Alaskan Road Truckers: Highway Edition Review

Alaska is a pretty interesting place, isn’t it? Despite its beautiful, serene landscapes, this US state is home to some dangerous wildlife and crazy weather. Sounds like a perfect place for a videogame setting, though! In Alaskan Road Truckers: Highway Edition, you may not come across any deadly bears or get buried under a snowfall, but developer Road Studios has opted for a game that’s more than just your basic trucking sim. However, is it any good? Let’s find out!

Alaskan Road Truckers isn’t your typical one-note simulator title. There’s more to this game than simply cruising down the open roads to deliver whatever you’re hauling, as there’s actually some light survival elements to contend with. Keeping your rig in top shape may be the main priority, but don’t forget that your trucker needs to eat and sleep!

Before delving into the mechanics of the game, what is the actual premise of Alaskan Road Truckers? Well, you’re new to the state of Alaska and a trucking newbie with dreams of running a hauling company. Before you start towards this goal, though, you’ll be given a simple task to deliver some goods that acts as the game's tutorial. This covers all the basics from connecting the trailer to your cab, how to refuel, and, of course, how to actually drive the huge metal monster.

After this opening section, you’re free to choose what jobs to take on and start earning some cash while setting your sights on getting a company up and running. I did like that the game allowed me to pick which missions to undertake, and though they only ever boil down to “collect cargo, transport cargo, drop off cargo”, having options is always a good thing. Being able to take longer missions or quicker ones was a nice touch, and allows for short gaming sessions in between that pesky life thing that always gets in the way.

It’s no secret that simulators aren’t always the nicest-looking games on the market, and this one is no exception. That’s not to say it’s horrible to look at, as the environments aren’t too bad (although rather barren) and the weather effects that alternate depending on the season are done really well. It’s when getting closer to objects that you see some odd textures and creepy-looking NPCs.

Still, the audio is much better, and the music played over the radio is fitting for the trucker lifestyle. I’ve always found sim games focusing on vehicles to have authentic engine sounds, and that’s definitely the case here. Not that I could tell one engine from another, but these all certainly sound like trucks!

From a technical standpoint, Alaskan Road Truckers feels more polished than a lot of other games in the sim genre. Sure, there are a lot of clipping issues, weird NPC behaviour, and tonnes of generic dialogue, but it ran smoothly and I never experienced any crashes. Well, apart from the few times I wasn’t paying attention and veered into a tree or another vehicle on the road. I’m just glad there’s no insurance claim mini-game.

The main gameplay loop in Alaskan Road Truckers is all about driving your truck across the map to and from mission objectives in order to build up your cash income. The more jobs you complete, the more you can improve and elevate your status from a simple rookie.

Your main focus throughout your time with the game will be on driving. This is relatively simple and works how you’d expect any modern game that allows you to get behind the wheel would. You can opt for manual or automatic transmission, and there are button prompts available for when you need a reminder on how to turn your hazard lights on or to change the camera from first to third person, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary here. I did feel that the trucks felt a bit light to control, though, often swinging wildly at the lightest of analogue stick inputs.

You begin your journey to “lord of Alaskan trucking” in the summer, so thankfully the roads aren’t too hazardous. Although, once winter rolls around you’ll need to take extra care as the snow and ice play a big part in how your vehicle handles. Not only do you need to take care on the road, but you’ll also need to make sure your driver is happy, healthy, and warm! These small survival mechanics aren’t going to kill off your avatar, but will impact their driving ability. I liked these small additions, they gave the game a bit more variety and despite not being that in-depth, were still a welcome change from the usual format of sim games.

With the inclusion of building your own business comes management gameplay as well. Again, this isn’t something that takes a long time to learn, but being able to see it grow as you upgrade your base of operations, expand your fleet of trucks, and so on, gives the game a good sense of progression. Combined with the skill tree that allows you to upgrade various abilities, Alaskan Road Truckers’ gameplay loop is a satisfying one, albeit not overly complex.

Although Alaskan Road Truckers: Highway Edition doesn’t break the mould in terms of simulator games, I did like the added mechanics of the light survival and management elements. I felt like, whilst relatively basic, they added a lot more to the game and helped to stave off the repetition of just driving from one point on the map to another. As sims go, this is a fun one, and though it isn’t as grand as something like Euro Truck Simulator 2, console players would be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable trucking title.