'Another unpaid work simulator', we thought when we saw the first trailer Taxi Life The City Driving Simulator saw passing by. The same video showed that players can drive an electric car and take it to a charging station to charge. Nice detail, we thought, but is there more to this taxi simulator?
You start the game with a tour of a practice course. What is immediately noticeable is the number of actions you have to perform. From turning on the indicators and headlights to the electric windows and cruise control: you have to do everything yourself. We are only missing a taximeter, strangely enough. The game goes a lot further than just driving.
We play the game with a controller and notice that the input does not come across well. When you push the steering stick to the left, the driver starts to turn quietly at first, but at a certain point the man decides to take over and then the steering wheel goes to maximum deflection. This makes taking a bend at some speed quite a challenge. A small correction is not possible and before you know it, you are wandering across the road like a drunk Uber driver.
You can expect more from this publisher
Okay, the steering feel isn't great, but what do you want from a game developer who makes a professional sim? Well, something, because the publisher (not the developer) is Nacon, the company that WRCgames between 2013 and 2022. You can assume that they know how the physics of a car works. Perhaps the intention is to make the steering very arcade, but this makes it more difficult to steer simply.
The taxi simulator environment is well designed
After completing the practice assignments, you can start working in the city. Taxi Life The City Driving Simulator takes place in Barcelona. You explore the Catalan metropolis and recognize attractions such as the statue of Columbus or the Plaça de Catalunya. You can find and tick off these types of monuments on the map. Checking off these sights is fun side questwhich Barcelona's city marketing department will be very happy with.
Furthermore, the streetscape of Barcelona also comes across quite well in the game. During the day the road is busy and pedestrians regularly cross at a zebra crossing, and in the evenings it is a bit quieter. During rush hour you will notice the Spanish temperament that is built into the NPCs. What is still missing are cyclists and scooter riders. On every corner of a road you will find shared bicycles and parked Vespas, which is also the case in the real world, but you will never encounter anyone on a two-wheeler.
This is how the taxi simulator works
In addition to monuments, gas stations and garages, you can find potential customers on the map. Click on such a customer to accept his ride. You then drive to the agreed location where a blue box is highlighted. You then take the customer to his destination where there is an orange box to park in. So much for an ordinary taxi ride.
During the ride, the passenger can ask questions about the city, the weather or order you to open the windows or turn down the radio. You can easily operate these functions via a shortcut menu while driving. The game slows down when you enter this menu to give you enough time to find the radio tab and turn the music down a notch.
When you have a customer in the car, you better watch your step. There is an orange bar on the screen that indicates the customer's patience. If you commit a traffic violation, the bar shrinks. The more patience you have, the more tip you get. You understand that it is not very entertaining to strictly adhere to the traffic rules in a game, but if you have the patience for it, you will be rewarded for it.
One of the problems of Taxi Life
An irritation point that we experience when delivering to a customer. His drop off zone is on the sidewalk. No problem, we'll just put it there. After the customer pays and gets out, you want to get back on the road, but then traffic blocks your way. Fine, then we wait a while, but a police officer drives among that traffic.
The Civil Guard can also really issue fines. For every three seconds we are on the sidewalk, we get a fine of 50 euros. Because the traffic keeps coming and we prefer not to damage the paintwork, we wait politely, but that costs 500 euros. More than the money we earned during the previous taxi ride.
Another problem in the taxi game
Unfortunately, things often go wrong in the busy city. You are waiting politely at a red traffic light while behind you a possessed Spaniard collapses. You will scare yourself into fear, because the animation of a collision makes it look like Barcelona is being hit by an earthquake and you are the epicenter. Ten minutes of play later it happens again. And then again. This causes the patience of the gamer and the virtual customer to deteriorate rapidly. If you have just delivered Juan neatly to his destination, you will have to spend the money you earned on the ride on maintenance.
Because of these kinds of problems and having to maintain your car every time, you hardly make any progress. We played the game a few evenings and have now been playing it for about five or six hours. We have not yet collected enough XP to reach the level to start a taxi company. Some YouTube videos from streamers tell us that managing a business in the game doesn't provide much work. You hire a driver, buy an extra car and your employee gets to work.
Therein lies one of the game's biggest pain points. The taxi simulator is detailed, but in the wrong places. It is nice that the city has been recreated one-to-one, but the makers should have spent more time exploring all the side effects of having a taxi company.
In addition, there will be few gamers who would like to turn on their game console after a long day of work or study, only to end up in a traffic jam with a grumpy customer in the backseat. No, the player would rather play a game of virtual football, play war or drive cars in a place where no pedestrians cross.
Where who the taxi simulator can be useful
Good is Taxi Life: The Driving Simulator more than an unpaid work sim? No, this can be a nice preparation for budding taxi drivers or others who want to get a taste of the profession. We can also imagine that this could work for courses or other learning moments where the player is given a VR headset and placed behind a steering wheel.
We can also imagine that you, as a resident or lover of the city of Barcelona, will have a great time. Developer Simteract has previously made these types of imitations for the professions of gardener, cook and train driver. Regarding the content of the game, we would advise makers with the proverb: cobbler stick to his last.
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