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K/ni of the Road
Page 59
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There's only one game in the bunch that can sensibly he compared to 18 Wheels ofStedvieross America, and that's King of the Road.
Although well over a year old now. King of the Road still stands up admirably as a well-designed and well-implemented haulage sim. It's not quite as serious in its aspirations to reality as 18 Wheels, but the game, which takes place in a fictional but distinctly US-like part of the world,still involves finding loads at rates you can make money from and getting them from A to B without losing or damaging them — or paying out so much in vehicle repairs or emergency service callouts that you end up in the red.
In some ways.in fact, this is a much more realistic game than 18 Wheels. For one thing its truck options include Scanias.Dafs. Renaults and Mercedes as well as a number of US marques.
Having upgraded to a Scania,just to see, all credit to the game's designers on faithfully reproducing cab interiors, right down to that trademark wraparound dash.
Vehicles can be driven with manual or automatic gearboxes, and there's even a green band shown on the rev counter — though it wasn't too clear if it cut fuel consumption.
The game offers both rigids and artics to try out,as well as cars, and handling is as realistic as you can get using a set of cursor keys.The scenery and weather conditions vary to keep things interesting (though there's not much in the way of urban driving) and you can even recruit other owner-drivers to build a haulage empire.
Life on the road naturally involves regular fuel stops and repairs. You can also upgrade your vehicle in a multitude of ways; we didn't take long to add an extra fuel tank and invest in some satnav kit, for example.
But the game also contains an element of the surreal. For example, to get a licence to recruit another owneroperator you have to drive to a special circuit and win a truck race.This is obviously a lot more fun than applying to your locr Traffic Commissioner, but it is a bit of a departure from real life.Similarly,along all the real-life trucks you encounter, thc are some distinctly unusual vehicles am including one that looks like an eightwheeled all-terrain amphibian.
If you find the realism is still too stark your taste you can decide how far along scale between 'simulation' and 'arcade': run the game how much da you get and e how much oil traffic is on th road. If only t trick could be applied to Ter Finally, and perhaps most unrealistica with every load you deliver you lind you racing against a number of other vehicle delivering the same goods to the same destination, with greater rewards on offi for getting there before them. Entertain Highly. But realistic? Let's hope not!
Despite this split personality — perhaj even because of it —King of the Road is a first rate game with a unique feel. Its age means it's not quite as pleasing graphica newer alternatives hut it's not far behinc given its ludicrously low priee,it's a fantr amount of entertainment for your moru: