim 22 never really excels at anything.

When compared to something more polished like the Truck Simulator and/or Farm Simulator titles, Bus Driving Sim 22 can be quite empty. There is definitely potential here, but at the moment if falls short of being one of the better driving simulators.

A good take on bus driving, but lacking in too many areas (6.5/10)

The main problem with Bus Driving Sim 22 is that it simply feels too generic. It takes very few risks, and other bus driving simulators have done a better job. The controls can feel really awkward, and in no way is an improvement over predecessor bus simulators. Many drivers have run into technical issues, too, ranging from progress blockages in the career mode to technical faults that cause performance issues.

The AI is also a major issue – you often get faults and penalties for the AI simply not following the rules of the road. That can be very annoying, and it can cheapen the experience somewhat. The lack of wheel support was also a common criticism – pretty unacceptable for a modern vehicle simulator.

Pros

• Enjoyable enough moment to moment gameplay
• Cities are well designed
• Career mode is pretty filled out with things to do

Cons

• AI is a bit of a mess, often resulting in mistakes that were not your fault
• Bugs are common and can get in the way of your career progress
• Janky controls and lack of steering support can be a major issue