Highway Heroes hands-on: Nostalgic American trucking tucked inside a cosy tycoon sim
Of delightful decals and delivery drives
When you're cruising down the wide-open roads with the cool breeze on your face and your favourite song on loop, running a trucking empire might be the farthest thing from your mind. But Highway Heroes, the latest management sim by Pixel Federation, has thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak, as it's meant to be a management game where you can still indulge in plenty of chill vibes all throughout. And after trying to run this truck tycoon ourselves, it definitely delivers - pun intended.
Saving the town, one truck at a time
From our experience, one of the things that sets Highway Heroes apart from other truck games is actually in its title - you are, in fact, the titular hero, in that you're saving the town with the service you provide. This seemingly insignificant premise bathes the business tycoon in a whole new light and gives it a deeper meaning - and with a bigger sense of purpose comes a more in-depth sense of satisfaction too.
As you might expect, this adds to the feel-good vibes of the gameplay itself - not to mention you get to see all your hard work and smart strategies paying off with every successful job you accomplish for the people of the town!
Every decal matters
Of course, fulfilling jobs for people means you need the best fleet as a truck manager, so apart from arranging the right resources, parts, and tools for repair, you'll also need to spice up how your vehicles look. Expanding your garage as you go along comes with it, and we've found that you really can customise every single thing about your truck down to the most minute detail.
It's not just splashing a new coat of paint or sticking a decal here and there (although that's pretty cool too - a certain WWII-inspired "We Can Do It!" sticker comes to mind in particular). You can upgrade your rigs with different personalisation options and parts to suit your tastes best.
Everything's better in 3D
And speaking of customisations, it'd be a shame if you couldn't actually see all that effort you've put in, wouldn't it? Thankfully, you can zoom in and out of the gorgeous scenery around you, just marvelling at your handiwork (something we're definitely guilty of ourselves), as your trucks go from place to place.
The realistic graphics and high-quality models add to the visual flair of the whole experience, and as we took jobs from different parts of town, we were pleasantly surprised to find that you can actually see your trucks in action as opposed to lazy dots and lines representing the real thing. It's a shame the screen isn't bigger, to be honest!
Time to hit the road, then
Top that off with the relaxing score serenading you in the background, and it's a truly atmospheric cargo game where you can ride the stress away. The idle mechanics are a nice touch too for busy bees like us - it doesn't pressure you with overwhelming tasks as other tycoon truck games do. So, as you go from a humble little single-garage operation to a nationwide transport manager hub, you'll find that it still respects your time as all transport games should.
Oh, and did we mention the USA-inspired map you'll be cruising through too? You might just spot your favourite landmarks as you go along - we certainly did.
Now, if you're ready to live life on the road and dive into American trucking culture on iOS and Android, Highway Heroes isn't one to miss!
