Bus Bound

Game has serious de-sync issues in multiplayer where cars would spawn right infront of you and be driving on the wrong side of the road/not on the road at all. It fells like the entire budget and development time was spent on bus physics as the map is poorly designed with really bad collision, which is made worse by the de-sync issues above. It feels like AI has designed the map and most of the textures within. After you have unlocked the whole map there's not much else to do as driving buses around gets very annoying in this game due to the collision physics and the overall look and feel of the game.

Reviewing this game is a little like trying to hit a moving target. I played the game when it originally came out, which means I ended up seeing issues with the game that have since been patched by updates. Most of the negative points I would’ve brought up have been fixed, but unfortunately others have come to replace them. + The game precompiles shaders on launch! Oh, thank god! + Emberville is a very nice map to drive around in, being a fictionalized version of Nashville, Tennessee. Not very large, but every block has nice scenery to gawk at. + Very nice selection of busses, including double-deckers and articulated, bendy busses. + Seeing the city’s districts and neighborhoods upgrade as you play creates a nice sense of progression. + The tourism drives are a very nice addition that mixes up the gameplay experience. + It could be a decent introduction to driving for the under 16s. The random events are a nice way to keep you on your toes, and there are pedestrians to watch out for, unlike Truck Sim. / Very light on simulation management. Besides driving, you're only planning out street routes. Not a problem for me, but worth mentioning. / Sometimes the district upgrades make driving through them harder than it was beforehand. - The game’s opening makes you think that there’s going to be an overarching story with voiced characters, but you’re more or less done with them after the tutorial. From there, the only updates you get are from upgrading the districts and the radio host’s commentary. - There is nothing worse than the traffic AI not knowing how to handle one of the random events that happen in the street and coming to a complete halt, forcing the player to go onto the wrong side of the road to get around them, getting chewed out by the passengers in the process. - Sharp eyes will regularly spot cars randomly popping out of existence. - It's a little odd that you're the only bus on the road. It would've been nice to see more as you progress in the game. - I wish the game had in-game custom radio. The game’s country soundtrack is okay, but gets old quickly. - Since the latest update at the time of this review, the game suffers from persistent stuttering. Mostly microstutters with the occasional big, nasty hitch. Easily noticeable when watching crossing traffic. It took me 50 hours to get all of the achievements. People only playing to get to the end can expect it to take around 15-20 hours, depending on how efficient you want to be about it. Look, I just wanted a driving game that I could play when I needed a break from American Truck Simulator. For that purpose, Bus Bound fits the bill for me. I like it more than I don’t, but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that this game is pretty rough around the edges. Sometimes it feels like it’s being held together by only glue, duct tape and a prayer. I might’ve given it a normal recommendation had I reviewed it on the spot after rolling the credits, but after sitting on it for a while, nah. Mehcommended.

Basic issues not fixed after months, instead they rush out more DLC. Avoid!

kind of boring. expected more simulation and rewarding progression. a decent enough arcade but not enough to keep me focused. found myself dozing often. so i guess the suspension works well

[h2]Просто сел и выдохнул[/h2] Игра именно для того, чтобы переключиться. После работы или бытовухи сел, поехал — и голова отдыхает. Без напрягов, без сложных систем, просто катишь по городу и собираешь лайки. [b]Что понравилось:[/b] [list] [*] Графика. Не вау-вау, но красиво и приятно глазу. [*] Физика трафика. Могла бы быть и лучше, но в целом очень достойно. [*] Фидбэк на руль. Не ожидал, что будет настолько хорошо настроен. Очень достойно. [*] На последнем рейсе после финального улучшения района титры висят в воздухе над дорогой — прикольно сделали. [/list] Из странностей — мультиплеер. Нет поиска игроков, только по приглашению, максимум 4 человека. Классика от Saber, как в SnowRunner и RoadCraft. [hr] [b]В целом — хорошая расслабляющая каталка. Если нужно просто выдохнуть за рулём автобуса и ни о чём не думать — самое то.[/b]

I want to support this game. I really do. It's an escape from reality for me to a time when I used to actually operate transit buses. And it did initially tick those boxes very well. But as I started unlocking areas beyond the core of the city, that escape from reality turned into an escape to a fictional and highly unrealistic world, and I can no longer unsee that. The road network leaves a lot to be desired. Many intersections are either far too cramped or far too large. Middle ground would align with design standards, and yet it misses that mark both ways. Traffic behaviour is acceptable in slow-speed urban areas, but once you get to faster roads, the frequent chirping of vehicles locking up their brakes, as well as random and unprovoked braking just sends your stress levels through the roof. Scenery and game performance is very good, and a lot of the urban areas are incredibly well detailed it makes you feel like you're actually in another city. But then you get to some rural areas like the distant industrial areas with the grotesquely-oversized oil well pumps (easily 2x scale) and the unrealistic buildings and scenery along those roads. The elevated highways and railways just look like someone pieced together old Mehaco structure kits with no regard for instructions or reality. The elevated railways don't represent any kind of railroad I have ever seen - even some urban elevated transit lines don't look entirely like that. The big highway out by the airport is easily 3x too high up, making it need double loops to actually get up to the darn thing (of which AI vehicles can't smoothly navigate). And the airport itself? Sure, I was super excited to finally unlock it. Then I discover it essentially looks like someone bought a steel mill building for their model railroad, and slapped "airport" signage all over it. I have never in my life seen an airport that looks like that, let alone one that has such an awful user-unfriendly road network that makes any kind of navigation with a bus seem like completing it gets you an olympic As a former bus operator, the physics and operation of the buses is wonderful. Let me not forget that. The game has so much potential, and it really is there. If I could literally double the size of the developed urban area, and maybe triple the number of bus stops that exist (or even allow us to place our own - there's areas where they're too sparse or just plain missing), it would be an amazing game. But then once you go beyond that urban core, the entire atmosphere is ruined by poor decisions, loss of realism, lack of urban design and infrastructure knowledge, and an AI driving dynamic that makes some of the worst drivers in the world actually seem predictable and reasonable.

Unbearable micro-stuttering. NPC pedestrians, cars, and the bus itself are teleporting around. Graphics settings have no effect on this. Tips about disconnecting from the internet while playing didn't help. It's unplayable in this state. I really tried everything—sorry.

Kann leider über das Gameplay nicht viel sagen. Das Spiel stürzt bei mir gefühlt alle 10 min. ab oder friert ein. Hatte gehofft, das die Updates das Problem fixen aber leider Nein. Auch deinstallieren und neu installieren hat nichts gebracht.