Bus simulator 21 in the test: the best part of the series so far

Test Conclusion

Test note

2.1

Well

With the large fleet, the huge, varied designed maps and other innovations and improvements in game mechanics, sky depth and comfort succeeds the Bus Simulator 21 effortlessly the rise to the previously best part of the series. The usability is exemplary regardless of smaller weaknesses with the Gamepad. Thanks to the four difficulty levels, developers Stillalive Studios almost optimally ensures that all game types come to their expenses, from the relaxed hobby bus driver to the simulation purifies. Perfection is the bus simulator 21 but a good piece away. For this, it lacks individual functions too much on an intuitive menu structure. Above all, however, the technical jump falls less than hoped for three years after the last part. A few days before the publication, numerous, though usually smaller bugs were unfortunate the overall picture.

Read product reviews at Amazon

Per

Large range of authentically reformed bus models and brands Many individual customization options for driver and bus Beautiful and complex card design Optional support for common steering wheels, Tobii Eyetracking and Trackir Four difficulty levels, from the occasion driver to the simulation track Motivating economic system in building your own company Flowing day-night change with beautiful light, shadow and rainfall effects

Passengers often tell funny little stories Predominantly intuitive bus control also with gamepad

Contra

Facts graphically in total Numerous, albeit predominantly cosmetic bugs Partly unnecessarily confusing menus Road participants occasionally with coarse dropouts Campaign missions predominantly uninspired

All technical data and variants

to offer

To the offer at Amazon to the offer at Idealo

Occupational simulations deadlines in the game sector has long since no longer a nicheasease, but increasingly present in the mainstream - this also show the supported platforms: were console versions of popular SIM games used to be the exception, implementation for PlayStation and Xbox next to the genre-typical PC version is now the normal case . Not different is this at the Bus Simulator 21 , the sixth part of the 2007 game series from the German Publisher Astragon.

Especially in the highly competitive segment of bus simulations, however, the competition does not sleep - who wants to be successful, must provide better arguments than the competitors. In the test, it was found that the Austrian developer Stillalive Studios, which has now implemented a series part for the fourth time in a row a series part for the fourth time in a row, wants to comply with the increased demands in almost all areas, but can not fulfill them in all points.

Fetter fleet on great cards

In the Bus Simulator 21 , the stimulus naturally consists primarily of taking place behind the steering wheel of the large transport buses and bring the passengers safely to the goal as possible as possible. There are a total of 30 vehicles for the election, which you gradually add to the fleet of your bus company or can sell again if necessary. All models are officially licensed and authentically reproduced down to the smallest detail, from the cockpit to seating. In the paint shop, they adapt the vehicles more strongly to their personal preferences and even brush up advertising logos to generate additional revenue. The vehicles all come from well-known manufacturers, including Man, Iveco, Alexander Dennis and Volvo. There are normal city buses like the Citaro of Mercedes-Benz, biplane such as the Enviro500 or joint and overland buses like the Lion's City CNG of Man and the S 412 μl of Setra. Also included are different sustainable E-Bus models, such as the Chinese manufacturer BYD.

Of course you are allowed to drive every single route, whether a day or night, even yourself. So that all of the freely producible and easy-to-adjustable routes can be operated in parallel, competent Ki colleagues take the arms, which they replace them at any time - thanks to the comfortable quick travel system even in the middle of a ride. Fun makes the transport of passengers not least due to the diverse big cards. On the one hand, the advanced and modernized, European Map Seaside Valley, which have already explored serial connoisseurs in similar form at the predecessors. Completely new is the US card Angel Shores, whose name already suggests a mixture of the great West Coast Metropolis of California.

The new scene can shine with its sightseeing qualities with architecturally exceptional buildings, with beautiful views of the coastal road in the style of the Bay Area around San Francisco or with unique municipal districts like the Chinatown district. The complex road course in which the developers do not mimic the typical chessboard pattern of the US cities ensures that it will not be boring at the X-th tour. What is missing are more far-reaching ways to interact with the environment away from the trips. Numerous innovations in the passengers, however, weigh more than on.

