I remember reading Levelord's blog post about his trip to Russia back before he decided to move there permanently (what a madman), and what I found most amusing is how he said "the traffic laws here are more like suggestions" LMAO. No, Richard, they're not, it's just that nobody follows them.

In Hard Truck 2 you do have to follow the traffic laws because it is a very different game from its predecessor. Can hardly even be called a sequel. It maintains and improves the core driving mechanics and driving-related features, but is now an open-world cargo transportation simulator. In almost every aspect this is a much more polished experience with a lot more depth to its gameplay. It is inarguably a much better game, but how much you're gonna like it is dependent entirely on whether you're into this type of game. And I don't think I am.

My brother used to play a lot of truck-driving sims back in the day. This game was probably the most popular in its genre because a lot of people played it. I used to watch it more than play it myself because I found these games boring. But that in my current age gave me a misconception that they must be relaxing. What can be more relaxing that just driving long distances through beautiful countryside? That turned out to be far from truth however. In fact, I found this game kinda stressful.

So you start at a station where you can pick up one of the few delivery orders... or not, it's really up to you. But once you pick it up, it tells you "you're number 4th, hurry up!" and you find out you're in a race. That's right, every delivery is a race, and you are allowed to arrive last, but not to fail your deadline. Every order will give you something like between 5 and 35 minutes for delivery, and that's really about the difference between going to your nearest town and going to the other edge of the map.

If you arrive first, you get a bonus and a license. The license allows you to hire other drivers, so they can make deliveries and pay you a portion of their profits. I was playing an expanded edition, which isn't on Backloggd, I guess because it wasn't released in the West, and it has this mechanic which might not've been in the original, if my memory serves me right. The license is temporary and will expire in a few minutes, so you gotta find someone to hire quick. This allows you to build some passive income, which makes the game slightly less stressful. Perhaps by the end game you can hire so many people that the game actually does become relaxing.

The reason I found the game stressful is because, while it does let you not treat the deliveries as races, you still do because the bonus is way too substantial. It's hard to ignore it and drive at your own pace (especially when the game keeps telling you to hurry up). Meanwhile you have to slowdown whenever there's a radar or cops nearby, otherwise you get fined. You can contact the cops via radio and bribe them to avoid being stopped (and losing speed), but then you gotta pay more, and these guys are quite extortionist. This isn't helped by the fact you have to prevent your cargo from being damaged, so you gotta be very careful to make the turns and avoid hitting other cars. The roads rarely have any shortcuts, and, when they do, they often lead you in the opposite direction or off a cliff. The map layout mostly provides one or two linear paths between each town, but those paths are kinda snaky with a lot of very difficult turns. So in a way the game is constantly pushing you to hurry, while at the same time making you slow down a lot. And I found that the opponents can be near-impossible to outrun (at least in the beginning) because they're following the exact same linear path with about the same speed and more accuracy. In addition, you have to figure out most of the game on your own, so you end up making a lot of mistakes early on. I guess you could call this game "Soulslike."

I do believe the best aspects of the game are the management mechanics and the open world. There is a lot to explore and unlock here. I remember me and my relatives gathering around a computer when playing this game, and it was so exciting to finally be able to purchase new trucks or find secrets. I think in the original game you could eventually purchase regular cars sometime during the endgame, but in this expanded edition they're unlocked from the start. But I remember the collective elation when we first purchased a GAZelle. I don't really understand it now, but I suppose just the fact that a van was in a truck-driving game felt like some cool extra bonus. The amount and variety of cars in this game is still impressive, considering how each of them has its own unique 2D interior.

I think the real joy of this game came back then from naively spending a lot of time in that world. I have vivid memories of rain-covered windshields, autumn leaves carried by the wind, forests, rivers and canyons, and the never-ending road extending into the horizon. Back then this game felt like an adventure. Now its positive qualities only remind me of what's been lost with age, and its negative qualities stick out like a sore thumb. Still, credit where credit is due, this is a pioneer of its genre and was very advanced for its time.