Recent reviews by Dallenson

I was initially looking forward to this game when it was announced in 2019, a spiritual successor to the legendary sci-fi management game by MuckyFoot in 2001.

It skipped my mind when it released in 2021 due to other things going on in my life and now I decided to try and play it despite the mixed reviews and let's just say I should've thought something was up and it's readily apparent now. This game has terrible optimization issues where the whole game chugs trying to access your employee menu. The AI pathing is exceptionally bad and nobody seems to seek out the Sick Bay when needed. VAL is especially annoying as they're nothing like the snarky but by-your-side inorganic of the original with a grating text-to-speech voice.

And good LORD the ending is such a copout whereas the original you were actually helping to make the galaxy better in the wake of intergalactic warfare and VAL even offers to toast with a bottle of champagne, Here it's a Platonic Cave within a Platonic Cave within a Platonic Cave within a Platonic Cave without a surface. VAL is using you to iterate the perfect way to wipe out organic life within the galaxy and then terminates you at the very end despite everything leading up to it implying you're going to defeat them.
I couldn't stand getting that far because while I could work through the slow process of building up my army in the penultimate mission, I couldn't stand the massive amount of chugging caused by navigating the menus.

I don't like the additions of more needs for the aliens which means more things the game needs to keep track of and leads to an even greater strain when you're dealing with hundreds of visitors and Unity is *not* the kind of engine for agent-based sim gameplay as we've seen with both Cities: Skylines games. (For an example of a well-optimized game, see the first two RollerCoaster Tycoon games which are programmed in x86 Assembler with a bit of C++ to run on Windows, those games will run decent even on an old ThinkPad)
Oxygen management is just another hassle.
Having to build the lifts between floors rather than two coming with each segment.
Energy distributors on the Fun Deck which replaces the more subtle Power Rating that limits your spending ability.

Worse still is the complete lack of planning for any mod support at all which would've helped by, say, bringing back the feel of the original or even a total conversion mod of the original but nothing of that sort was planned or even considered.

What are some of the things I *do* like about this game? Well some of the neat shortcuts for performing functions such as the item vacuum and the ability to instantly unpack with Shift+R.
Research improves the performance of facilities rather than just simply making them cheaper to produce.
A lot of actions can be performed more directly rather than the original's play-by-feel with the lack of numbers.
Dryads can passively harvest from plants on the Bio-Deck without destroying them but you can harvest them directly if you need resources urgently.

I'm not angry at this game, I'm just plain disappointed at the wasted potential of a sequel or successor to one of the defining games of my childhood

This game *is* fun but when you want to unlock things like pets, the processes involved is just absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ when one slip can drop something into the water or respawning can set you far enough away that it outright despawns and you have to start the process all over again. (For those inclined, I'm talking about the process of unlocking the ghost pet by acquiring both pearls, which if you fail to get them to the secret area in the mining job before time runs out, both of the pearls also despawn, requiring you to go all the way back to the jungle temple and cave to get them again).

As someone with autism, I just *cannot* fathom the idea of game design where one mistake sets you back to the beginning of a process like that when it could be averted by having a Lost & Found or having objects respawn somewhere safe.

Coming from games like BeamNG, Truck Sim, Farm Sim and such, I was quite disappointed at how lacking the gear management in this game was where the "clutch" is simply a button used to select gears on gamepad and there's no RPM management or manual selection of the Forward/Auto gears.
The second is that the game's terrain starts out far too difficult, especially with the limited selection of parts that you can equip that either need to be unlocked either by leveling up, which is reasonable, or getting to hard-to-reach areas for specific upgrades. I feel like that it should get easier as you complete contracts but I'm not asking for roads to be paved; more so that perhaps you could help create compacted dirt roads or wooden bridges to get over boggy areas as otherwise it makes the Heavy Duty and Highway trucks practically useless.
I keep being told that you're not supposed to follow the paths but it feels risky having to traverse up/down more sheer slopes and through trees when you'd reasonably expect not to get bogged down in the mud with mud tires.
On the more nitpicky side, the engine sounds are nice but they feel lackluster in that they're a preset amount of engine noises like vehicles in the Source engine rather than sounds that dynamically respond to how much throttle, engine speed, etc in other vehicle sim games.

