18 Wheels of Steel: Across America

You won’t like it, but will still play for hours.

18 Wheels of Steel: Across America was released in 2003 and is a very similar game to Hard Truck: 18 Wheels of Steel. The biggest differences are that the graphics are updated, and there are more trucks and more types of cargo. This is one of the oddest games ever with the fact that it is blatantly unfulfilling and most people instantly dislike it, and yet you can easily burn through hours on it without even noticing. Even reviewers on YouTube may say they are going to give a short let’s play review and their review is an hour long.

Drive Around The US In A Truck

Pass through 30 US cities; choose from 30 trucks and over 40 trailers. The engines operate at above 2500 RPM and time works as 24 minutes in a day, which means your days fly by rather quickly; luckily the roads are measured to compensate. This means if in the US it would take you five hours to get from one town to another, then in the game it will take you five minutes because the road is suitably scaled.

In the game, you battle against three other drivers that are controlled by the computer. There are five types of game you can play, and each has its own set of rules and goals. The types of game are:

Become a Millionaire

The Devil of the Western Coast

New York Cargo Madness

The Longest Journey

Free Mode

All The Thrills Of Waiting In Traffic

In order to make the game more realistic, you will have to wait in traffic. You will quickly lose the game if you start mounting the kerb GTA style.

Driving is very tricky at first and it takes you a while to get used to it. The noise may also put a lot of people off the game. One gets the feeling that this addictive game was created for people that are “not” already truck driving fans. It seems that fans of the truck simulator genre may be disappointed by this game. People that are not fans will probably hate the game off the bat, but will be unable to put it down.

It Has 2003 Graphics

Graphically the game is quite good for a 2003 creation, but some people complain that the graphics are not as pretty as the sequels. This is a seemingly unfair criticism, since one expects sequels to have better graphics, plus this game does improve on the graphics of previous truck simulators.

Pros

• The rock music is very good
• It is not a bad truck simulator for its day
• Very engaging if you can get past your first delivery
• Addictive in a good way
• Anger the other people on the road

Cons

• Later sequels have far better graphics
• Good for people that have never played a truck simulator
• Driving is very tricky
• The temptation to break the rules is tough to resist
• Not a game for people that want thrills and spills