16.9.2014

Euro Truck Simulator 2 Special Edition contains the full game plus the Go East pack and some extra liveries for your truck.The game is supposed to be a full simulation of not only truck driving but also building your own haulage company up from scratch.Installation========Euro Truck Simulator 2 comes in what looks like a standard DVD box but does not contain a DVD or a holder for one. The box only has a plastic credit card with a code on. The game is installed via Steam using this code, so you need a Steam account in order to install this game.What is Steam?============Steam is the major platform for game publishing on PC and is the go-to place for most PC gamers due to their regular sales that often knock 50% or more off game prices,as well as being a good store front and library of all your PC games. Games are stored against your account, which means that once a game is installed you can then install it again on any other PC or laptop (or Mac for compatible games) that you own.Steam requires a free account, but with a highly trusted company (Valve) behind it, this should not be an issue. Once signed up to Steam, you need to download the small piece of software that will allow you to access the store front and your game library.Steam also provides support for matchmaking and controllers in games, allowing you to use the Xbox 360 wired controller or PS3 controller in many games, including this one.The Game========I really didn't know what to expect from this game as I'd never played a truck sim before. However, the introduction helpfully took me through the basics, including controls, mirrors and how to turn. You can use a keyboard and mouse, joypad or steering wheel to control the truck, but I preferred the joypad option. A steering wheel would have been more helpful but I didn't have one to hand.You start off by doing a small local run of goods to a warehouse, where you get the chance to deliver right to their door, attempting to back up your load or choosing to do this automatically. It's best to try and go for the manual approach as this will teach you skills that you'll need further on in the game. I did find it quite difficult at first to work out which direction to turn in order to safely back the truck and trailer in to the space, but with enough patience it should be possible.Patience is something you'll need for this game, as I found out within the next 2 missions. Taking on another job between Plymouth and Bristol, I soon found out that the game requires you to drive for a pretty long time. While a 2 hour journey in a real truck equates to much less time in this game, you'll still need to concentrate on the roads and motorways. There are a nice selection of radio stations to keep you occupied and, of course, you'll need to keep your eyes on the road as well.The cities are (unsurprisingly) busy with traffic doing what traffic does, so you'll need to think carefully about turning at T-junctions and roundabouts. I admit to pushing across lanes once or twice and I'm sure I created at least one pile-up from my driving, though some of that might be down to the erratic AI. I'm still pretty impressed by the scope of the game, though, and that so much detail has been added to populate these routes.Graphically, the game is a mixed bag, but to map out this much road and populate it with scenery while keeping up a good frame rate (which it does), it's not surprising. Up close, buildings are fairly basically rendered, but do their job and there are plenty of trees, fields and other roadside scenery to make this feel as realistic as possible. Plymouth certainly looked a little like parts of the actual city, but I can't speak for the other places I visited, especially those in other countries. Places are quite basic to avoid re-creating the whole city, so there's no point doing any sightseeing. I've yet to look at any of the mods out there which are said to more accurately map out specific places, but it sounds like perhaps being something for the more hardcore truck driver!Technical Details=================I played the game on an i7 4700QM laptop with Nvidia GT740M graphics and 8GB RAM. It's not the most powerful set up but the game worked smoothly for me at high settings. I did have problems with starting it, though, as the game insisted on going into a really low resolution at first. I solved this by creating a short cut, then starting it from there rather than inside Steam for the first time.