Lifelike passengers

Developer Stillalive Studios knows exactly that the daily routine is running fast risk, boring. Therefore, the makers in the Bus Simulator 21 ensure that it is not with the stops to dissip the stops one after the other, always to lower the vehicle and in a perfect position to keep to keep the turn signal on the way there, Despite the (small) time pressure not to go too much on the accelerator pedal. Thus, the bus driver ensures that all passengers can arrest and get out of the wheelchair drive through the ramp for wheelchair users. And many customers first need tickets that they need to print correctly and spend along with a matching return.

From time to time, a passenger also blocks a door that you need to manually move to enter correctly. If a passenger stops loud music, you need to ask him to set the noise pollution. Then the other passengers are particularly satisfied and the player or the player expects a bonus instead of a malus - similar to the avoidance of traffic violations. If you want, you can also use the time window while driving to the next stop to control the tickets. Discover a black driver, you can directly collect the penalty fee!

Although the Ki passengers hinder themselves sometimes unnecessarily at the right of access and exit, sometimes even fulfilled in each case due to the faulty collision query. In the Bus Simulator 21 , they still work more strongly than in earlier series parts. Said wheelchair drivers makes for themselves carefully when they forget to extend the ramp. In addition, the passengers have numerous sayings on it, tell out of their holidays or hustle film citats, for example, on The Lord of the Rings ( A bus never comes too late, he always arrives when he intended. ) . For a long period of time such details may be repeated too often, so they come out of a formally to the ears again. But especially for a professional simulation, the variety granted is quite large - especially since you do not have to take care of everything manually.

Which, on the other hand, is a bit annoying, the behavior of other road users. That the cars are stuck at a traffic light or even on the crosswalk at a large intersection time, everything is unrealistic in itself. But it often happens that the cars on the streets are simply stopping and waiting for minutes, even though they could pass long. Although the KI operates better and more comprehensible in this area, we would still have hoped for clearer progress. After all, the density of the traffic is usually voted very well, so that the indicated problems with a discourse can be corrected by a discreetly disturbed overtaking maneuver as a rule without disadvantages.

Always bigger, always on

You can have fun in the Bus Simulator 21 if you tackle everything completely relaxed - the game forgives a lot anyway and put them practically never under greater pressure. Four selectable game levels ensure that every type of player comes to its costs. Because on request, the Bus Simulator 21 can also mutate to the hardcore simulator, which punishes rough mistakes harder and requires correspondingly much more meaningful planning in the route network and perfection in the implementation. However, you generally expand your scope on the cards only if you generate appropriate revenue, optimize routes and expand your fleet. Otherwise, access to the later unlockable districts will also be denied. But there is also the possibility to activate a sandbox mode, which mainly facilitates the simulation life slightly.

Tingling, the regular path is only conditionally. They are meaningfully introduced into all functions, even in full-song dialogues. The tasks contained therein are still quite uninspired in their construction. And later, although the goal is often clear - for example, reaching a higher level in one of the city districts - but not how to effectively achieve this. The developers could have maintained the initially tutorial-like mission design with step-by-step instructions in the later game so that professionals are not impressed, but beginners feel better at the same time. Especially the menu structures are only limited self-explanatory and little intuitively designed. The basic control works great for this - even if you prefer to enter the input via GAMEPAD instead of mouse and keyboard or even one of the supported steering wheels.

In the presentation, the Bus Simulator 21 leaves an ambiguous impression. He beats the approximately three-year-old predecessor around lengths - just on the new US card also in aesthetic terms. The total ordinary degree of detail, the pretty light and shadow effects or the rain can only be due to the fact that the game acts technically dusty. In addition, numerous graphics bugs occurred in our trial version, even after the final update. Although these are predominantly atmospherically insignificant and usually occur only on the edge. But even the Berlin Simulation still in the development shows The Bus , also based on the Unreal Engine 4, how much more visually had been in it.

Release: Bus Simulator 21 appears on September 7, 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, where the console versions also work on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S. The game is released without age restriction and costs in the trade in the standard edition between 30 and 50 Euro.