New trucking game adds the one thing American Truck Simulator was missing: human drama

Finally, Truck Driver: The American Dream is here to bring us the one thing that American Truck Simulator was missing: a robust story campaign filled with human drama.

I'm a big fan of SCS Software's popular truck sims, so I didn't think too much of it when one of my colleagues forwarded me the launch trailer for Truck Driver: The American Dream. But folks, nothing in the world could have prepared me for this trailer to open with the words "I was five when I lost my father," going on to outline a tale of a family torn apart by one man's need to drive a big rig. There's also a bit where he appears to be hauling a pirate ship. 

Okay, that might actually make it sound a bit more exciting than it really is. There's a 20 minute gameplay demonstration video for The American Dream, and mostly it seems like we're following protagonist Nathan through a period of increasing emotional distance between him and his wife, which… look, man, I play trucking games to chill out, and I'm not sure I can deal with driving those country miles with the weight of a questionably voice-acted man's marriage on my shoulders.

"Join Nathan as your adventure becomes an emotional rollercoaster where career milestones intertwine with personal growth," the devs say in the demo, so at least there's some hope in the story. The devs say a lot in that demo, too, including a few lines which I can barely believe were approved even as marketing fluff. Like this: "Powered by the cutting-edge Unreal Engine 5, we've created the most detailed open world on consoles to date." Yes, folks: forget Skyrim, Elden Ring, Starfield, Baldur's Gate 3, and even Red Dead Redemption 2. This is the most detailed open world on consoles.

Truck Driver: The American Dream just launched for PS5 and Xbox Series X and S earlier this week. Bizarrely, there's no PC version, though Dutch publisher Soedesco has been teasing a potential announcement of more platforms.

This is actually the second entry in Soedesco's trucking series. The first, simply titled Truck Driver, first hit consoles back in 2019. I've played a tiny bit of it, and while it seems to share The American Dream's mostly linear structure and propensity for named mission givers with unique dialog, it doesn't feature the sequel's voice acting or ambitions toward proper drama.

The original Truck Driver was seemingly developed internally at Soedesco, but The American Dream was developed by a Bulgarian studio called Kyodai. The studio previously created a surreal first-person sci-fi adventure game called Elea, so it's taking quite a swing by moving instead into story-driven trucking games. However good The American Dream is, it seems Soedesco is quite pleased by the results, since it acquired Kyodai just prior to the game's launch.

"With Truck Driver: The American Dream, Kyodai and Soedesco have embarked on a journey to create the most ambitious story-driven truck driving experience to date," they say. I can certainly say that The American Dream is, indeed, the most ambitious story-driven truck driving experience I've ever seen in a game. And also the only one. I still can't decide if I actually want to play it, but I am absolutely fascinated by it.

Truck sims are clearly finding an audience, to the point where multiple trucking companies are now trying to hire American Truck Simulator players.