6.7.2014

A lot of simulator games induce a headache, using every key on the key-board with nightmare control navigation systems, and a really anal attention to accuracy at the expense of game-play. But Euro Truck Simulator 2 definitely isn’t that.I am set on my way with a quick set up screen to design my profile (avatar image, truck colour and model, company logo and name), and a choice of control systems including the simple auto gear controls through to full bloodied authentic manual systems. It’s compatible with a range of accessories like pedals and wheels, but I have just keyboard and mouse, and I’m new to the game and not very good at driving simulators to boot, so I opt for simple auto controls.That’s mouse for left and right, and keyboard for up and down. I choose my tutorial mission, including a departure point from a map of Europe (London for me) and I’m off. I experiment with the many camera angles (cab interior, roof, top down, etc.). I choose the cab so I have a good view of my wing mirrors. And a huge grin starts creeping over my face. This feels arcade accessible, and yet there’s a boys own feeling of “Wow I’m driving a truck!” I’m out of the depot and navigating using my Sat Nav towards the M25! I’m speeding down the M25! Tricky junctions ahead and a bone chillingly authentic “crunch” as I hit metal barriers with the side of my truck incurring damage percentage points. I find a repairs garage and make good the damage (costs my employer money which I guess will be passed on to me). I reach some docks at Cambridge and I’m given the choice to end the mission or try reversing the trailer into the space for added accuracy points. Much hilarity ensues as my trailer swings everywhere apart from the drop off point. My employer will not be impressed. I give up and hit enter. “Satisfactory” I’m told.Before my next mission I experiment with other features and discover I can choose an internet radio station to be piped to my cab! I look up the controls and learn to use the keys for features such as lights, indicator and horn. I can’t believe I drove all the way from London to Cambridge on the last job without using the indicators! So far I’ve had a blast with this game; it has fun game-play and an authentic feel. I look forward to choosing more jobs and earning enough to start my own business.So on I go. Going to the job market, picking up work, going from Cambridge to Calais via the Ferry, from Paris to Southampton via the Tunnel, picking up different jobs, earning and saving to visit a dealer and buy my own truck and start my own business. This will unlock a whole new dimension to the game, but I’m a way to go yet. I end my next mission with a ‘Very Good’ rating so I feel nevertheless that progress is being made. I’ll continue playing, my dream being my own truck and thriving firm.There’s a lot I’ haven’t got into with this game as I’m not there yet, that opens up possibilities of owning and decorating your own truck and watching your own business grow. There appears to be a thriving community of players that also compare screenshots of their trucks and scenes from their journeys, the sun setting over Paris, for example, or dawn in Amsterdam.This is an immensely playable sim with graphics and detail that are staggering, a feeling of real time and real journeys as you look out at the road and surroundings through entire European trips. You can almost smell your cab. A brilliant achievement.

3.9.2014

Surprisingly good fun. The best way I can think to describe this game. I really thought it would be pretty dull but actually it blends the challenges of driving, building a career and aspects of management simulation quite well.I got the download version and over a standard fibre connection it downloaded pretty fast. It runs via Steam which suits me well as pretty much all my 200+ games are on there already! No problems at all with the initial set up and within minutes I was out on my first run learning how to handle a truck on the road.The tutorial set up is pretty straighforward and takes you through the key screens clearly. And it is forgiving enough that you don't have to remember everything straight off,exploring the interface being a fairly simple and friendly affair. I do wish it wouldn't send emails whilst I'm trying to drive though. Very distracting when hauling a heavy load. The challenge of actually driving isn't too tough, more relaxing than hectic though you do need to keep an eye on speed cameras and the occassional crazy driver cutting you up. The hardest bit by far is the reversing into the very precise spots when you reach your point of delivery. There is a big incentive to do it for the extra XP but man is it frustrating. I'm slowly getting better but it still makes me work. Good to be challenged though!I am enjoying the challenge of building up my bank balance with lucrative runs to try and earn enough to set my own business up. The offer of a bank loan is ever present but I am keen to build it all on my own. I like the fact that like a lot of games you can spend your XP points on various aspects. Either as buffs to increase your revenue, stamina or things like fuel consumption, or you can buy licences to drive more lucractive/dangerous loads like explosives or luxury goods.I haven't tried downloading any of the numerous mods that are out there but I certainly will be doing. The graphics are not the worst I've ever seen but they could be a bit more polished so if a mod can help with that then it'd be great. Also some of the traffic AI is a bit shonky at times but overall the game doesn't really need any tweaking to be pretty enjoyable.There are a few other nice little touches, like the ability to put your own music into one of the game folders for you to truck along to. Just brings the immersion a bit closer as you switch between the radio and your own tunes in the cab. The amount of the european road network included is also good. It obviously isn't 100% accurate but is good enough for you to get a feel for the regions and enjoy going from country to country with your latest load.The biggest minus point I would give is around the packaging. The Digital Download version is basically a credit card with a download code on it for use with Steam. Firstly, for those not familiar with Steam it doesn't provide a setp-by-step on how to apply the code and activate it. I may have missed it but it certainly wasn't with the card itself. The second thing is that I found it extremely wasteful to have a single plastic card packed in a normal plastic cd game case. Pointless and actually quite annoying. The biggest benefit of digital downloading was eradicated and has created one more piece of plastic waste in the landfill.Overall then, a fun game that provides a reasonable challenge. Just wish the packaging had been better thought out.

21.7.2014

Note: This review is for the ‘Digital Download Card’ version.Euro Truck Simulator 2 is, simply put, the best trucking simulation I’ve ever played. It’s also the only trucking simulation I’ve ever played, but I won’t hold that against it. It turns out it can be a lot of fun. More on the gameplay below.However, before talking about the gameplay, it’s worth discussing the product format. This product comes in a standard sized DVD case. However, that case does not contain a DVD. Rather, it contains a credit-card sized piece of laminated card, with a long series of numbers and letters on the back (the ‘code’). It also includes a one page sheet of instructions.Rather than a physical DVD,the user must download the ‘Steam’ digital content platform/service, create an account for the service, and then input the provided code following the instructions, at which point ‘Euro Truck Simulator 2’ will become visible in the user’s Steam games list, and begin to download – after download it can be launched and played, and the user’s entitlement is not restricted (you can delete the game from your PC and reinstall/download it as often as you like).The steps to add the game to your account are straightforward enough, but it is a series of extra hoops to jump through if you’re not already a Steam user. It does also make the DVD case rather irrelevant – once you’ve registered the game, you’ll never need the code card again, and the box really only exists to hold that and the instructions – it might have done better being sent in an envelope.Still, it’s an interesting mixture of analogue marketing and digital delivery. Just be aware that a Steam account is required for the product, and you will not receive a physical copy of the game.After the medium (and the looooong download of the game), the message was quite worthwhile. The game starts off with the user as a driver in a single truck, pootling about doing various jobs. If they do enough of those well, they can start their own trucking firm, and try to successfully manage that as well.It all sounds faintly soporific, but it was surprisingly relaxing rolling down the motorways of various European cities, with appropriate radio music (the game ties in to various internet radio stations), just trying to make the next delivery, and taking in a few digital sights on the way. Mechanically, it’s a bit repetitive, but pleasant, curiously entertaining, and overall, quite enjoyable. The extra paint jobs provided in this version are (obviously) purely cosmetic, but they do mean that looking at your cab is a bit less dull.At any rate, if you’re already into trucking simulators (and I wasn’t), this appears to be the gold standard. If you’re looking at the product in bafflement, trying to work out if you’d enjoy it (and I was), it’s curiously fun, and may well provide quite a bit of relaxing entertainment.

21.9.2014

We purchased our son a gaming computer for his 16th birthday, a big improvement from our old Dell Inspiron and Euro Truck Simulator (Special Edition) is just the game to test the computer's graphic capabilities.You are not actually supplied with a disk for Euro Truck Simulator 2, you are supplied with a digital download card. Downloading the game is a fairly simple process, although you do need a Steam account and Steam launcher to proceed (it is free to open a Steam account). Easy to follow instructions are on the inside of the cover insert. Downloading took quite a while but that's because we live deep in the Welsh countryside and fast cable has yet to find us.I must say that Euro Truck Simulator 2 (Special Edition)

26.9.2014

I am a sucker for a well-implemented simulation. I've lost whole days in Rise of Flight and Microsoft's wonderful FSX, that, quite literally, gives you a whole world to explore. Euro Truck Simulator 2, whilst not quite as ambitious as that, still gives you a huge amount of terrain to cover and, above all, shares with the very best sims that elusive feeling of "being there".From the first moment I pulled out from the depot onto the main road and had to look carefully to left and right before taking my place in the busy traffic, I started to appreciate the attention to detail here. Both the interior and exterior views of your truck look superb and the road networks and scenery is exceptionally well implemented.

