{tag [Review]} {tag [PC]}

sim·u·la·tion  Pronunciation[sim-yuh-ley-shuhn] –noun
1. imitation or enactment, as of something anticipated or in testing. 
2. the act or process of pretending; feigning. 
3. an assumption or imitation of a particular appearance or form; counterfeit; sham. 
4. Psychiatry. a conscious attempt to feign some mental or physical disorder to escape punishment or to gain a desired objective. 
5. the representation of the behavior or characteristics of one system through the use of another system, esp. a computer program designed for the purpose.

I think there are a few definitions that work extremely well to provide an example of what a simulation is supposed to be.  I almost forgot this fact while reviewing Bus Simulator.  When I remembered that this game was supposed to also be a simulation game, it changed how I looked at Bus Simulator.  After that, it did not take me very long to determine why one of the other definitions for simulation fits this game very well.  Such being said, let's see why Bus Simulator is "an assumption or imitation of a particular appearance or form; counterfeit; sham."

Graphics: 30%
 Nobody has ever said that graphics have to look realistic to be great.  This is true unless you are creating a game that specifically says "simulator".  Not only do they not qualify as semi-realistic they are also not appealing in any sense.  They look like the developer tried hard to pull something off but in the end it just looks harsh and uninteresting.  In fact, the way some of the graphics are setup really makes me have a hard time believing that this would be a real city.  In the end, something either with the graphics or the game caused it to run slow, from my investigating I am not alone in believing this. (SuperGuido's machine, more than within the minimum system requirements was unable to play the game properly. So beware the system requirements).

Sound 30%
While the music is delightful it does nothing to distract me from the other sounds.  Of course, that is only when other sounds are present to hear.  It just seems too quiet as if there really is not enough sound happening to make me believe I am driving a bus around.  Even when it rained I did not hear raindrops. Don't get me wrong, I think they covered the main parts; exhaust, engine, brakes, people screaming as you run them over... I just don't think there are enough of the tiny little detail sounds that really make a difference even if this were not a simulation game.  I miss the warm wind caressing my speakers or the gentle chirp of a bird smacking into a window.  Where is any of that?

Gameplay: 20%
Sometimes simple is not acceptable, as is such in this case.  Sure there are a lot of buttons to control mundane mechanics such as: horn, doors, lights and even the stop announcement;  any MMO I play has more controls than Bus Simulator does.  The steering is touchy which really makes me worry about the safety of the UK's bus system.  Then I remember that this simulation is quite flawed and I can rest easy once again.  Again, either it is the graphic engine or the game engine but something is causing this game to run slow.  Like I said, I snooped around and apparently I am not alone; others are experiencing this same phenomenon as well.  The ad campaign management is interesting, since you also have to worry about trying to make money in this game.  I had to pay money to run ads and this confused me.  At first I thought these were adverts that would be placed on my bus such as our American capitalist system does.  No, these were ads to promote using the bus line.  Ah, ad campaigns to make people think I drive safe; I'll take three please!  Of course the real way to make money is to adjust ticket prices and although I am not familiar with the pound system I know that the more I jack prices up the less people will ride and the less money I ask for the less I make because only so many people will ride.  However intriguing these systems were I am highly disappointed that I cannot go mad man and drive the bus where ever I want to.  Eventually I hit an invisible wall on which I could crank my speed up to 100 km/h (though I wasn't going anywhere) and where I was promptly struck by a car. 

Controls/Interface 40%
There is quite a bit of information displayed; doors, lights, speed etc.  What perhaps should be always displayed is the map as it is quite needed in order to navigate to the next stops.  Controls are rudimentary and very finicky.  Heaven forbid that you should even try to use something else other than the keyboard to control everything.  Setting up an Xbox 360 control to run it is impossible.  Even SuperGuido said that after wasting twenty minutes to get it setup it did not work well at all.  The same thing can be said about trying to run the game with a joystick.  The process was long and sickening and even though I finally got it to work it ended up overly sensitive.  I eventually just stuck with the keyboard for this which, while tricky in itself was easier to stick with.  My main disappointment lies in the fact that other controllers are very hard to setup and barely work at all.  I'd hate the be the hardcore simulator fan trying to setup a wheel, I'd bet that would go over really well.

Summary - 30%
While the game in itself equals the quality of something I can find in a well done flash game, overall it is a huge disappointment. If a game is going to call itself a simulator more aspects of what it is emulating need to be employed.  Simulation games these day fall under the rigorous standards of those who enjoy them.  Honestly it should be titled "Bus Driver" or "City Bus" and I think they almost did because City-Bus.exe is the the actual name of the program. I found this game to be too resource greedy when it did not provide much in ways of performance.  According to my computer, I was using 700MB of memory and about 2Ghz of processing power and I definitely do not feel like I received equivalent exchange in terms of playability and performance.  In the end, all of this is why Bus Simulator tries hard, but is a sham and mockery of the real thing and other simulation games in general.