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I'm sitting in a Ford cockpit, surprisingly detailed in pixels, and instead of a road I see menus. Rather than a driving game, this is a game about how long you can endure reading paperwork. Ford Simulator II from 1990 promises realistic simulation, but first I have to buy a vehicle, secure insurance, register it. Only then can I drive.
It's not about racing at all. It's about simulating car ownership — all the paperwork, maintenance, insurance, fuel consumption. The goal? Drive to a destination without penalties. Along the way I need to stick to marked roads, watch my speed (exceeding the limit means a fine) and not run out of fuel. I'm actually wondering if such a detailed simulation of car ownership and management even belongs in a game. Graphically it works — cockpit views, simple tracks, objects on the road — but everything looks uniform, without atmosphere.
The driving is slow and methodical, rather than making me feel the car. The steering responds softly, acceleration flows smoothly, without punch. Actually, it's not a racing game — it's an office simulation with a driver's seat. You spend most of your time in menus, clicking on vehicle parameters, dealing with fuel data. When I finally drive, I cruise at a steady speed and monitor the dashboard readings. Fun? I'll admit that for enthusiasts of technical details and procedures it might have its charm, but it certainly doesn't keep the game engaging for long.
At the time it was an interesting idea — a simulator unafraid of tedium. Today it looks like a school project. Other simulators of that era (like Flight Simulator) at least had some dynamism you could replay. Here every drive is the same procedure without surprises. The game aged not only graphically, but especially conceptually.
Who should play it? Mainly the curious, interested in how deep simulations could go even in the nineties. No one plays it for fun, rather out of curiosity — to see where the simulator's heart lay and where it became routine. You can run it in a browser via emulator, but expect long stretches of boredom.
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