Exploring Gamepass - Star Trucker

Star Trucker

For many years I have enjoyed the open road that truck simulators have given us access to from the comfort of our own home; well now we can take the next step and explore open space from our living rooms. When I first opened up Star Trucker I was excited to hook up and pull space cargo from one place to the next, little did I know that there was going to be more to it then hook up and go. Star Trucker isn't your usual truck simulator game, it has more challanges and a story with colorful charaters that you meet along the way.

Positives

• Trucks in Space!

This one is pretty self-explanatory, has anyone into trucking ever not wanted to drive a truck in space?


• The Story

The story in this game is extremely well done and I love the characters you meet along the way. The story also leads to unlocks so that you can access more star systems which I personally love as a game mechanic.

• Map Unlocking

The game isn't meant to be a full on simulator, it's meant to be a story with simulator elements. Therefore, I love the way that you unlock star systems based on what upgrades you have on your truck and that you can't just rush into unlocking them.

• Controls

I sat down to play and wondered how long it would take me to get used to the controls, well it didn't take long as the controls are simple and work how you would expect them to. The W, A, S and D keys change the direction of your ship, Q and E change the rotation, Space makes your ship accelerate and Shift either slows you down or puts you in reverse. All other controls end up being a click of the mouse inside the cab, but don't worry, the tooltips are excellent.


• Difficulty Settings

When you start up the game and click "New Game" you are greeted with a lot of difficulty options. Each option has a great description and offers their own challenges, but you can also make your own. You have the choice to do custom settings where you can choose what parts of the game you want to be hard and what parts you want to avoid for as long as you can(looking at you air filters).

Negatives

• Docking

When docking your truck you need to line up just right, which isn't bad if you start off seeing the docking point in your rear camera. The problem comes when you want to line up from the exterior camera, there is no guide and you have to go into the interior view in order to actually dock.


• Map Detail

The map has a lot of detail for a few different aspects, however the one detail that is missing is where the repair shops are.

• Tutorial

The tutorial starts out well showing you how to drop off loads and pick them up. That's kinda where the tutorial ends though, so it was difficult to find how some maintenance items work and where they go.

• Controller Support

This negative is a small one but being that it takes place in space I would've loved to have joystick support.

Conclusion

Star Trucker is definitely a game that I will continue to play and enjoy, especially with hearing that they will continue to update and develop it in the future. One thing to remember is you don't have to rush into doing all the story missions. I highly recommend doing a bunch of jobs in the starter system and building up some cash and supplies before venturing into the more difficult systems. I wasn't overly prepared and got cooked because I didn't notice my climate control had stopped working while in a solar flash. I hope to complete the game at some point and come back and tell you how the entire game was.