It’s been a good year for simulation fans, with construction sims like Roadcraft elevating the genre, another great entry in the Train Sim World series, and Powerwash Simulator 2 is about to grace us with its presence. Saber Interactive has now given us a little glimpse at things to come with Bus Bound, but are you going to want to hop on for the journey?
The Bus Bound demo lets you jump straight into the seat as a new driver for the Emberville bus network. Rather than relying on money for funding the network, Emberville’s transport department has seen fit to use customer satisfaction as the sole metric for success, using their happiness to determine the funding they assign the service. That means your priority is making sure people get to their destinations quickly and safely to ensure the continued growth of the bus network. If only real public transport was like this, right?
First, you’ll need to learn how to drive though. If you’ve played any other simulators before, including Bus Simulator 21 which is by the same creators, you’ll immediately feel at home here. While the game is definitely a simulator, it’s on the more “friendly” end of the spectrum: less focused on the minutiae of operating the bus and more on making sure you’re able to easily accomplish the key jobs that’ll allow you to progress. Starting on the outskirts of town you’ll learn the basics of driving, indicating, traffic laws and letting customers get on/off the bus as you work your way towards the depot in the city centre. It’s a nice, gentle start and I appreciated the extra space afforded to you on the highway while getting the hang of the handling.
Once you’ve arrived at the depot you’re essentially free to progress however you see fit. Your aim is to bring functional and free transport to every district in Emberville so you’ll need to drive routes, improve customer satisfaction and collect “likes” which demonstrate to the city that people are happy. More likes means more routes, cosmetics and the ability to place more stops on your own custom routes. It’s a simple set up but I like how it lets you tackle things in an order of your own choosing.
Out on the road is where the game really shines. The handling of the buses is satisfying; they’re slow and cumbersome as you’d expect, but still always enjoyable to drive. Picking your way through rush hour traffic from stop to stop isn’t exactly thrilling, but fun in its own, understated way. You’ll need to keep your wits about you too as Emberville is a busy city, so you’ll be dodging roadworks, following the rules of the road and lining the bus up perfectly when pulling into a stop to ensure you get the maximum points.
You’re aided in all this by an excellent HUD. Arrows on the floor help guide your route, but they also mirror the status of traffic lights on the way, so you know when you need to slow and stop without having to try and keep an eye on the lights themselves. I played on ROG Ally, so on a 7-inch screen this is a much appreciated addition. Indicating is a simple case of tapping LB/RB, but your rear view mirror pops up on your HUD while the indicator is active which makes it easier to avoid penalties such as hitting the curb or sideswiping parked cars, both things that the citizens of Emberville are, unsurprisingly, not happy about.
Visually the game looks pretty good. I think there’s a certain level of detail expected from this type of game and Bus Bound hits all the marks, and driving around the city in first person is an immersive experience because of it. Your drivers seat is suitably detailed without you needing to worry about what all the buttons do, and you won’t be taking fares so you can focus purely on the driving. Emberville is full of little touches that make it feel real too. At one point I was idling at the traffic lights waiting to continue my journey and as I looked around I realised there was a kids birthday party happening at the house on the corner. It’s the little things like this that help prevent the city from feeling sterile, which can be an issue in some sims.
There’s a lot to like about Bus Bound, and while it’s not going to blow away anyone who’s looking for a high octane thrillfest, it’s definitely one to check out if you’ve got even a passing interest in the sim genre. Driving around Emberville, weaving through rush hour traffic and pulling perfectly into a bus stop is a satisfying experience in its own right and I’m looking forward to trying the full game when it arrives.
Bus Bound is “coming soon” on PC via Steam.