26.9.2014

ETS 2 is niche, an will appeal only to that rarest of beasts - the patient gamer. Those of us who, when presented with a sandbox as rich with potential mayhem has GTAV, still take pleasure in spending hours driving around hundreds of miles of road, listening to the radio, obeying our own self-imposed traffic laws. Contrary to what the red-top papers might have you believe, such gamers do exist. I once spent over 2 hours driving one of the fastest cars in the game right around Los Santos, and got it home without a scratch - I stayed in my lane, stopped at red lights, and even pulled over to let the police pass me in pursuit of some ne're-do-well.I'd thought I was alone in these strange pursuits,

15.7.2014

Wasn't sure about this but thought I would give it a whirl. It installed easily via Steam with just a registration key provided and no physical media. The tutorial is comprehensive and takes you through the basics and you are soon ready for your first job.You start work without a base or a truck forced to take work from established haulage companies. As you progress you amass the funds to buy your first lorry and rent your first yard. This opens up the game considerably enabling you to upgrade and modify your truck and skills as well as hiring other drivers and chasing your own contracts, turning this into a full business simulation.The driving is surprisingly satisfying with good physics,

3.8.2014

I've always played sims: Flight sims, Sub sims, even train ones. In fact, one of the first sims I played was a truck sim on the zx spectrum. A top down viewpoint (like with the original GTA), it had the instruments and steering wheel at the bottom of the screen.This is a million miles from that one. You don't get a disk in the box, just a card with the Steam activation code. To be honest, it's often quicker for me to download via steam than to install from disk, especially if there's a massive update that needs to be installed.This version includes the eastern europe dlc, plus most of the paint schemes available to buy. The only ones not included are the USA and Canada ones, and they're only 79p each.

16.10.2014

Euro Truck Sim 2 is a weird game. You start off as a contract HGV driver moving goods from one place to another. As you progress you can buy a rig, improve your skills, buy upgrades and hire staff for your own trucking empire...At it's core this game is a HGV driving game so rather than driving like a lunatic and trying to get from A to B as fast as possible you need to get your goods to their destination on time, but in one piece. To help you you have a satnav (just like all satnavs it can be a bit quirky - it constantly tries to get me to cut through motorway services if the route is shorter than straying on the main carriageway). The AI of the other cars is okay,

13.9.2014

I've been a Need for Speed fan for quite some time and have played the odd simulator. To be honest, I didn't expect much but was pleasantly surprised. As noted elsewhere, the box just contains an ID code to put into Steam and then download. I had already got a Steam account so it didn't take long and installation was very straight forward.The basis of the game is actually quite simple but very effective. You start with no money so you have to do jobs for other truck companies to gain money to be able to buy your own truck and run your own business. The longer the drive, the more the money you can get.Obviously this isn't from a major software house but even so,

12.10.2013

The first Euro Truck Simulator game came out a few years ago after playing it for a good amount of time I always felt it was missing a few things, Euro Truck Simulator 2 has filled in these gaps and overall its a large improvement something anyone who loved the older one will be happy to hear about.Graphics, Map and HandlingThe graphics and detail have improved greatly, everything from the trucks, cargo and landscape have been given a complete makeover. The map is overall much bigger than the older game, the journey times between delivering is much longer, I am not too happy that the whole of Europe isn't actually included though just most of it is.

27.7.2013

Nowadays there are many games that fall under the category of simulator. There are primarily flight simulators, business simulators and transportation simulators. These vary in quality from Sim City and Transport Tycoon (great games) to Prison Tycoon and Mall Tycoon (bad games).Euro Truck Simulator 2 challenges the player with the world of the heavy goods vehicle. In this game it's the player's job to take goods from one e part of Europe and move them to the destination. It covers the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and most of Eastern Europe. While cities are fairly basic, the motorways and rural roads are done with exceptional detail.

10.12.2012

Let me start by saying that this is not my usual choice of game. I generally play FPS or racing games, typically fast-paced action. These types of game lean towards arcade. ETS2 is most definitely a simulator.I had not heard of the developer but had read a lot of good reviews about this title. I did yearn for something more 'realistic'. The PC was very good at this many years ago with military flight simulators and other titles that were highly technical.ETS2 is most definitely a success. You control everything in the truck right down to the ignition and light settings. I started off as a driver in Manchester and you can quickly take a paid job driving freight on familiar roads like the M6,

29.12.2014

This does what it says on the tin. You'll be a truck driver, delivering cargo all over Europe. If that sounds dull to you, this game will be dull - don't be expecting anything other than what the title suggests!For people who like this kind of game, it is one of the better simulators. It is a realistic simulation of being a European truck driver. But there are a few things that stop it being a five star game.Firstly, there isn't much challenge once you have spent a bit of time with the controls and worked out how to maneuver the trucks. The sat nav tells you where to go - it would have been a nice touch if you could work out a route for yourself.On most of the routes there isn't much variation in the roads,

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