Bus Driver

When you ride the bus, you take for granted that the folks driving the eight-ton vehicle have a good handle on how to operate things. Well, somebody who must have dwelled on this thought while they rode the bus to their game development job and decided to see if the normally very mundane and boring life of a bus driver would be an exciting video game. Now before you get the idea that you can drive your bus like a maniac and plow through the streets taking out other drivers (you totally can), you must understand that in this game, the points are made by obeying the rules of the road, picking up and dropping off passengers and generally behaving like a member of the upright citizen brigade.

Now normally this wouldn't sound like a particularly challenging game, but then things begin getting tougher. You see, as you play you start off merely doing a bus route through the city when there is hardly any traffic and/or other driving hazards. As you go through the game's challenges though, more and more traffic begins to appear, extra stops are required, getting on and off the freeway, and construction sites are but some of the challenges. Before you know it you are transporting violent criminals from the jail to the courthouse or vice versa. Weather conditions begin to affect your driving and even sloppy drivers of other cars all mean to mess you up.

 
"Why do the tires squeal when I drive on ice?"

As you go, the game scores you for the little and big things you do. Using your turn signal when you change lanes, stopping at red lights, obeying the rules of the road, stopping in the predefined bus stop area and making good, safe, time is all paramount for achieving the maximum score. Now I won't lie to you, the game is very simplistic in its graphics department - some sharp lines, boxy vehicle models and a not so liberal use of color. The game is what we like to call "retro-looking" in game reviewing circles. Now this doesn't detract from the actual gameplay. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a game like this from a major developer with the full-sized budget for production, so in a sense I can understand and appreciate what the developers were doing here. It clearly is a budget-title game, but makes no bones about it either and does its best with what it has.

As you play, you are constantly given points for doing the things you should do correctly and points will be taken away when you don't. Collecting everyone from the bus stops can be a little tricky because the people load on to the bus at a snails pace, so you could accidentally forget to get everyone. Getting your passengers there in the correct time and not hitting anyone all factor into your overall score. Once a mission has been played, a score is given for it and the person with the highest score gets bragging rights by having their name associated with it.

There isn't much going for the audio, there is a decent enough score during the title screen and while playing. An upbeat, almost comforting tune designed to kind of fade into the background. More importantly, there is plenty of road noise to go along with the game. Brakes screeching, horns honking, construction going on ... you know, all the things you would expect in a game like this. Not that it is perfect, because it certainly is not, but again, the company really did the best they could do with what they had going for it. I can't help but think that this game is like the little engine that could.

 
"The double decker, when you absolutely, positively must get 60 people there at the same time."

 At this point  the game is relatively average, nothing super great about it, but not horrid either, but it should be noted that I really did not care for the controls on this game. I can't help but think this title really needed to be played with the mouse. As it is, the game is controlled by using the arrow keys to move, accelerate and brake, with the "[,]" buttons used for the turn signal and the enter button for opening and closing of the doors for passengers. Not an overly complicated setup, but one that feels uncomfortable to manage. Now you can reassign the keys, but you cannot use the mouse or any other controller. Moving the bus screams mouse control or gamepad, but it simply never happens because there is no way to use them.

Gameplay: 4.0
Not as smooth or as nice as it should be, if you are going to make a game like "Crazy Taxi" then you need to make the controls much more engaging, and include mouse and controller possibilities."

Graphics: 5.7
Like I said, it is simplistic and resembles games from 10 years ago, but the game has a sort of appeal with its clunky appearance and child friendly looks.

Sound: 5.2 
Honk! Screech! Wheeeeeee!

Difficulty: Medium
Getting the controls down to a really comfortable science is probably the toughest challenge. Otherwise, the missions go from easy to pretty challenging in the span of about 25 missions.

Concept: 7.0
It is surprisingly a nifty idea. It would have been cool if really off-the-wall things started happening like volcanoes and alien invasions while you doggedly maintained your route. Now were talking about a game that would get a budgeted production value and big release.

Overall: 5.7
The controls aren't that fun, the graphics are dated and the sound isn't really all that tight, but the game has some fun hidden in there when taken in small doses. I think this is the kind of game that will appeal to most, but will ultimately disappoint due to the overall experience.