Bus World is one of those sims that immediately feels that little bit different from the usual “drive here/stop here” routine. Instead, it throws you straight into these odd heightened scenarios where you’re not just driving a bus, but rather trying to keep everything from falling apart around you. On Xbox, the ambition is certainly there, even if the rough edges show themselves pretty quickly.
Disaster-Driven Driving
The main hook here is the global missions, and honestly, they’re exactly what the game needed. Regular routes would’ve got old, and fast, but sending you into situations like tsunami rescues or Chernobyl evacuations instantly gives the whole thing a touch of personality. These aren’t just novelty missions either – some of them feel genuinely tense, and it’s nice having objectives that require more thought than simply following a GPS line and opening doors.
The range of environments also helps. One minute you’re cruising through a scorched evacuation zone, and the next you’re fighting an oncoming tsunami that’s right on your heels. Furthermore, the game does a decent job at making each mission feel like its own rather than just being a carbon copy of the last. It’s just a shame that, when the tension ramps up, the controls don’t always keep up with it.
Controls, Crashes, and a Rough Start
Before I even begin to get into the game properly, I ran straight into what I assumed was an infinite loading screen (I didn’t wait for an infinite amount of time) on my very first restart. Nothing kills momentum quite like watching an endless loading screen while you wonder if you should just give up and go back to Black Ops 7, or the like). Thankfully, once I relaunched it, things behaved, but it wasn’t the best of early impressions.
As for the driving itself, it’s fine, but never really great. There’s a slightly dated stiffness to the controls, almost like the bus is thinking of turning instead of actually doing it. That’s not a gamebreaker in a normal sim, but when the game wants you navigating flooding roads or racing the clock during a nuclear evacuation, the sluggishness fast becomes a bit more noticeable. However, once you slow your expectations down to match the game’s pace, you start to get the rhythm of it.
A Little Rough, But Atmospherically Solid
Visually, there’s no getting around the fact that Bus World looks a bit old. Nothing here screams modern, and at times it feels like something from well over a decade ago. But, weirdly, that almost works in its favor. The slightly dated look gives the disaster zones a grainy, low-budget charm, like you’re playing through a TV reenactment rather than a big-budget simulation.
To its credit, the atmosphere is on point. Driving your Chernobyl during an evacuation has weight to it, even with the visuals being behind the times. The game leans into the mood of each scenario just enough for you to be able to overlook some of its roughness. Furthermore, the variety in mission types makes it easy to overlook the weaker “free-driving” sections which tend to get repetitive.
Summary
Bus World isn’t trying to compete with the slicker, more polished driving sims out there. Instead, it leans into its disaster-based missions and builds its identity around them. When it works, it’s strangely compelling – guiding a bus through a flooded city or managing a tense evacuation can be genuinely engaging. However, the technical hiccups, dated presentation and stiff controls do drag it down at times.
If you’re after a straightforward bus-driving experience, this one might feel a little too bumpy. However, if you want something a little stranger, a little rougher and definitely more dramatic than the usual bus sim, Bus World is worth taking out for a spin – just be ready for those potholes along the way.
REVIEW
OUR SCORE - 7.3
7.3
SCORE
Ambitious, atmospheric, and occasionally clunky - but there's nothing else quite like it.
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