Maybe I'm just not use to how difficult it is to traverse muddy areas in real life but I'm going by BeamNG.drive in how offroaders with mud tires never seem to get stuck in that game compared to this.

But here's hoping that maybe the next Spintires game (which I'm gonna guess will be SandRunner) will feature better vehicle handling meant for sim wheels.

Forza Horizon, for me, is really a game that has the best of all worlds in terms of simcade handling as well as representing a wide variety of automotive activities to make anyone happy. You have road racing, dirt rally, offroading, drag races, street tuning, drifting, stunts, stories, livery designs.

It's not realistic but it's not the on-rails level drifting so the cars have actual weight and responsiveness to them and cars will oversteer or understeer if not handled properly.

I say give this game a go if you've enjoyed some kind of car-centric racing game like Need for Speed (Supercar-era and/or Tuner-era), Test Drive, DiRT/GRiD, etc.

So after thirteen years and the first thing we get from Half-Life is a flagship VR title. I felt like everybody was so overly negative over what happened but I'm going to stay positive like a certain former I.T. worker.
I understand that this game was originally meant for teleportation only but that doesn't reduce the fun I had playing through it.
It also felt like an odd design choice to have every weapon be a handgun, especially since other games have figured out a method for virtual stocks with longer weapons but that doesn't make them any less fun with the upgrades you can acquire.
The story... Well it takes place five years before Half-Life 2 but Valve *recommends* you play Episode 2 first and you *will* see why (no, not because the opening text spoils it).
The game was a good nine hours of combat, puzzles and the occasional throwback which brings me back to how most of the audio is brand new with the very occasional re-used audio like the medkit station and distant Overwatch announcements. Most of the music is new with a few of the classic tracks (Space Ocean, Steam in the Pipes and Cavern Ambiance) returning to fit the atmosphere of certain areas.
If people are complaining about the story, just remember that Marc Laidlaw was onboard as a consultant so if Laidlaw approves then I certainly hope you know what you're doing.
If you have a VR headset then I recommend checking it out. I find myself ignoring the extra details like the markers since I focus on my objective in many games if I have one rather than messing around.

I dunno why but I found myself wasting so much time into this game than I thought.
I think part of it is that, compared to ATS and ETS 2 or other loved games like H3VR, I don't have to use a wheel or put on the HMD and controllers, respectively. I find that this game is best played using a controller as, compared to the likes of other vehicular games, you need to be moving the camera around a lot and a dual-analog controller fits better than a steering wheel. Add in the fact that this game has no Force Feedback and a handful of machines do not use the usual wheel an pedals that you're used to and it makes more sense to use a controller.
Farming Simulator 19 is also a big step in that, much like previous games with Challenger and New Holland, this iteration brings the first licensed appearance of John Deere with the Platinum Expansion adding CLAAS later on.
In terms of simulation, I'd say this game handles more like those R/C farm exhibits that are especially popular in Germany with a controller and I don't say this like it's a bad thing. That makes it easier to sit down and play this game for long sessions at a time.

Another praise is how easily you can mod this game, GIANTS keeps their files readily in standard formats versus the 95% of developers that use hard-to-crack proprietary formats. This leads to a lot of mod potential and you can find these mods to add additional realism to the game such as GPS steering for straight lines, seasons with crop rotation, realistic gears and terrain handling for vehicles, etc.
Granted, Sturgeon's Law can apply but most low-quality mods are not even on the website or in-game browser and you can filter to only see the top-rated mods to ensure you get quality.

If you love diesel machinery like me then I would give this game a try.

Even if you're a non-European, this game is a great way to explore Europe while driving a turbocharged V8 Scania and it offers a unique experience even if it's the same engine as American Truck Simulator.
There are some things to note if you're trying this after ATS, there are no weigh stations but you will have to utilize trains and ferries to get across certain areas, particularly if you're making the trip across the channel or crossing north into Scandinavia with the DLC (or going from the U.K. to Norway). Also be ready to use Metric over Imperial unless you're in the U.K.
Parking with trucks in this game is easier thanks to the shorter length of the cab-over designs but it's harder to judge the distance from stop lines, plus many countries aside from the Scandinavian countries lack stop lights across the intersection but I do like the different stop light behavior such as flashing green before yellow or turning red and yellow before turning to green, take notes, America.
For curious VR players, note that the game is not optimized for VR play quite yet, I'd recommend waiting until SCS optimizes it to the point that ETS2 and ATS acknowledges it in the Steam store pages for these games.

