Finally this long anticipated addition to the Hard Truck series arrives and it is certainly the best one. The makers of this series are doing great, the first 18 Wheels of Steel was a good game, and it established a solid ground for truck simulation games in general to follow. The releases that followed that had some flaws, and the latest one American Long Haul was probably the best of all that group. Now this game has acquired the crown. First, it is set in Europe, which is a great change and very welcome as well, from playing on American Maps all the time. The graphics are really amazing, the detail level is very high, especially the interior of the truck, where everything is animated, and you can see all the digits, and speedometers in action. This was missing or not fully functional in previous editions of the game. The greatest improvement is the handling of the truck, it feels more realistic, and not a 100% arcade driving anymore. You have to be a lot more careful when you turn for instance. Installation is quite easy and fast, no problems there. System requirements are not that big, but it is always preferable to have a good graphics card of at least 256 dedicated memory, and 1 Giga Ram. This will insure a smooth running of the game. I am running it on those setting, and I do get some glitches now and then, but nothing serious. The roads, maps, and companies all look amazing in the game, very realistic and enjoyable to watch while driving. Certain aspects of the game remain more or less the same with a little bit of improvement, like the economy and strategy, where you have to build your company from scratch, though they did introduce something like a ranking system in the campaign where you improve your status by achieving certain requirements.
I did notice some flaws however: The horn sound is not that great, not suitable for a truck at all. And there is no sound for Reverse, which is a bit strange.
I am still in the first stage of the game, and could not see that there is Radio or chatter, which was good, but now it is misssing, which makes the game a bit too quit for my liking. There is probably an option to play your own tracks, but could not find it so far.
The system of trailer detachment has changed, now it is a bit more difficult, and you have to be very accurate. Though it adds to the challenge, and makes the game even more realistic.
So in a nutshell, excellent truck simulation game, amazing graphics, sadly there is no UK map, game play is awesome, and it is definitely worth buying whether you are a big truck fan, or just a fan of simulation games, this is a real must buy. Top quality simulation game and best in the series.