I recommend this DLC especially if you play VR and prefer not to use the Route Advisor as it obscures the dashboard but certain trucks do not have a built-in GPS unit and thus this pack is really quite useful in trucks such as the Renaults that lack said GPS.
Personally, I think that the portable navigator should be in the base game but it's a $4 piece of content so I can't complain too much.

If you don't have a VR system then you really aren't missing out on much but if you do have one then give this playground a try. It's fun if for a little bit seeing all of the slimes in person and it's almost startling how gigantic the Largos are in VR.
I couldn't get the game to recognize I was using Touch controllers and the default controls seem opposite. It feels like stick/pad click should be to vac while trigger is to shoot when it's vice versa.
Bottom line: You're not missing out on much if you don't have a Vive or Rift but I feel like this is a sort of stepping stone towards the rest of the game being ported over.

I may sound hipster but I was a fan of simulator games before companies started jumping on simulating mundane subjects.
The thing about simulators is the idea of simulating something not many people have the privalege of experiencing like Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition for flying planes or Project CARS (2) for autosports. This game does something right in making a mundane subject more exciting.

American Truck Simulator, and it's transatlantic equivalent: Euro Truck Simulator 2, averts the potential Desert Bus situation of travelling long distances by scaling the maps by a factor of 1:20 (originally 1:35) and to compensate, fuel consumption, fatigue, and the day/night cycle is 20 times faster.

Starting out, you work contract jobs for various companies by using their trucks with repair and fuel expenses being covered until you can save up for your own semi-tractor and eventually be able to buy your own trailers for hauling multiple deliveries.

Some differences between ETS2 is that you drive straight-6, turbocharged behemoths compared to the relatively small cabover lorries along with the differences in road systems. You're required to occassionally stop by weigh stations intended to prevent damage to roads along with taxes for transported goods (that blue thing on the windshield is a bypass transponder that lets you know if it's okay to bypass a station or if you have to stop at one). There are also active traffic cops that will fine you for offenses. That's right, compared to most other open-world driving games, this one does not have optional traffic laws so it helps to read up a little bit on how to drive in traffic. I'll give a basic rundown:
Always stay in the right-most, non-exit lane on a highway, the left-most lane is for passing to don't think you're blocking people when they pass you. In three-wide highways, the right-most lane is for slower vehicles and you should stick to that lane in California.
California has a heavy vehicle limit of 55 mph, even if the posted speed limit is higher.
Check your mirrors before changing lane, nothing's more embarassing than swiping a car with your trailer.
Use your mirrors when making a turn. If you turn too sharply then you risk hitting a road sign at best and the barrier or other vehicles at worst.
If you *must* overtake on a two-wide road and the lines permit then look ahead to ensure there is no oncoming traffic.
You can always turn right at a red light unless posted otherwise

I wholly recommend using a simulation steering wheel, even if they don't have the size and slant of a rig's wheel. This allows for precise steering. A stick is also a good idea even if you don't want to use manual transmissions, you can set up your positions for Drive and Reverse (For example, I set the 2nd position to Drive and the push-in Reverse to, well, Reverse, much like how BeamNG.drive handles sticks in Automatic vehicles).

There *is* VR support but it's not documented on the store page and it's not perfect but it does make for an atmospheric experience with a steering wheel controller. There are many guides on how to get it working and it'll work for pretty much any HMD for PC.

Some gripes with the game include the difficulty of manually parking a trailer which is why the game gives a forward park "Play it safe" option or to skip it altogether, the missed experience isn't as much as you think. Another is long distance deliveries through California due to the 55 mph limit for heavy vehicles but I understand why, gentle curves at 70 or 80 mph is a *little* bit terrifying in a fully loaded semi.

Overall, I recommend this game for someone looking for a more casual driving experience, especially for VR users.

One thing I hope for in the future is more states being introduced. I hope for the day I can truck in and around Minnesota. (If you do introduce Minnesota, please add County Road 10, that's right by my house, I won't say specifically where though).